Of Dreams and Death

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is a book about the life of two men trying to survive during the Great Depression. These two characters names are Lennie and George. George is the smartest of the group; and Lennie, though very big and strong, has a mental handicap, that makes him less bright than other people. His lower IQ makes him do bad things impulsively.

 The book begins with George and Lennie laying in the brush, and George telling Lennie that if he ever gets into trouble, he should hide in this place. In the original town Lennie and George lived in, Lennie accidentally touches a girls dress, and when she screams he gets scared and grabs on. The girl then told authorities she was raped and as a result George and Lennie have to leave town or be lynched. When they get to their new town and job, the boss is expecting them. Because they arrive late, the work day was over and they were allowed to meet the other farmhands. They meet Candy, a man who lost his hand on the farm; Slim, the main worker; and Curley and his wife, who are the farm owner’s son and daughter-in-law. Work was hard on the farm, but George and Lennie kept their hopes alive. They dream of someday buying a little piece of land they could farm together. One night when Lennie was playing with some puppies in the barn, Curley’s wife comes in and starts taunting him. Lenny gets scared and accidentally snaps her neck killing her. He goes to hide in the brush, where George tells him to go to should he get into trouble. Even though Lennie does not mean to kill her, he has to pay a price. If Lennie wasn’t killed on sight, he would have to go to jail and/or be executed. Although George talked about how his life would be better without Lennie, he still loves him like a brother and does not want to see him suffer. So George finds Lennie hiding in their special location and kills him painlessly. Thus Lennie does not have to go through jail and execution.

Two themes stood out in the book. One of which being the power of dreams. Dreams are what make all the characters in the book strive to get a better life. I think peoples’ dreams give them hope. Even if they don’t achieve all their dreams, they can still hope to find happiness. Another theme in the book is loneliness. Every character in the book, other than George and Lenny, were lonely. Even though George complained about Lennie, he cared about him. The other characters seemed to wish they had a relationship like George and Lennie’s. An example is Curley and his wife; they didn’t love each other, but they both longed for love. I thought this theme was relevant because in middle school, many people are lonely just like in the book. They feel like they don’t have anyone who cares about them, or friends to watch their back.

I thought this book was one of the best books I have ever read. The twist at the end completely baffled me. But I would like to warn people, this book is extremely sad, so think carefully about how the book will affect you. I still recommend this classic to anyone, no matter what genre they like. A+!