Hopes and dreams help people last even if they ne’er become existent. How true is this for the characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’ ? The novel ‘Of mice and Men’ was written by John Steinbeck and is set in Salinas and Soledad California in the 1930s when life was difficult for so many people because of the great depression. A major subject of John Steinbeck’s fresh ‘of mice and men’ is the American dream and the thrust to achieve it. There are two major subjects in ‘of mice and men’ novel that is foreshadowed by the mention to Robert Burns’ verse form called “To a mouse” the word mouse within the rubric means loneliness and dreams. ( BBC Bitesize. 2014:2 ) This verse form contains the lines. “The best laid programs of mice and men/ frequently go awry” Most of the chief characters in “Of Mice and Men” harbour dreams and have programs that ne’er come true. George. Lennie. and Candy all portion a doomed dream of purchasing their ain farm and life off the land. George frequently thinks about how his life he could hold had as an unrestricted unmarried man and free of the load of caring for Lennie. “If I was entirely I could populate so easy. ” he says. ( Steinbeck. 1965:12 )
However. Lennie has his ain private dream of life in a cave with his ain coneies but Curley’s married woman regrets the lost opportunity to go a film star. The chief subject throughout this novel is that people must larn to accommodate their dreams with the world to accept that everyone’s best set programs frequently die. Each of the characters programs go awry non because they give up on them but because the forces beyond their control destroyed each one of them. Due to the black economic mentality of the Great Depression coming to footings with your broken dreams was the world about everyone in America faced. The American Dream is written into the Declaration of Independence: “life. autonomy. and the chase of felicity. ” “We clasp these truths to be axiomatic. that all work forces are created equal. that they are endowed by their Godhead with certain inalienable Rights that among these are Life. Liberty. and the chase of Happiness. ”
With these protections. any American. regardless of category. faith. gender. and finally race. could ever strive—and even sometimes succeed—at bettering himself via wealth. instruction. or labor. ( SparkNotes. 2014 ) . George and Lennie’s dream about having a farm and life off the “fatta the lan” ( Steinbeck. 1965:16 ) symbolises this dream. In the fresh “Of Mice and Men” shows that the American Dream became an semblance and a trap for the hapless migratory workers during the Great Depression. Every individual one of the ranch workers in the fresh dream of life. autonomy and felicity but non one of them of all time gets is. When Crooks hears of George and Lennie’s dream of having their farm he says “Nobody of all time gets to heaven. and nobody gets no land. ” ( Steinbeck. 1965:84 ) . Although the ranch workers dreams may non be realised. the fresh suggest that in order for a person’s life to be full and meaningful it has to incorporate some kind of dream.
At the terminal of the novel George and Lennie ne’er achieved their dream but it did keep their singular friendly relationship together throughout the narrative. for them this dream was existent even if it was merely there imaginativeness because kept Lennie happy and it stopped George from going a mean and lonely cat like the other ranch workers. The dream gives them life. even if life ne’er allows them to accomplish their dreams. This fresh explores the altering facets of male friendly relationship during this period this is shown when Lennie asks George to state him why they are non like the other ranchers ; George tells him “we got a future Guys like us. that work on spreads. are the loneliest cats in the universe. They got no household. They don’t belong no place… . With us it ain’t like that. We got a future… . An’ why? Because…because I got you to look after me. and you got me to look after you. and that’s why. ” ( Steinbeck. 1965:15 ) this is George’s manner of stating he and Lennie are different to the other workers.
It could besides be suggested that the word ‘future’ could be a metaphor for something bright and so much greater so what they have got now. which could be linked to their version of the American Dream and to ‘live off the fatta the lan’ . ( Steinbeck. 1965:16 ) this could about propose a scriptural significance like a promised land where all their dreams could come true. This dream helps George and Lennie to digest the adversity they face each twenty-four hours and to assist them non to give in to desperation. Normally the work forces who worked on these spreads would hold no household. friends so hence no hereafter. Their friendly relationship strikes the other ranch workers as uneven due to their dependence on each other. This makes the foreman and Curley leery and Slim observes that ranch workers seldom travel together because they’re scared of each other. Although most of the work forces in the novel are wholly alone they still all crave true friendly relationship.
As Crooks. possibly the novel’s most lone character because of his black tegument puts it. “A cat demands somebody—to be near him. ” ( Steinbeck. 1965:82 ) All the characters in the novel long for friendly relationship and kindness but yet they all live in fright of one another. This is shown with the tough shot of Candy’s Canis familiaris which makes it clear that during the Great Depression if you are useless. old or weak you will surely be destroyed because the strong and the utile will contend for endurance. All the workers on the spread would invariably seek to do themselves look strong particularly if they feeling weak. The fright of the weak being overrun by the strong could explicate why Curley likes to contend a larger work forces so he is “Curley’s reasonably ready to hand. He done rather a spot in the ring. He’s a light weight and he’s handy” ( Steinbeck. 1965:29 ) and it could besides be why Crooks tells Lennie that George is traveling to abandon him. Then Curley’s married woman threatens to hold Crooks lynched. Each of these characters attempts to look strong by asseverating power over one another. This fright of being the strongest explains why the other characters in fresh find it difficult to understand George and Lennie’s friendly relationship because they see being the strongest as a battle for endurance.
In ‘Of Mice and Men’ it has two different visions of adult females in it the first is the male character position and the 2nd is the novel’s position of adult females. The male characters view on adult females which is they tend to see the adult females with fright and negatively labelling them as unsafe sexual enchantresss. The male workers frequently referred to Curley’s married woman with contemptuous words like a “tart” ( Steinbeck. 1965:31 ) and “jail bait” ( Steinbeck. 1965:36 ) . George and Lennie have a friend in prison “on history of a tart” ( Steinbeck. 1965:63 ) plus they have had their ain problems twice as a consequence from a adult female. The first the adult females from Weeds and the 2nd is Curley’s married woman. Although she plays into her function as sexy enchantress throughout the novel until the last portion of it where is a victim. Curley’s married woman craves the attending of the work forces on the spread because she’s urgently lonely so she flaunts her power over the work forces because she herself feels weak. There are a figure of symbols within the novel that have different significances these are George and Lennie’s farm. the coneies that Lennie keeps speaking about. Candy’s old Canis familiaris and besides Lennie’s puppy.
The dream of having a farm for George and Lennie is a symbol of the American Dream. This phantasy of having their ain farm leads George. Lennie and the other ranch workers such as Candy and Crooks to indulge in the dream of life “off the fatta the lan” ( Steinbeck. 1965:16 ) . George’s rich description of the farm’s munificent workss and animate beings besides makes it seem like a symbol of Eden. While Lennie dreams of be givening to the coneies on the farm that he and George hope to have one twenty-four hours. This dream forms Lennie’s complete artlessness. Lennie enjoys touching anything that has a soft pelt such as coneies and mice due to this love of touching soft things leads to his destiny.
This symbolise non merely artlessness but besides Lennie’s ruin of artlessness in the rough universe that he lives. The following symbol is Candy’s old but one time powerful shepherd dog. For Carlson killing Candy’s Canis familiaris makes it clear that during the Great Depression those who was strong would merely last. The manner that Carlson kills Candy’s Canis familiaris in the dorsum of the caput with merely a individual gunfire is boding how George will kill Lennie in the terminal. The nexus between Lennie and Candy’s Canis familiaris is that they are powerless. guiltless and doomed from the start. The symbol of Lennie’s puppy shows how dependent Lennie is on George. merely as the puppy is dependent on Lennie. The puppy symbolise the destiny of the weak in the face of the strong.
