Dreams are impossible realities fabricated to shadow the actuality of our imperfections however ironically, dreams tend to be made impossible on the consequence of our imperfections. This is one of the harsh realities that Steinbeck expresses in this novel. “ The best laid schemes of mice an men, gang af agley, an lea us nought but grief and pain, for promised joy.” - ‘To a mouse’, Robert Burns. Inspired by the poem, Steinbeck 's novel explores the idea that even the best laid plans, with relevance to our dreams , often go astray due to our imperfections and leave us with nothing but grief in the repercussions from the unfulfilled promises for joy. This theme has been expressed in a myriad of different characters and their circumstances.
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.
Foreshadowing was used in Of Mice and Men to present the theme of weakness. For example, in a conversation between Lennie and George, Lennie states, “‘Jus ' wanted to feel that girl 's dress- jus ' wanted to feel that girl 's dress- jus ' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse-’” (Steinbeck 11). This event was used to suggest that Lennie would end up doing something like he did in Weed again in Soledad, California. Lennie’s childlike demeanor is what gets him in the most trouble. Due to this he does what he wants without thinking about the consequences.
He has been constantly interrupted by his fears, particularly when he attempts to write his own dreams. Furthermore his inability to understand how his actions are interpreted results into their dream being damaged, “Lennie excluded said, “George.” “Yeah?” “I done another bad thing.” “It don’t make no difference,” George said, and he fell silent again,” (34). Grief and disappointment settled into George’s dream, a habit Of Mice and Men and how it seems to build upon loneliness and defeat. Dreams sew together the misery and imagination Steinbeck designed, to convey his ideas about human nature and its tendency to dream. George knew his dream was only a dream, due to Lennie constantly finding trouble, but he continued to dream
He notices that the table is full and thought witnessing Banquo’s bloody figure was a joke. He convinces himself that he is not his fault the ghost is present. The purpose was to bring forth the truth of what he has done. In Act 5 Scene 1, Lady Macbeth sleepwalks through the castle and had illusions of blood. In which she realizes the mistakes she had committed after she was incapable of rubbing the stains of blood of her
Lennie was too strong for his own good, his obsession with petting soft things was a danger to others. The “trouble with mice is that [Lennie] always kill ‘em” (13). Lennie’s inability to control his strength made him a danger to society, meaning the only option was to kill him in order to prevent Lennie from harming others. Additionally Lennie has no ability to think for himself making him easy to manipulate and control making it easier to force him into doing bad things. George turned “to Lennie and says ‘jump in’ An’ [Lennie jumped].
The novel I decided to pick for this essay was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. One of the major themes of this novel is the issue of loneliness and isolation in society. Steinbeck offers the reader an insight into the society of this time which is set in the great depression in the 1930’s and how it leaves many of the characters behind, unwanted and alone. I believe this still to be relevant in modern contemporary living. The characters who portray the theme of loneliness and isolation are; Lennie, because he is mentally challenged and the other characters fear his intimidating physique, but he also has George and their dream of getting their own farm to escape reality.
To sum up, the author in “Of Mice and Men” uses symbolism through animals, characters and places to make readers understand the exploration of different themes such as dreams, innocence, discrimination, and friendship, among others. Moreover, Steinbeck by using these key symbols transports us into the context, which is during the Great Depression, giving a deeper meaning to the novel. In the end, what the author wants to express is that people should always be realistic; it is a fact that they would not always get or achieve what they want. This is not because people gave up on their dreams, but because no one can know or control the situations and things that may happen as the world is not only roses but has cruelty in it. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression that was exactly what happened, people do not trust each other as men were trapped in this tense environment.
When analyzing the context of the novel there were different approaches that could have been made, and more thought could have been re-evaluated. The story Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was a heart reacting novel with many characters and subcontext messages sewed into its bindings. The story revolves around the life of two farmhands named George a basic worker with a temper, and Lennie a lovable man-child that was born at the wrong time. Both characters faced a common dilemma, is that the actions made by Lennie and George caused a brutal ending for their story. A summary of there actions is that George was put in a predicament that could have handled in a better way.
This is relatable to “Of Mice and Lice and Women” through the challenge of humans not respecting the land, and nature to the point of not understanding it. In other words humans lack of understanding for the things that we can't control, our lack of respect in hopes of power in the way that when we see a mouse we scream is relatable to the unthoughtful decisions to industrialize land that is relevant to the people of Okanagan Ancestors to which they are tied