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Wandrey, Michael 8/13/06

“Of Mice and Men” Essay

“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is a story about finding a purpose – one purpose as seen by two very different people. One viewpoint is one that is almost childlike, and the other, one that is like finding an escape, and a place to settle down. The story takes place in the Salinas Valley in California, where times are tough enough to cause George and Lennie to wander in search for a place to settle down (though this wandering is also due in part to Lennie’s past blunders). No real symbolism can be found in the setting, but the rural setting fits the pace of the story. “Of Mice and Men” uses a third-person limited point of view, which is like that of an outside observer – they can only see the events, but cannot dive into the minds of the characters. The story follows a rather normal plot structure, starting with the background needed to begin the story – a simple description of the Salinas Valley, followed by a physical description of the main characters, George and Lennie. Past this, the rising action occurs – a foreshadowing of events through Lennie accidentally killing the rabbit as he tries to pet it, to having Candy’s dog shot because he was too much trouble to keep around. The climax occurs when the events foreshadowed finally come to pass – the death of Curley’s wife, and the death of Lennie – both carried out in the same fashion as the events that foreshadowed them. This is followed by the denouement, in which Slim and George talk immediately after George kills Lennie. A key theme of this story is that of the American Dream – it gives one answer to the question, “Is fulfilling the American Dream possible?” What sacrifices must one make to finally reach success and security? To George, that meant ending his friendship with Lennie in a rather abrupt moment. In fact, George and Lennie never reached their dream, and never founded that farm, suggesting the perhaps many people do not reach the American Dream after all – they can only wonder as George and Lennie always had. Lennie is a flat, unchanging character – he is a naïve and simple individual.

Because he does not change over the course of the story, his qualities are shown in the scenes he appears – his naïvete is shown through his description of the perfect farm to own (complete with the rabbits he loves to pet), and his simple qualities are shown in his manners and speech. George, however, acts as a foil to Lennie – he actually does change over the course of the story. He is a loyal and caring friend to Lennie, though even these qualities change. His warnings and pieces of advice for Lennie shows that George really does care about him, and wants to see him safe, as most loyal friends would do. He does show that he cares for Lennie even before he performs the dirty deed of killing him, by sparing him the otherwise brutal death a mob would have dealt.