Lennie And George example essay topic

Of Mice and Men was an interesting novel. Overall, I liked it. I am generally a logical person who enjoys following the logic of other minds. Literary masters such as Plath and Thoreau do not usually appeal to me; their ideas, while intriguing, do not flow together in a fluid, rationale order. I did enjoy Steinbeck's piece about two migrant ranch workers.

Even though the ending may not have appeared to be as pleasant as most empty yet thrilling contemporary novels, the book had a certain order of events that I could easily follow and, more importantly, understand. I really enjoyed following the unfortunate path of the books protagonists, Lennie and George. The two shared a strange yet strong friendship. Even though George may have reluctantly admitted it, I do believe he would call Lennie a friend.

I had many, varied emotions and thoughts about both of the men while I read of their sad story. At first, I thought George to be just like many other homeless wanderers - jobless, hopeless, careless. However, as the novel progressed, all of these assumptions were proven wrong, to some degree. George was indeed employed by a rancher, who only appeared once in the novel. Even though it paid miserably, it was still much more than many Americans could claim during that era. Also, George was not a hopeless soul.

He delighted in thinking about his dream - having his own land and being able to reap his own food. On numerous occasions, George would, at the childish urging of Lennie, describe his hope of owning land and sustaining himself. Lastly, George was not careless. If he was, he would not have been in the companionship of Lennie in the first place.

George stuck up for Lennie several times. Even though he thought Lennie was a burden many times, George still held a deep compassion for the bumbling beast of a man. Again, I thought it was interesting how Steinbeck developed this character and made me realize just how unique George was. A reoccurring theme that continually nagged at me was the idea of loneliness.

Many of Steinbeck's central characters all suffered from loneliness. Curley's wife had her acting dreams dashed when she married the short and stubborn Curley. She seemed to genuinely dislike Curley and how he neglected her. Candy is old and wants to bring some final meaning to his apparently meaningless life. He desperately reaches out to George and Lennie and the possibility of sharing their dream. Curley himself has no friends: he has disregarded his wife and let jealousy and cruelty rule his relations with the workers.

Crook, the African-American ranch hand, suffers from an even more severe loneliness and separation from others. While they are simply attempting to be thought of as a friend or companion, Crook is struggling just to be recognized as human. I believed Steinbeck intentionally contrasted these characters and their loneliness to the friendship of George and Lennie. While the others were clinging for something to latch on to, George and Lennie, while many times seeming less fortunate then the others, were actually blessed with the bond of companionship.

This fact stood out to me and seemed to be a major theme that Steinbeck was attempting to convey. Even in the face of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles of life, humans can plod on with hope and courage through close friendships with other humans. Lastly, this novel made me think about America's present state. I have been extremely blessed to grow up in a time where prosperity and freedom are norms.

In Steinbeck's era, many Americans struggled just to put food on the table. I think the fabled American Dream was damaged during the Great Depression and it certainly shows in Steinbeck's novel. The Dream couldn't exist in the story because survival simply surpassed the fruition of the American Dream in terms of necessity. In those days, people had to sacrifice their dreams simply to survive. Today, Americans own homes and have cushy jobs and drive expensive cars and do not even second-guess their ability to have such success. It has become a given.

This book made me realize that I still need to be thankful for the basic privileges in life that those during the Great Depression, and many around the world today, do not have..