The Role of Setting in John Steinbeck's Of Mice & Men
Throughout time man has encountered many trials and tribulations. One of these unpredictable changes was the depression era in the Western region of America. From the beginning to the end of the novel, Of Mice & Men (1937), by John Steinbeck, life is portrayed as cruel and an insurmountable conquest. During the 1930's the worst economic collapse of the world occurred : the Depression. The setting throughout this novel sets the emotions high because of the hardships that were encountered by two men looking for work. These men were George Milton and Lennie Small. George was "small and quick and hard of the face, and had sharp strong features" (9). Lennie was the opposite a " huge man, shape less of a face, with large, pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders" (9). While the simple minded and powerful Lennie tries to keep out of trouble at the ranch, he worries about how George may get angry at him if he makes a blunder. Curly, the boss's son, is a trouble maker and pressures Lennie into fighting him which he does and pays the price. In addition, Lennie ends up killing Curley's wife, thus leading to the death of Lennie. George shoots him utilitarianly, which means he did it to bring safety to anyone who may have encountered him. With Lennies death George hoped to maximize happiness for the greatest number of people. Their dream once of having their own ranch died with Lennie.
Setting is encountered in every chapter and allowing the reader to visualize the surroundings which contribute to this story more than any other element. The story is set in 1930's California on the verge of Mexico. The river Steinbeck speaks of, "The Salinas River," happens to be the birthplace of Stei...
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...lood." This brings the story to and end when George killed his one and only friend, Lennie.
Ironicaly, Steinbeck was a marine biologist and when he wrote this book he was in the ways of looking at water. The pond that Lennie drank out of, which the river that ran into it came from his home town, and the cruel view of nature as the snake that probably ate the mouse that Lennie killed was devoured by a heron. Thus, showing that things have a chain reaction in nature and Lennie, some what, got revenged upon by the mouse and the other mammals that he killed. The setting is the biggest element of the novel setting the mood at the begining of each chapter and vividly examining the way it was during the depression. This finally answers the question "Where did I go George?"
Work Cited
Steinbeck, John, "Of Mice and Men." (1937). May 3, 2004. New York,
New York.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel about loneliness and the American Dream. This book takes place during the Great Depression. It was very difficult for people to survive during this time period. A lot of people hardly survived let alone had the necessities they needed to keep relationships healthy. Of Mice of Men has a common theme of disappointment. All the characters struggle with their unaccomplished dreams. The migrant workers, stable buck, swamper, and the other men on the ranch had an unsettled disappointment of where they were at in their lives. George and Lennie, two newcomers to the ranch, aren’t like the other guys. They have each other and they are the not loneliest people in the world. Lennie has a dream though he wants to own a farm with plenty of crops and animals one day. The only problem is his blind curiosity of people and things around him. George wasn’t justified for killing Lennie because Lennie was innocent and never got the chance to find out what he did wrong.
John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.
Lennie began to grow furious at her for dying because of how George would react if he found out. George was left with no choice but to kill Lennie for his own
John Steinbeck explores human experience in the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ in friendship, loneliness and marginalisation. He does this through the characters as explained thought the paragraphs below.
The quote that inspired John Steinbeck was the best laid schemes often go off track can be seen in the novel of Mice and Men. When Curley's wife met a man in her childhood that offered her to be an actress but the chance went away and she later died. Then Curley wanted to be a professional boxer but the dream never happened and he became a farmer then got his hand broken for trying to be tough. George and Lennie were going to buy a farm to live off the fat of the land then Lennie had to get in trouble and George had to give up the dream and kill Lennie for what he had done.
The daily struggle of the working class, fear of loneliness and the reality of putting all your energy into plans that fail are the different themes relating to John Steinbeck's novel, "Of Mice and Men". The characters depicted by the author are individuals who are constantly facing one obstacle after another. The book illustrates different conflicts such as man versus society, man versus man, man versus himself and idealism versus reality. The book's backdrop is set in the Salinas, California during the depression. The two main characters include two men, George and Lennie. Supportive characters include a few ranch hands, Candy, Crooks, Curly, Slim and Carlson.
Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck. It is set in California during the great depression. The story follows two ranch hands who travel together and are very poor. Throughout the novel we witness many different philosophical references. Many different types of characters from this novel are reused in today’s society. Steinbeck also writes eloquently about the many different emotions, aspirations, and dreams of man.
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