Of Mice and Men Essay

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Mir Hashemi        Of Mice and Men Assingment

                                Of Mice and Men Essay

I am going to write about the play Of Mice and Men, which was written by john Steinbeck. The name “Of Mice and Men” comes from famous Scottish poet’s poem. As people say that title speaks for it self “the best laids plans O’ Mice and Men aft gang agly” this meant that the best plans often go wrong. I will be writing about what and how life was affected in America after the Wall Street Crash and especially two guys how they face the world and have to travel around U.S to find jobs for themselves In order to live.

        All of the main character in the book ends up more alienated/lonely at the end than in the beginning. Dictionary definition for Alienation is “when people are cut off from other people due to being different.”

These four characters featured in section four are all alienated (misfits) on the ranch and they are Crooks, Lennie, Candy and Curley’s wife. They also the innocent people that stays in the ranch while the men go to enjoy themselves.

Crooks is alienated because he is black and the time when the book was written America was going through the great depression due to Wall Street crash. Another reason of the racism and alienation in Crooks case is the Jim Crow laws of segregation, which didn’t allowed white and black people to be mixed in same room or bus etc. As for Crooks poverty made it worse as he cannot do anything, not even fight for his right as it can result for him to lose his jobs and those days there were queues for any job available. As a child he did have white friends but since he has grown he is being lonely since then. When he said, “books ain’t no good” to company him as he is really wanting to have a friend whom he can talk to not to read as he does not have anyone close to him in the ranch. His loneliness increases when Curley’s wife told him that “listen nigger, I could get you strung up on a tree” this made crooks feel like he is not even good enough if he is compared to an animal. His life is in Curley’s wife’s hand. Therefore, he is so much scared and used to being lonely as candy came he said irritably, “You can come if you want.”

Lennie is alienated because he is a naïve old child that is innocent and cannot behave like adults as some people think he should be. These days such mentally challenged people would have being put in care centre but as it is great depression period there is no such place so he has to work.

Lennie didn’t feel alienated until Crook tried to put Lennie in his shoes and made him realise how it feels when you are left alone, which basically worked. He did it by taunting Lennie about the fact that George has gone to town and might not come back. When Lennie said to Crook “don’t you think he will”? Which meant that don’t you think that George will come back, and Lennie he started to have doubt in his mind about George not coming back.

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Also when everyone was playing horse shoe tournament which left him to be left on his own in the ranch that then resulted killing the puppy probably as he is not used into joking with people or spend time with people except George, so he doesn’t know how to behave with people or to control his temper as it resulted in killing the puppy and Curley’s wife. Although Lennie could not behave or think like adult but he did have sexual feelings as when he touched and straight away got attracted to Curley’s wife, “let me go!” as Curley’s wife got ...

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