Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story of an unlikely friendship :: Free Essay Writer

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story of an unlikely friendship between two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small â€Å"Of Mice and Men† by John Steinbeck is a story of an unlikely friendship between two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small. This story is set in the 1930’s, around the time of the Great Depression in which America entered a long period of economical depression from which it eventually came out of after World War II. During this period of poverty and bad business, many workers from all over America went to California to find work. Throughout this novella, Steinbeck portrays the thoughts and dreams of many of these workers which was to find a piece of land to settle down on. The story is also about the loneliness of most of these workers, and this is why the fact that George and Lennie travel together is strange to most of the ranch hands. The name of the novella comes from a famous poem by Robert Burns which is called, â€Å"To a Mouse† – â€Å"...the best laid schemes o’ Mice and Men, Gang aft agley†. This basically means that however much you plan something out and figure out in detail what you will do, the future is unpredictable and plans can easily go wrong. The main characters of the novella are people who face challenges in life. The major themes which are expressed throughout the novella are loneliness, friendship and racism. The characters which Steinbeck uses to portray these themes are seen as â€Å"outsiders†, such as Crooks, Candy, Lennie and Curley’s wife. Crooks is black and crippled and is disliked by the ranch hands due to his race; Candy is old and disabled and so excluded from the social life of the ranch-hands. Lennie is mentally challenged and Curley’s Wife is the only woman in the ranch and she is extremely misunderstood. These characters all illustrate the extreme circumstances under which people had to survive throughout the Great Depression and they do so by each having their own unique characteristics and qualities. Curley’s wife is the wife of the boss’s son, Curley. She has the hardship of being the only woman in a ranch full of men who have no understanding of her or women in general. Throughout the novella she is described in different ways – some, where one feels sorry for her and others where one feels utter hatred towards her. She is a character that is misunderstood because of her outward actions, but the truth is that she is actually very similar to many of the characters – lonely and sad.