Book Review of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - Essay Example

That is why he needs George to make sure that he does not get into trouble, or to get him out of trouble. George always knew of the social expectation and limitations of their status. And so, throughout the story, George and Lennie struggled against these social forces that block their dream of having a farm of their own. The dream of having their own farm symbolizes their dream of being free. The ending of the story demonstrates that not all dreams can be fulfilled, not because we stop doing something about it, but because there are certain social factors that cannot be easily defeated.

Examples of these are discrimination, prejudice and assumptions. Steinback used Lennie’s character as the anchor of the story. The plot revolves around Lennie’s strength and love of soft things. It was Lennie’s love for soft things that led two friends to look for another job since they escaped their previous one. It was also Lennie’s strength and love for soft things that ended their dream of having their own farm. Steinback cleverly used Lennie’s weaknesses to strengthen George’s character.

Because Lennie had a mental incapacity, George became the brain of the two friends. He became the one responsible for their actions. In the end, it was George who destroyed Lennie’s dream by giving him the freedom from the social restrictions placed on them. Steinback also created other characters to negatively and positively reinforce the main characters’ strengths and weaknesses. But more than that, he used them to reveal the picture of the human society, especially during those times. There was a lot of discrimination taking place.

Particularly discrimination because of gender like of Curley’s wife, because of Crooks race and because of old age and handicap of Candy. Steinback’s story revealed the impact of discrimination on people and how this might lead to their own failures in life. He used his characters to define what he believed what was happening in the society without blatantly indicating what should and should not happen to amplify the discrimination. The plot is perfectly structured, in the sense, that it does not not confuse the reader.

It is linear, meaning it tells the story of the two friends in a straightforward fashion. But Steinback’s style used the reader to interpret the story. While he told the story, he did not reveal the characters’ thoughts, only their actions and their words. The narration was initially introduced, but only to open the scene. It were the characters who described each other, who told the reader what was going on in the story. It did not divulge the secret thoughts of the characters, rather it urged the reader to dig deep within himself to understand what was going on in the story.

The use of dialogues emphasized the real-like nature of the characters allowing them to breathe and live. The dramatic format how Steinback opened and closed the scene, like zooming in and out through the camera lens, highlighted the way how characters might have looked at their lives. The circular pattern of opening and closing scenes stressed that we continuously open and close our doors in our lives. And this also highlighted the need for people to accept and let go things that we couldn’t move on if we continue to stay in one position.

Steinback also used foreshadowing, although maybe a bit too much, to emphasize connections between one scene to another. It was used to tie up the entire story together and without foreshadowing the story