Of course, it is not all to do with opinions, it is also to do with the way in which Steinbeck puts across his reasons for writing the novel… was there a reason? If so, will the reason still affect people’s lives in 60 years time? This is the question I will address in each of the issues listed, as it directly addresses whether or not the novel is timeless.
In order to answer that all-important question, I will systematically analyse each of the individual moral issues. I will start with the issue of racism.
Crooks is the black, crippled stable buck. He is looked down on by the rest of the ranch workers because he is black and he isn’t allowed in the bunk-house with them. Here is a quote from chapter four of the novel, which seems ludicrous to the majority of society today because it just wouldn’t happen now:
“’Well you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’
Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego- nothing to arouse either like or dislike. He said ‘Yes ma’am,’ and his voice was toneless.
For a moment she stood over him as though waiting for him to move so that she could whip at him again; but Crooks sat perfectly still, his eyes averted, everything that might be hurt drawn in.”
This is a conversation (if it can be called that) between Curley’s wife and Crooks after Crooks had told her to get out of his room. It shows the kind of prejudice displayed towards black people and just how cruel and inhumane the majority of the white society was towards them.
This book is set in the USA during the depression and at this time racism was rife amongst the rural Americans (i.e. farmers and ranch workers). Black people or people of different religions were resented by working class whites because they felt threatened (ethnic groups were seen as economic competitors) and many of them joined an organisation known as the Klu-Klux-Klan. The Klu-Klux-Klan was a racist organisation set up to intimidate immigrants and ex-slaves; the Klu-Klux-Klan believed strongly in white supremacy and saw this as a reason to kill any blacks who dared challenge their superiority. I can see some of these beliefs coming out of the characters in “Of Mice and Men”, especially in this particular passage.
I don’t think that Steinbeck felt that racism should be condoned; in fact I think that he added this character (Crooks) in order to show his protest of racism. I believe this because of the way in which he writes about it; he tries to make the reader sympathise with Crooks and I think that he shows his own personal believes through Lennie’s character. Lennie does not understand why Crooks is not allowed in the bunk-house nor does he understand why Crooks is any different from the others; this shows that Lennie’s innocence and simplicity is an asset to his personality and I think that Steinbeck could see the beauty of this type of person and wished that everybody could be like Lennie in that respect.
This type of view is still relevant in today’s multicultural western society and in the less developed nations where racism is still a huge problem. I believe that this part of the novel is most definitely timeless because racism has always been and always will be an issue for many of the world’s societies.
The next topic to deal with in this analysis is sexism. By this I mean the way in which somebody is treated with a lack of respect because of his or her gender. This happens in “Of Mice and Men” towards Curley’s wife, who is seen as a lesser person due to the fact that she is a woman. I have found various examples of sexist remarks throughout the book, all of which are made by the male ranch workers. Here is a quote from a conversation between George and Whit in chapter three:
“ George said, ‘She’s gonna make a mess. They’s gonna be a bad mess about her. She’s a jail-bait all set on the trigger. That Curley’s got his work cut out for him. Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like her.’”
There are many passages like this in “Of Mice and Men” which call Curley’s wife a range of horrible names that she probably doesn’t deserve. She isn’t really as much of a “tart” as the men make out, she is just very lonely and wants to talk to somebody other than her husband for once.
I think that the ranch workers are unfair towards Curley’s wife, who quite aptly is not given a name in the novel. I don’t know if Steinbeck meant for this to be an issue in the book, but it certainly would be classed as one today. Women have got the same rights as a man in the society I live in, and in some societies they still don’t have the same rights. Gender equality is a burning issue in many religious groups which see the women as the property of a man and not a person in her own rights, I think that this makes the book controversial and understood differently by different readers. This controversy will make the book live on for as long as it is still a concern.
Euthanasia is another issue worth looking at in “Of Mice and Men”. It occurs twice in the book, first with Candy’s dog and then with Lennie. Candy’s dog is killed because it is no longer useful to anybody and it is very reliant on Candy; Lennie is killed because he accidentally killed Curley’s wife and so George (his best friend) thinks that it would be better to kill him personally then to let him endure the painful death that would come if Curley’s lynch mob caught up with him. Here are two quotes from the book; one of them shows that reasoning behind the dog being killed, the other shows the way in which Lennie was killed:
“Carlson said thoughtfully, ‘Well, looka here, Slim. I been thinkin’. That dog of Candy’s is so god-damn old he can’t hardly walk. Stinks like hell, too. Ever’ time he comes into the bunk-house I can smell him for two, three days. Why’n’t you get Candy to shoot his old dog and give him one of my pups to raise up. I can smell that dog a mile away. Got no teeth, damn near blind, can’t eat. Candy feeds him milk. He can’t chew nothing else.”
“And George raised the gun and steadied it, ad he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills…
…George sat stiffly on the bank and looked at his right hand that had thrown the gun away…
…Slim said, ‘You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.’”
The definition of “euthanasia” is this (according to the Chambers school dictionary): “ noun the killing of someone painlessly, especially to end suffering.” I think that both of these killings can be classed as euthanasia, as they were both done with a single shot that would not have hurt the victim and it was (in the dog’s case) to end suffering and (in Lennie’s case) to prevent suffering.
Euthanasia is another moral issue that is still argued over in the present time and will still be argued over in 60 years time, because of religious beliefs and moral standards. I think that this is further proof that the book is timeless, and will be felt by different people to symbolise their own personal views.
In conclusion I believe that the moral issues in this novel make the book a timeless one because they will all still be relevant in 60 years time, although the reasons for it being timeless will be different in each society.
That is all I am going to write about moral issues in “Of Mice and Men” because I think that Steinbeck wanted to reach people in more ways than just moral issues. I think that Steinbeck tries to challenge people’s personal ideas, hopes, dreams, and downfalls.
The theme of this novel is undoubtedly that of dreams being shattered, a theme that is mirrored in many peoples lives today and has been since time began. This theme is shown first in the title of the book, which is taken from a poem by the Scottish poet, Robert Burns:
“The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft agley [often go wrong]
And leave us nought but grief and pain
For promised joy!”
This is where Steinbeck got the idea for the title “Of Mice and Men” and it symbolises what is to happen in the book itself. This idea that our dreams often go wrong no matter how carefully we have planned them is something that we will see again and again in our lifetime.
Lennie and George had a dream about owning a little piece of land and having rabbits and chickens and living of the “fat o’ the lan’”. This dream did not become reality because Lennie got himself into trouble and was killed. I don’t think that George ever really believed it would come true; he just liked to dream as so many of us do.
Shattered dreams are also seen in Curley’s wife who had always dreamed of being an actress, but was unable to because her mother said she was too young. She married Curley and ended up living up a ranch, and she thought about her dream every day. I think that even she knew, deep down, that it would never come true.
I think that Steinbeck wrote this book in order to vent his frustrations that his own dream of becoming a Chemist did not come true.
Dreams are what keep us going during the hardest times in our lives and this theme of broken hearts and shattered hopes is what I think makes “Of Mice and Men” a true classic.
Loneliness is another predominant theme in this novel, and one that people in Steinbeck’s lifetime (especially ranch workers) would have trouble dealing with. The loneliness of Crooks is probably the type of loneliness we can empathise most with in “Of Mice and Men”. He is completely alone; he is what you might call an outcast of society. This is shown in chapter four especially, where Steinbeck conjures up a feeling of deep sorrow at how poor Crooks is so very isolated and alone just because he is classed as different:
“Crooks said gently, ‘Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk-house and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that? S’pose you had to sit out here an’ read books. Sure, you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him.’ He whined, ‘ guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya,’ he cried, ‘I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.’”
This makes me think about what it is like to be so lonely, it challenges me to realise that people are alone in the world and that things like that do really happen. I believe that it has this effect on every reader, and this is yet another reason for this novel to be deemed a classic.
Everything about this book makes me think that it deserves the term “classic”; after all I have found reasons for it to be called great and many reasons for it to be called timeless. However, I realise that every reader will think differently about it and look at it on a different level, so I will conclude that “Of Mice and Men” is a classic as far as I am concerned.
We still have one question unanswered, is “Of Mice and Men” successful? The answer to this question is quite simply: yes it was successful. It certainly brought Steinbeck recognition in the literature world (he gained the Alfred Nobel literature prize in 1962) and pupils in schools all over the world read it as part of Literature and English courses. It is in my opinion as successful as it is a classic and will always bring empathy and understanding to readers for a very long time to come. It is definitely in the top two of all of Steinbeck’s novels (in some people’s opinion second to “Grapes of Wrath”). It most definitely deserves all the praise it has received and will probably continue to receive, for its unique ability to reach into the soul and pull out the very best and the very worst in human nature.