The Great Depression and American Culture with Reference to the Movie - Essay Example

Mice, Men, and The Great Depression by “We have a dream. Someday, well have a little house and a couple of acres. A place to call home,” George says to Lennie. (film, 2 October, 1992) They are two drifters, Lennie Small, a gentle but mentally slow giant, and George Milton, his friend and protector. The two are determined to make their dream come true by working in the fields during the Depression. There is hardly a film that provides a sense of agony experienced by those who went through this dire period of American history as does the film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s award-winning classic, Mice and Men, starring Gary Sinise as George and and John Malkovitch as the trusting but ill-fated Lennie. The great Depression effected America perhaps more severely than any other event in its history. But none were impacted more severely than those driven to work on the land. Their plight was detailed in director John Ford’s immortal film, The Grapes of Wrath, the story of an Oklahoma family, who, after losing their farm during the Depression in the 1930s, become migrant workers in California. Their arduous journey across the country as they search for work and opportunities for the family is the story of thousands, including people like George and Lennie. Gary Sinise, as director of Mice and Men, provides a sense of their hopelessness while reinforcing a notion put forth by Johnson. “...from the time of Benjamin Franklin, many were unable to achieve the dream of which they were constantly aware in American society. In the 1930s many had abandoned the aspirations of the pioneers and the American Dream of success, desperately hoping only to survive... the physically handicapped, like Candy...; the mentally handicapped, like Lennie...are the powerless ones and the outcasts who are the losers of the American Dream of success and plenty.” (Johnson, p 139-140) Yet in Mice and Men, these three characters hang on tenaciously to the American dream, although we sense, at times, George especially has his doubts. “Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They aint got no family and they dont belong no place. They got nothin to look ahead to...” (film, 2 October, 1992) Rosenfeld describes the symbolism in her review of the film. “The new movie version of John Steinbecks "Of Mice and Men" opens with scenes of a woman in a red dress, running through fields in desperate escape from some undefined terror. Her flight frames the movie, as though she is running, headlong, into the nameless dread of the future.” (Rosenfeld, October 16, 1992) As it later becomes clear, the woman in the red dress (Moira Harris) is running from Lennie, and Lennie and George are running from her protectors who believe that Lennie has threatened her in some way. Hounded by the Depression, everyone is running to whatever they believe will get them through this horrible time. When George and Lennie, running, finally reach a farm in California, they are confronted by Curly, the farmer’s bullying son who treats his wife like an imprisoned ornament. Curly is perhaps plagued by the same possibility of loss he sees everywhere around him in the poor, destitute farm hands that have come for work. He clings to her for fear of losing her too. Everyone is clinging to what they have, including Candy, a feeble character, who, desperate as the country is to survive, sees his days on the farm numbered. He joins forces with Lennie and George, thinking somehow their dream can also be his dream. “Candy is old and maimed, having been injured on the job. He can only work at menial chores like swamping out the bunkhouse. As compensation for having lost his right hand while making money for his employers, he has received a bonus of $250 and is able to stay on at the ranch at $50 a month with, presumably, his room and board. His old age, however, means that even this gesture will soon end. He foresees that he will soon be fired because he will be too old to work and that his situation will be hopeless. Economic despair is not the only price Candy pays for his old age.” (Johnson, p 140) Though Curley’s wife and Crooks scoff at Lennie’s and George’s dream, Candy wants to believe and gives them his life savings. Perhaps he can live out his life on a nice farm. The dream gives him hope in a rather hopeless time. While the story does not end on this positive note, one might say it wants to suggest a glimmer, at least, of hope that the nation will survive the Depression that is trampling so many underfoot. It is important to remember here that this was the 1930s. American did not have the social security system it has today to protect people from such dire economic straights. Candy, today, would certainly be receiving social security disability and would not have to worry about his future. In those days, America was not quite so conscious of its responsibilities to its citizens, or perhaps better, was just beginning to recognize them. Employers could exploit those who worked for them and workers had little recourse. Today, farmers who generally hire migrant workers like George and Lennie must adhere to certain standards, although even those standards are far from adequate in many instances. As a person with disabilities, Lennie, nowadays, would have access to an organization that would see to his needs. However, although such concerns were beginning to be addressed by the government in the 1930s, the country as a whole was not as aware of or sensitive to these issues, and those with mental disabilities often fell through the cracks of society. “Need binds these characters. It is not a modern neurotic bond, but a common-sense one that was perhaps more able to flourish in that simpler, bleaker time.” (Rosenfeld, October 16, 1992) What Rosenfeld intimates is that people in America pulled together in these hard times in a way they do not when times are good. It’s an interesting perspective on American culture. Even though times in the 1930s were unbelievably hard, and the threat of even death if one did not find a way to survive, does not deter George from steadfastly protecting Lennie. “Unfortunately, George has never been able to stay at a job very long, thanks to the trouble often caused by Lennies feeble-mindedness. Still, George is fiercely loyal to Lennie and would never think of deserting him.” (Answers.com, Of Mice and Men) Clearly the ending of the story is not a hopeful one. Candy sees the body of Curley’s wife and understands that the dream for him, Lennie and George is over. George knows it too. Without any reason to work like a slave and save his money, he goes off to drink himself into oblivion and to forget that his life is sad and meaningless. No quote reflects the desperation of the era better than the following: "When I was in Philadelphia during the Depression in 1930 or 31, I got a very sad job as a night watchman in a garage. The cars in the garage had been abandoned by their owners, since they had lost their jobs and couldnt keep up the payments." (Tom Glazer, American folk singer and songwriter) This feeling of desperation permeates Mice and Men, and the story, as Steinbeck intended, provides caustic criticism of American culture in those days which allowed that desperation to flourish and for some to gain by it at the expense of the weak. “Steinbeck was writing about a system of American exploitation that turned workers into borderline slaves.” Sinise, with expert direction, makes this point simply and with a frightening clarity that has one pondering the fact that this was America barely 75 years ago. References Johnson, Durst Claudia. Understanding of Mice and Men, the Red Pony, and the Pearl: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. 5 Losers of the American Dream. Greenwood Press, 1997. Gleiberman, Owen. Movie Review, Of Mice and Men, 1992. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20166287,00.html Rosenfeld, Megan, Washington Post Staff. Washington Post.com. “Of Mice and Men” PG-13, October 16, 1992. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/ofmiceandmenpg13rosenfeld_a09e7c.htm Answers.com. Of Mice and Men: Plot http://www.answers.com/topic/of-mice-and-men-1939-film Of Mice and Men, film, ( 2 October 1992). Director Gary Sinise. Screenplay, Horton Foote. Read More