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 lilliputianOf Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story of an unlikelyfriendship between two migrant workers, George Milton and LennieSmall. This story is set in the 1930s, around the while of the GreatDepression in which America entered a long stoppage of economicaldepression from which it eventually came out of after World War II.During this period of poverty and bad business, many workers from allover America went to California to find work. passim this novella,Steinbeck portrays the thoughts and dreams of many of these workerswhich was to find a piece of land to square down on. The story is alsoabout the loneliness of most of these workers, and this is why thefact that George and Lennie travel together is strange to most of theranch hands. The name of the novella comes from a famous poem byRobert Burns which is called, To a Mouse ...the best laid sche meso Mice and Men, Gang aft agley. This basically means that thus farmuch 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 race who face challenges inlife. The major themes which are expressed throughout the novella areloneliness, friendship and racism. The characters which Steinbeck usesto portray these themes are seen as outsiders, such as Crooks,Candy, Lennie and Curleys wife. Crooks is black and crippled and isdisliked by the ranch hands due to his race Candy is old and disabledand so excluded from the affectionate life of the ranch-hands. Lennie ismentally challenged and Curleys Wife is the only woman in the ranchand she is extremely misunderstood. These characters all illustratethe extreme circumstances under which people had to survive throughoutthe Great Depression and they do so by each having their own uniquecharacteristics and qualities.Curleys wife is the wife of the bosss son, Curley. She has thehardship of being the only woman in a ranch full of men who have nounderstanding of her or women in general. Throughout the novella sheis described in different ways some, where one feels sorry for herand others where one feels utter hatred towards her. She is acharacter that is misunderstood because of her outward actions, besidesthe truth is that she is actually very similar to many of thecharacters lonely and sad.