"Of Mice and Men" - outlining some of the themes that relate to the companionship, loneliness and dreams in the story, which are used by Steinbeck.

Authors Avatar

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

English GCSE Coursework

In this essay, written about the tragic novel, "Of Mice and Men", I shall be outlining some of the themes that relate to the companionship, loneliness and dreams in the story, which are used by Steinbeck. I shall also be describing some of the events that took place. The novel itself is about a couple of men, George Milton and Lennie Small, who travel together. They aren't ordinary men, but ones with a future and aspirations. Their hopes are to seek new work on a ranch and to save up enough money to buy their own. This is their dream.

The relationship that George and Lennie shared, was one of a master and dog-like companionship, a father and son relationship. In these comparisons, Lennie, even though he was a lot more powerful, taller and stronger than George, was the dog or the son. For example George supplied the necessities of life, for both himself and Lennie (food, a place to work, sleep, etc.). Lennie was mentally retarded, and so, this factor highlighted his vulnerability to George, and other people, as shown later on in the novel. This element made George feel superior, and, deep down, even Lennie realised that he needed a father figure to keep him out of trouble, and, in reverse, George knew that he needed Lennie to protect him. Lennie needed George, because he taught him certain lessons on how to keep himself out of trouble, for example, George told Lennie: "if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush." As a form of discipline, George coerced Lennie not to get into trouble, by threatening him that he wouldn't be able to tend the rabbits when they would be living on their own private ranch (via the dream). George was also a role model for Lennie's behaviour around other people at the beginning of the novel. For example, Lennie, even though he made a fool of himself, repeated George's phrase, "strong as a bull" which demonstrated that he looked up to George. George's main motive for keeping Lennie well behaved was for their own good - so that people did not find out about Lennie's mental retardation and to keep Lennie out of trouble. Evidence that George required Lennie came at the end, when he agreed to everything. He even let Slim give him orders: "Me an' you'll go in an' get a drink". So George was "helped" to his feet and "led" up the highway. He allowed Slim to guide him, because he was drained of happiness, filled with shock, and knew that he couldn't handle trouble anymore, without Lennie. After Lennie's death, his only alternative was to resort to the same level of vulnerability as Lennie.

Join now!

George and Lennie, together, had a great sense of admiration for each other. Lennie looked up to George because he knew that he kept him in order. George looked up to Lennie (discreetly), because he knew how valuable Lennie's power was, e.g. "George spoke proudly…" and also, that Lennie gave George's life a sense of purpose, as he is responsible for Lennie

George had moral standards. He was a very polite and understanding young man. For example, on page 29, when Candy told George and Lennie about Curley's glove full of Vaseline, George said, "That's a dirty thing to tell ...

This is a preview of the whole essay