Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Cards (4)
- Characters:
- George - protagonist, loyal, caring, idealist, street smart
- Lennie - protagonist, mentally undeveloped, very strong
- Curley - antagonist, confrontational, violent, controlling
- Crooks - lonely, black, discriminated against
- Candy - old, disabled, constantly worried (the state will put him in a retirement home, where he won't be treated right)
- Curley's Wife - lonely, had a dream, discriminated against
- Themes:
- Dreams - each character has their own dream that they work toward. George and Lennie dream of owning land, Curley dreams of being respected and his wife dreams she never married him and to be an actress. No character achieves their dream; half of them die.
- Loneliness - all characters except Lennie experience loneliness. Curley's wife is a woman and Crooks is black, while the other characters have no family.
- Exclusion - sexism and racism against Curley's wife and Crooks is rampant; the ranchmen actively exclude them from associating with the others.
- Context:
- American Dream - the main message of the USA; illustrating that success can be achieved with hard work. Society has few barriers preventing anyone from achieving dreams.
- Wall Street Crash + Great Depression: in 1929, the Wall Street Crash occurred, wiping away millions of dollars. Many became unemployed and looked for work.
- Golden California - California was unaffected by the Depression. Many people came to California to find work by themselves, becoming solitary.
- Discrimination - Steinbeck illustrates racism and sexism with Crooks and Curley's wife, to show 1930s American society
- Key Quotes:
- "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world" - George, showing how solitary men are when they work on ranches. Him and Lennie are an exception as they have each other.
- "A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody" - Crooks, showing how lonely people are. Crooks has everything a man could want; but he is in a state of solitude because of his colour.