Of Mice And Men Literary Essay Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, records the struggles and lives of migrant workers during the Great Depression. Although the two main characters—George and Lennie made up a huge part of the novella, the significance and role of minor characters add colours to the book, which makes it more interesting and rich in content. Steinbeck mainly uses minor characters to emphasize the major themes of the book and creates foreshadowing. Firstly, the character of Crooks illustrates the themes of dreams, barriers and the struggles of the powerless. Crooks was ‘bent over to the left by his crooked spine’, and at the same time, he is the only black American on the ranch.
During the Great Depression society thought of women, the disabled, and black people as secondary to white men. They were not respected or deemed worth as much; and so they were not paid attention to nor listened to. “Of Mice and Men” tells the story of a disabled man and his responsible companion during the Great Depression as they work on a ranch for less than a week. In that short period of time, however, they meet many complex people, some of which are lonely even when they are together. In “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck the characters Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Candy were alienated because of their race, gender, and disability, respectively.
In today’s world, oppression of women, African Americans, and disabled people is still a problem, but since the era of the Great Depression society’s views of these people have greatly improved. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck it is shown how oppression among these types of people was commonplace. This novel begins with two men named Lennie and George; these men travel together and George takes care of Lennie who is mentally disabled. George and Lennie have to flee out of the town, Weed, after an incident happened. They travel to a different town and begin working on a ranch, and shortly later another fatal occurrence happens.
In the book, Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck, the mice are shown to be the main “symbol” throughout the story. The main characters, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, go through a lot in this story. Each time Lennie does something bad, it always comes back to the mice and their symbolization. Some things to know about the mice is how they are killed, their significance, and their relationship with the poem relating to the story. Throughout the book, the mice have a lot more relation to Lennie than some people may think.
Of Mice and Men; A Literary Analysis “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that 's why,” says George in the book Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck wrote this book about two boys who took care of each other mentally and physically throughout. They endure many journeys together and are able to suffice over very little. They show the strength in friendships in many dissimilar ways and make diligent decisions that some may never be able to make. Of Mice and Men is not only about two friends and their journey together, but as well as giving one a deeper meaning of the book, such as showing the nature of their dreams, the characters as archetypes, and if the killing of Lennie is justified in the end.
They are important, because they make the story interesting, they influence the protagonist’s actions by making their current world increasingly undesirable and presenting obstacles to the story. Curley, a character from the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, represents such a character. He is a controlling, aggressive and selfish man who is an essential component to the tragic outcome of the story. Curley is a controlling man. He always needs to know where his wife is
Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men presents complicated relationships that deal with power struggles and human nature. While Of Mice and Men only focuses on one small ranch, the ideas Steinbeck expresses can be related to society as a whole, then and now: those that have a higher position in society will continuously utilize their power to oppress the
In the book, George and Lennie travel together to ranches, Lennie is mentally disabled with gigantism. He doesn 't know how to control his actions and his grip strength crushes things uncontrollably. In the 1930s, people with disabilities were not treated equally and they were often taken advantage of. For example, Curley, the owner of the ranch 's son often takes advantage of Lennie and tries to pick fights with Lennie and Lennie doesn 't know how to respond. Lennie and George strive to try to reach the American Dream, they want to own their own farm and Lennie wants to tend the rabbits.
Of Mice and Men captures all of the aspects of the time period that affect the dreams of the characters. Whether it be race, gender, or disability no character lets their dream be out of reach. The characters’ loneliness is also diminished because they form friendships and come together to form a dream that includes them all. Lennie can never reach his dream because of his cruel fate, Curley’s Wife never reaches hers, and the other men fall short in achieving their dream, as well. The Great Depression was a time in which it was hard to pursue a dream and even harder to achieve it.
The astray behavior of this time has influenced every event, idea, and judgement that has followed it, resulting in a modern day issue unlikely to be resolved any time soon. These conflicts against society, which many of the characters suffer from, shape much of the plot of Of Mice and Men, which details a very different reality then the one most people live in today. However, the thought remains, as the decades continue to pass and the centuries change, the prejudices of those before always seem to live