Of Mice and Men †Discuss the theme’s in the play Essay

By themes, I mean the ideas, which the author is trying to give us. Most authors do not write just for fun, but to show us that there is a message that they would like us to learn behind the plot. Usually the ideas are ones that the author believes in deeply. The themes are under the following headings: * Loneliness Loneliness affects many of the characters, and Steinbeck seems to show that it is a natural result of the kind of life they are forced to lead. The workers are caught in a trap of loneliness – they never stay in one place long enough to form long lasting relationships. Even if the relationships existed, they would probably be destroyed by the demands of their life. Candy is lonely because he is old, and is different from the other hands. His only comfort is his old dog, which keeps him company and reminds him of days when he was young and whole. He has no relatives, and once his dog is killed he is totally alone. He eagerly grasps at the idea of buying a farm with George and Lennie, but of course this all comes to nothing. Candy’s disappointment is shown in the bitter words he utters to the body of Curley’s wife, who he blames for spoiling his dream. George is also caught in the trap of loneliness. Just as Candy has his dog for company, George has Lennie (who is often described in animal-like terms). George too is left completely alone when Lennie is killed. The dream farm is his idea, and he says ‘We’d belong there †¦ no more runnin’ around the country†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Another lonely character is Curley’s wife. Newly married and in a strange place, she is forbidden by Curley to talk to anyone but him. She constantly approaches the ranch hands on the excuse of looking for Curley. The only result is that the men regard her as a slut, and Curley becomes even more intensely jealous. Finally, her loneliness leads to her death as she makes the mistake of trying to defeat it by playing with Lennie. Curley himself is lonely. His new wife hates him, as do all the ranch hands who dislike him for his cowardice. He has married, to try and escape his loneliness, but has chosen a wife totally inappropriate for the kind of life he desires. His feelings are all of aggressive behaviour, which places his wife further away from him and leads to the incident with Lennie where his hand is crushed. Crooks is another who is isolated because he is different. He copes with it by keeping a distance between himself and the other hands. When he does allow himself to be drawn into the dream of working on George and Lennie’s dream farm, he is immediately shut out by George’s anger. * Violence The story has many examples of a kind of needless violence. For example, Candy relates how the boss gave them whisky and allowed a fight to take place in the bunkhouse. Curley is the most obvious violent character, and whenever he appears there is a feeling of tension. He causes George to remark’†¦what the hell’s he got on his shoulder. Candy explains that Curley often picks on big guys (a sure sign of trouble for Lennie). We are prepared for Curley’s later anger, which adds up at the end in his wish to’†¦ shoot him in the guts.’ Carlson is another character associated with violence. He is unconcerned about killing Candy’s dog (and in fact cleans the gun in Candy’s presence). He goes to watch the fun when Curley thinks Slim may be with his wife, and later threatens Curley more, saying ‘†¦ kick your head off. Later he is very keen to get his gun to join in the hunt for Lennie. The last words in the book belong to Carlson, and it is little surprise that they reveal his complete inability to understand George’s feelings about the death of Lennie. Compared to the other characters, Lennie reveals an unintentional violence. He does not even think to fight back when Curley attacks him, but when he does, it is with immense and uncontrollable power. He has so little control over his own strength that he accidentally kills his puppy, and then minutes later snuffs out the life of Curley’s wife. His actions on these occasions are compared to those of an animal, powerful but thoughtless. Curley’s wife is attracted to him because of the violence he had shown in crushing her husband’s hand. It is the threat of violence to be used against Lennie that causes George to take the final step of killing his friend. * Dreams Dreams are one of the ways in which the characters fight the loneliness and hopelessness of their day to day lives. The most obvious example is the dream farm, a dream shared at first only by George and Lennie, but which later spreads to include Candy and Crooks. Crooks reveals that it is the favourite dream of the ranchers: ‘Seems like ever’ guy got land in his head. ‘It is a powerful dream, and even Crook’s falls under its spell for a short time. To Lennie, the dream is a cure to disappointment and loneliness, and he often asks George to say the description of the farm to him again. Curley’s wife is another who has dreams, her fantasies of a part in the movies and a life of luxury. Part of her sadness with her life is that it can never measure up to her dreams. But, none of the characters ever achieve their dreams. * Nature Steinbeck shows that nature is a beautiful and peaceful place, but threatened by the actions of men. The beginning of the story sets this pattern, as the creatures at the pool are disturbed by George and Lennie’s approach. The ranch and its buildings, being created by men, are in contrast with the natural world. For example the bunkhouse is quite bare and stark. Even more unnatural is that Candy and Crooks are either deformed in appearance. Contrasted to these two characters is Lennie, who almost seems a part of the natural world as he is described in animal terms. In fact, one of Lennie’s dreams is to go and live by himself in a cave. Maybe this would be the only way in which the natural world of Lennie would not come into conflict with the world of men.. Steinbeck referred to this story as a play/novel, and we are shown how closely it does resemble a play. Each section or chapter is set in a clearly defined place like a scene in a play. The beginning of each section contains detailed description, like stage directions in a play, while the rest of each section is mostly dialogue. This may seem like a rather unreal way to write a novel, but Steinbeck does it so well that we do not notice. A noticeable feature of the language of the novel is what a critic might call ‘economy’. One result of this is that almost every sentence is important in one way or another, either in developing a character, moving the plot forward or hinting at action still to come. Steinbeck has skilfully created a number of parallel events into the story. Candy and his dog provide a parallel to George and Lennie. And also, when Lennie kills Curley’s wife, it echoes his earlier killing of the puppy. There are many such echoes and parallels in the book. Steinbeck has also shown us the way in which capturing the spoken language of the characters gives a better feel to the story. Most of them are uneducated, and this shows through in their use of broken and slang language. Even their uneducated pronunciation has been shown Steinbeck also uses colours and sounds to great effect. For example, Curley’s wife is associated with red, symbolic of danger or passion perhaps. A further strong association is that of Lennie with animals. At various times he is described as a bull, a bear and a dog. Even when not directly compared with an animal, he is described in animal terms. For example, his hand is a paw. This is particularly appropriate for Lennie, as he usually acts in the simple, natural way of an animal. Soledad is a real place in California and its name can mean loneliness or a lonely place. A cue to one of the major themes of the novel right at the beginning.