Similarities Between Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men is an emotional, tragic novel following the lives of two travels and companions searching for work during the American great depression. The novel was published in 1937 and was written by John Steinbeck. It was latter made into several film version but the one that was chosen to study was Gary Sinise’s version, which was related in 1992. In this essay will be looking at the important issues in the text and how the authors have conveyed them to the reader/viewer. Thought both the novel and film there are numerous themes that are come across. The three I will be forcing on are dreams and aspirations, loneliness and friendships.

Dreams and aspiration. This is an important issue that arrises in Of Mice and Men. Humans give

meaning to their lives and to their futures by creating dreams. Without dreams and goals, life is an endless stream of days that have little connection or meaning. In both the film and novel George and Lennie dream to one day live on a farm of their own “an live off the fatta the lan”. This is a reoccurring frase that appears in five of the six chapters. It is a story that George tell to Lennie about what they wish their futures to look like. To George this dream means independence, security, being their own boss, and most importantly, being somebody. To Lennie this dream is just like the soft animals he pets, it is a sense of security, a sanctuary were he does not need to be afraid and also a place were he would be trusted with the responsibility to “tend the rabbits”.

Loneliness, along with dreams humans seek contact with other to give life meaning.

Loneliness is an issue that is present throughout both the film and novel. One example of this is how when George and Lennie arrive at the ranch four characters, the boss, Candy, Crooks, and Slim all comment on the suspicious nature of two guys traveling together as this is not a norm in that time period. Most of the character in Of Mice and Men would probably be better of if they had a friend or companion to travel around with. Slim says at the start of Of Mice and Men "I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean.” This is a good example of a reason why it is important to have contact with another human. George and Lennie are not the only characters who struggle with loneliness. Although present in all the characters to some degree, the theme of loneliness is most noticeably present in Candy, Crooks and Curly’s wife. They al struggle against loneliness is there own ways. Candy use to take comfort to his dog. Crooks is isolated because of his skin colour and he is not allowed into the bunkhouse with the others, and is not to associate with them. To distract him from the loneliness he reads books and works. Curly’s wife is the only female on the ranch. Her husband, Curly forbids everyone from talking to her. She try's to overcome her loneliness by flirting with the other men on the ranch. Steinbeck reinforces the theme of loneliness in subtle and not so subtle ways in both film and

novel.

Friendship also plays a big part in the novel/film Of Mice and Men. Even though George gets mad at Lennie they have a strong bond of friendship the connects them through the good and mad times. The tragic final scene were George shoots Lennie in the back of the head. This scene taken out of this context is a horrific event but in this situation it is out of love. George could not bare the thought of him being shot by curly and being terrified of the fact he was about to die. Or the other alternative where he would get taken to a prison which would end up being equally as terrifying. Instead George told Lennie to “Look across the river, Lennie an’ i’ll tell you so you can almost see it.” they imagined the future they were going to have, George then shot him in the back of the head as this would be a very peaceful way to go as he would not be in fear or have felt any pain. Although Lennie did not feel any pain. George would have felt enormous amounts of mental pain. To be able to do what he did to his friend, that he has know for most of his life would take a lot of courage and bravery.

John Steinbeck wrote a fabulous book with so many important issues that are still relevant in todays society. Gary Sinise’s film version portrayed this beautiful book so well keeping true to the original storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a viewing Of Mice and Men as it not something I would normally choose myself. Personally I enjoyed the novel rather than film as it was your own imagination on how the characters and setting looked. I would definitely recommend both the novel and film to read or view.