Of Mice and Men (Post #3)

I read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. In this book, two men, George and Lennie, find work on a farm after being chased out of time. George, a short and anxious man, takes care of Lennie, a huge man with a mental disability, as they work from place to place. At this new farm, they meet their cabin-mates and also the owners son, Curley, and his beautiful and flirtatious wife. Slim, the leader of the cabin, tells George and Lennie to stay away from her. Lennie is given a puppy, which he later kills by accident by stroking him too much. Curley's wife comes in and tempts Lennie to stroke her hair, which he does. He starts to panic and his grip on her hair is unbreakable, and by doing so she starts to scream. Lennie, again by accident and fear, kills her by snapping her neck. He is then hunted and so he goes and hides in the creek, where the story first begun. George then comes and sits by Lennie and tells him a story, but lifts a gun to Lennie's head and kills him.

Steinbeck never fails to disappoint; I loved this book. It was very short, but had a lot of emotion within it. Of Mice and Men reveals the way that mentally challenged people were treated in the 1930s. We read the book next year, so I'm sure that I'll learn that there's even more meaning to the book. I also really enjoyed this book because of how realistic it was, especially at the end. George would not have been able to keep moving from place to place with Lennie as he did before; this new job was perfect with and had the best opportunity for him to make it on his own. Sooner or later, Lennie probably would have gotten himself killed, and the way the he was killed in the book is so much more emotional. George had to put the bullet it his head, but I'm sure that Lennie wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

I really have no idea why Steinbeck wrote this book. Again, his life is a mystery to me; I don't know much about it. He might have possibly seen some one treated horribly as in the way Lennie was treated and wanted to make it know. He maybe had a family member who was challenged. Or he just might have been interested in a character like Lennie; I don't know. Whatever his story is, he did wonders with this book.

The theme of this book, to me, is human nature and innocence. When you think about it, Lennie was just doing what he thought was right and okay; he meant absolutely no harm, like many people do today. The world was cruel to him, and that's not right. This will never change, however. And I think that's what Steinbeck wanted us to think about; humans will never change the way different people are treated. Ever since the beginning, we have not socially accepted people who are different, and that's not right or fair. People, no matter how they look or act, should be treated the same as any other person. The reality of this situation, though, is that it's an impossible task, to treat all the same. To wish for that is like wanting the sky to rain chocolate; it's not going to happen. Steinbeck wanted us to realize this, but not try to change it because it simply cannot be changed.

The best character is George. He displayed a lot of growth throughout the novel. In the beginning, he was slightly hot-headed and probably very tired of Lennie tagging along with him. He was also frustrated that they were run out of another town because Lennie held on to a woman's dress; but still, he loves Lennie. George likes to dream; throughout the book he and Lennie dream of a ranch that they will live on. They'll have, most importantly, rabbits for Lennie to care for. Lennit loves rabbits, but he improvises with mice, which he keeps on killing. At the end, George has to kill Lennie, which is the point where George has grown the most. I think that he knew all along that this would happen some day, but he was just wishing it off and pushing it back. Now, he must face the reality and do what is best for Lennie, even though it caused so much pain.

I believe that Of Mice and Men was named the way it was because of the resemblance of mice to Lennie; not physically, of course. Lennie, as montrous as he is, is very unknowing, shy, curious, and scared. Mice, though small, are also unknowing of their surroundings, cautious and wondering, and msot of the time frightened. Also, mice are so easily killed. Do you feel any type of sorrow when you kill a mouse? The answer is no...and in the 1930s, that's the way that they treated people like Lennie. Like he was just a tiny mouse, and deserved to be killed because he was curious. It's "curiousity killed the cat," not, "curiosity killed the man."