Of Mice and Men is one of John Steinbeck

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Of Mice and Men is one of John Steinbeck’s major novellas. It tells of George Milton and his mentally-handicapped friend, Lennie Small. George, a short, shrewd operator is the foil to Lennie: a humongous, infantile oaf whose last name “Small” embodies nothing but utter irony, for he is not by any means small. Similar to the majority of Steinbeck’s books, Of Mice and Men’s setting is in the Salinas Valley, California— however, this one takes place in the 1930s. The novel revolves around the idea of the American dream and the hurdles the characters face in their quest to achieve it. The novella takes place during the great depression. During that horrid period, each individual has their own idea of the American dream. Steinbeck touches on several themes related to the dream such as the actual dream itself, loneliness, powerlessness, and the future’s unpredictability. Steinbeck adequately utilizes these themes to depict the unfeasibility of the American dream. The characters’ dreams are asserted throughout the novella. Curley’s wife’s aspirations for fame were eradicated once she married him. “I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella. Coulda been in the movies an’ had nice clothes, all them nice clothes like they wear” (Steinbeck 89). The wife’s statements epitomize the internal conflict she has regarding the choice she made of marrying Curley as opposed to embarking upon her dream of becoming famous. She is clearly aware that she had a superb chance at becoming famous, but the fact that she had to settle for Curley causes her a substantial amount of bitterness. Curley’s wife is also involved in another type of conflict; this one external—between her and George. “Don’t you even take a look at that bitch? I don’t care what she say... ... middle of paper ... ...eph Warren, et al. John Steinbeck Draper, James P., ed. World Literature Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992. 3372-3389. 4-6-2014. Gray, James. John Steinbeck American Writers: A collection of Literary biographies. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1961. 49-72. 4-11-2014 Scarseth, Thomas. "A Teachable Good Book: Of Mice and Men." Censored Books: Critical Viewpoints. Ed. Nicholas J. Karolides, John M. Kean, and Lee Burress Scarecrow Press, 1993. 388-394. Rpt. in Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Los Angeles Public Library. 4-16-2014. Hearle, Kevin. "John Steinbeck." Twentieth-Century American Western Writers: Second Series. Ed. Richard H. Cracroft. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 212. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Los Angeles Public Library. 4-19-2014

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