A Book Review – Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men is an interesting novella written by the American author, John Steinbeck, and first published in 1937. It is an interesting fictional social tragedy novella about the friendship between Geroge Milton and Lennie Small. The novella describes the events that those two friends go through during a harsh period that characterized the US history which is The Great Depression in the 30s. Despite being a fictional book, the events are so realistic that one can believe that the story happened in real life.

Of Mice and Men describes the journey of two close friends, George Milton and Lennie Small who are illustrated as totally different from each other and with opposite personalities. George Milton is short and smart while Lennie Small is strong and big while he suffers from a mental disorder that makes him dependent on George. The story starts when they find a new job at a ranch field to work there after being fired from their former job. The new field is in Soledad, California in the US. Right away after starting at the new field as ranch workers, the drama starts when Lennie and Curley, the owner’s son, meet each other as Curley did not like Lennie that much. Curley has a flirty wife to who Lennie becomes attracted and while Lennie was trying to feel her hair, accidentally, he kills her. Lennie became afraid and ran away. The drama begins at the field and Curley with his men, including George, starts chasing Lennie and looking for him. However, George was the first one to find Lennie in the same spot where they slept just the day before starting work at the farm. George decides to kill Lennie so Lennie won’t suffer when Curley and his men catch him. 

Several topics can be reflected upon in the novella but the most interesting is friendship, the American dream, and hardship. Friendship is illustrated in the novella as a central theme of which all events are centralized around. That is to say, the friendship between George and Lennie is the main issue that which dramatization and suspense are built. The friendship is referred to in the very beginning of the story when George explains to Lennie the importance of their friendship and how special it is. 

“​​Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. . . . With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.”

The friendship is no less represented by the end of the story. George finds Lennie at the same spot where they slept just before starting at the farm, just because he knows him very well. Furthermore, he kills Lennie not because of hate but rather because of love, because he doesn’t want Lennie to go through a harsh time when Curley and his men catch him. 

The dream about a better future is no less important than the friendship between Lennie and George. Still, George and Lennie are the main characters and the protagonists of the story. They are driven by their dream of a better future and of owning a farm. This dream that they have and that they convinced Candy with has a symbolic value. It represents their escape to freedom and comfort from their hardship when ranch fields do not yield that much for workers. It is the typical American dream about escaping to liberty, self-reliance, and the ability to pursue happiness. Furthermore, this dream is the main reason of their journey and working at ranch fields. 

“S’pose they was a carnival or a circus come to town, or a ball game, or any damn thing.” Old Candy nodded in appreciation of the idea. “We’d just go to her,” George said. “We wouldn’t ask nobody if we could. Jus’ say, ‘We’ll go to her,’ an’ we would. Jus’ milk the cow and sling some grain to the chickens an’ go to her.”

The hardship of ranch workers is represented in several ways from the harsh work conditions to loneliness and racism. However, not only Lennie and George have harsh circumstances but everyone else who is working in the field has their hardship due to their circumstances. For example, Crooks, who is a disabled black man, tells Lennie when he visits him in his room that he suffers from loneliness and racism. Not only loneliness and racism are the aspects of the workers’ hardship but even work conditions and the fact that they have to work all the time with no future is maybe the biggest obstacle that they have to overcome as workers at the ranch field. This is not a specific situation about just this farm but rather can be generalized. Every worker has their dream but nobody is reaching for it. Crooks describes this situation and represents the hopelessness when he tried to deflate Lennie about his dream. He just does not believe in it!

“I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land.”  

Of Mice and Men is a very interesting novella that gives the reader the experience of living during the great depression in the USA with such realistic events that illustrate the reality during this period in the US. The author has a descriptive way of writing the novella. Thus, the reader will live together with George and Lennie in their trip and events. Furthermore, the tragic death of Lennie at the end of the novella will call upon many feelings in the reader. The main feeling is sadness as George shoots his close friend, Lennie, for Lennie’s sake. I can strongly recommend reading this novella. Steinbeck could with this novella draw attention to several aspects and develop upon several topics which are hardship, friendship and the dream. Yet, all those topics reflect upon a tragic ending that shutters the friendship and the dream while enhancing the hardship.

Källa:

Steinbeck, John. 1937. Of Mice and Men. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN: 9780141023571.