The Theme Of Hope In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

During the Great Depression, times were very tough in the United States for everyone. In “Of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck illustrates the struggles of discrimination and the struggle of finding a job, in everyday life during the Great Depression through Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. In this novel Lennie, a not so bright but hard worker faces the challenges of trying to find a job during the Great Depression along with a mental disability. George says to Lennie at the beginning of the story, “If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won’t get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we’re set.”

Like everyone else in this world, I have had struggles. There's disappointment and obstacles in everybody's life.” - El DeBarge. Disappointment is part of everyone’s lives, every single of of us has faced disappointment before. Disappointment goes along the lines of finding out something didn’t go as planned, and now you are feeling sad and discouraged. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, many of the characters faced times of great disappointment. They are disappointed because dreams or plans didn’t go as they wanted them to. George, Lennie and Curley’s wife are disappointed with their current place in life due to many of their plans going awry.

John Steinbeck, the author of the novella, Of Mice and Men, sets the story in the great depression, where itinerant workers travel to California to find work. Through the use of light imagery and setting the author develops the theme of the American dream. The literary devices also create an unrealistic impression of George and Lennie's dream, giving the reader a sense of pity. The writer's use of light imagery creates a sense of condolence.

(91). At this point, Curley’s wife is clearly dead, along with her dream of what she could have been. Unlike the other themes, women do not necessarily die from men. What does die, is their dream. Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to show that women will never be able to reach The American Dream.

The novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck is a gripping tale of two men and their lives during the Great Depression. George Milton and Lennie Small are two migrant workers who travel together finding work. They take on a new job “bucking barley” at a ranch in central California for the ranch owner and his son. While working at the ranch they encounter Curley the ranch owner’s son and his wife, a flirtatious woman. The story reaches a climax when Lennie unintentionally kills Curley’s wife and runs back to the Salinas River just as George instructed.

In the end she faced a tragic death caused by her loneliness. Curley’s wife’s character expressed that feeling of loneliness, through her

Curley’s wife is described as an attention seeking woman who is desperate and yearns for recognition because of her loneliness and her unsuccessful dream of being an actress. In section 6, Curley’s wife desperately tells Lennie her story of when she was young, she was promised fame and a chance to be on a show, “but my (Curley’s wife) ol’ lady wouldn’ let me (Curley’s wife)”. This expresses that there are always obstacles that prevent people from succeeding just like how her mother refuses to let her be in the show and be an actress to get the attention she always yearns for. People start off with great potential, viewing their dream as obtainable and as their biggest motivation, but in this cruel world, they are only reaching for a tragic aim. Moreover, Curley’s wife expresses that she will never stay in a place where she “couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself (herself)”, but what she does contradicts what she says, instead of having a better life or gaining recognition, she marries Curley and is back into a similar or even worse situation she started from.

During the great depression not many people had it easy and Curley’s Wife was one of those people who didn’t have so easy especially because she was a woman and at the time they didn’t have many rights. Curley’s Wife is the most misunderstood character because of her background, her seemingly unloving husband, and troubling times during the great depression. To begin, Curley’s Wife has hard times and is misunderstood because she takes her emotions out on innocent people. One example of when Curley’s wife took her anger out on an innocent person is when she yelled at Crooks.

In John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, the reader feels more sympathy towards George, rather than Lennie or Curley's Wife. Steinbeck depicts an authentic representation of the Great Depression's challenging times and how they impact people like George. The hardships he experienced surpassed those of Lennie and Curley's wife. George had Lennie, a responsibility which caused him unnecessary trouble. He ended Lennie's life and thus lived with it on his conscience.

Of mice and men is a prominent book read by most high school students for a long time. Of mice and men is a book written by John Steinbeck. In the book George and Lennie had to run out of weed, so they looked for a ranch to work on. Lennie had issues with liking soft things that lead to him killing Curley's’ Wife and a puppy. To express that the american dream is impossible to achieve Steinbeck uses conversations, conflicts, and events.

Two weeks prior to George and Lennie’s arrival at the farm, Curley’s wife married Curley to escape her family and gain wealth after meeting him at the Riverside Dance Palace. Due to all the hardships she endures at the ranch, Curley’s wife is the loneliest and most alienated character in the novella. In fear of repercussions

Similarly to Lennie, Curley’s wife also feels left out and different from everyone else. She is not considered a “normal” wife, or have a “normal” hope for her future. Most people during this time hoped to get married and become a housewife; Curley 's wife aspired to be an actress and only married Curley when it did not work out. Curley’s wife told Lennie, “I ast her if she stole it, too, an’ she said no. So I married Curley (Steinbeck 88).”

The book Of Mice and Men is full of puzzling examples of the human condition, from Lennie and his mental disability to Curley only caring about his social appearance. With characters like these two, the book exploits the human condition that concerns circumstances life has given you. John Steinbeck brings to life what being a laborer in the American depression meant to the men and one woman who had enough personality to stand out. Steinbeck shows the human condition of men while they survive in the American depression.

The novel takes place during the Great Depression. Many Americans went through obstacles that caused burden and stress in their lives. Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men, characters fight against isolation and loneliness. The readers can easily see Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy struggle to escape

Curley’s wife describes her childhood, “I never got that letter. I always thought my ol’ lady stole it. Well, I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself, an’ she says no. So I married Curley…” (Steinbeck 88).