OF MICE AND MEN

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OF MICE AND MEN

1929- October 24- This was the day when American people’s dreams, hopes and future were destroyed-“The wall street crash”. This disaster crushed many people life on just a second. This is the theme john Steinbeck has used for his novel “of mice and men”. This story is about the hardship and suffering people went through in that period of time. John Steinbeck has set this story in 1930 for migrant workers so that he could show to others how much they had to suffer in their life.  The background and the plot are set in California. This novel is about two young men “George” and “Lennie” who are out in the world of disasters. They are migrant workers who moved from one place to another in search of jobs. In 1930’s thousands and thousands of people did not have jobs due to the Wall Street crash so people moved from one place to another. California is the place where the novel is set. This place is known as the salad bowl because lots of food and grains grow over here. There were opportunities for everyone for jobs. George and Lennie have set their own dreams for their future and they start their journey of life from here. The success of this plot comes from the simplicity of the plot.  John Steinbeck has created an ingenious piece of story where two men struggle to find the glimpse of hope that would push them forward in their journey of disasters.

Steinbeck’s novel “of mice and men” is set in Salinas in California where he was born. Through this novel he is not only saying the life and suffering of migrant workers but the story of his own life too. Many people have got their own wishes and dream for their future and this is quite natural. In this novel Steinbeck has given them their own dreams. The main characters are George and Lennie who have their own dream of Independence and freedom. For other characters such as Curleys wife and crooks, also have the same dream of having a better life but it has a twist to it. In 1930s this was very rare. People thought that by reaching America all the problems are resolved but in fact it starts from here. America was on of the wealthiest nation in this whole world but no one saw the disaster coming. This is what the theme of mice and men is about. When everyone thinks that the story ended in people, turn of events comes and everything changes. George and Lennie are building up their future in California. They have come here to fulfil their dreams.

George and Lennie even though they are migrant workers, they are not as other workers in their ranch.  They have got their future lying ahead of them as they got each other in the journey of pain and suffering. George says that “Guys like us that work in the ranches are the loneliest guys in the world”- this is how George explains the migrant workers in the ranches behave, they want to be different from others totally different from others in terms of living out their life. George then explain his feeling and emotions feelings of what they are “we got a future” this sentence describes his thought and his hope their dream and moreover it is their ambition. Steinbeck explains that they are different from other people in the ranches, this sentence describes that they are not living for the present and blow off their money at the end of every week but to save it for future. He explains that they have got each other and them not lonely in this world. They have got in every ups and downs of their life. Now after the loneliness and friendship Steinbeck’s takes the readers to George and Lennie dreams for future. Steinbeck through these both characters is building a relationship of brotherhood between them. He is putting across a message of a sweet relationship of brotherhood as they are both stuck together in this journey of pain and suffering and not separating. He is showing a special bond between them which goes beyond cousins.

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As Steinbeck’s says in the novel that George and Lennie are different from other ranch workers they also have got different ideas of life which the other migrant workers don’t even think about. Normal migrant workers take his $50 at the end of the week and spend it on Friday but George and Lennie have different use of the money. It says that “They going to have a have little house and couple of acres” They have ideas of being wealthier person but not to have luxuries flowing around. Steinbeck made sure that he wanted to create a character which ...

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