Characters in Mice and Men - Essay Example

Characters in Mice and Men The Novella portrays a world where characters are engaged in a struggle for existence. They move forward in this world with some obsessions, dreams and desires. Tragedy occurs when obsessions come in clash with dreams. The struggle also binds characters in different kinds of relationships based on sympathy, apathy and antipathy. Where they share the dreams they develop a bond of sympathy and companionship as is the case with Lennie and George. But when there is clash of dreams or obsessions they develop a kind of hostility which sometimes bears drastic results. This happens in case of Curley and his wife’s contact with Lennie. The protagonists share a dream of having their own farm and this dream eggs them on to keep up their struggle for existence. They are prepared to bear any hardship which may come in their way. They are ready to work on Curely’s farm as they will earn enough money to fulfill their dreams. Lennie has joined in because of his innocent fetish of tending soft rabbits. He believes that at their own farm he will be free to tend rabbits. They are also engaged in a relationship based on interdependence and sympathy. The mental retardation of Lennie has developed a caring concern in the mind of George who is always worried about the well being of his innocent fellow who is not good at perceiving the ways of the world and is always at risk. The struggle for survival for Lennie is tough due to his mental incapacity. He is also vulnerable to an inevitable doom due to his fetishes for soft things. The physical dissimilarity contrasts both the characters as George has been portrayed as a man who was “ small and quick, dark of face, restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined” (1:ch. 1). On the other hand Lennies is “ huge man, shapeless of face with pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders”(1:ch. 1). George is a clever fellow who has the understanding of the ways of the world while Lennie is a childish retard . But the retard is not just a liability on his friend’s shoulder rather through his physical vigour he sometimes contributes to the tasks carried out by his friend George. He is strong and sturdy and his physical strength has made him a good worker. George presents him to Boss as a useful and efficient worker. George tells the boss about Lennie,“He’s sure a hell of a good worker. Strong as a bull” (8:ch. 2). Despite of his physical strength , Lennie is innocent like a baby and most of the time behaves like an naïve child. He has strange fetish for stroking soft things. When George snubs him for keeping a dead mouse in his pocket he replies, “I wasn’t doin’ nothing bad with it, George. Jus’ strokin’ it”(4 :ch. 1). When his friend throws that dead mouse away. The “ big guy” weeps like an innocent child. George annoyingly exclaims, “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you.” (4: ch. 1). He seems to be burden on George and sometimes George out of impatience cries,“God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all”(4: ch.1) Apart from the protagonists the following characters appear in the first two sections of the story and the writer has also depicted them in relation to main characters__ George and Lennie. Boss Boss seems to be a man of world who knows how to deal with farm hands. His immediate suspicion about George and Lennie relationship shows that he looks to the practical side of the things. Farm hands praise him for his generosity at the occasion of Christmas. The character of the boss has been summed up in these lines: “Well, he’s a pretty nice fella. Gets pretty mad sometimes, but he’s pretty nice. Tell ya what—know what he done Christmas? Brang a gallon of whisky right in here and says, ‘Drink hearty, boys. Christmas comes but once a year’’ (8:ch. 2) Curley and Wife On the other hand his son Curely seems to be a peevish character who is always ready to lay his hands on his victims. “ He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kindof like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy” (10: ch. 2). George shows his disgust for such kind of fellows. He blurts, “ This guy Curley sounds me a like a son-of-bitch to me. I don’t like mean little guys” (10: Ch. 2).Candy attributes his bad temper to the sour relationship between husband and wife. His wife has the reputation of churl who is always fascinated with strong men. She is the bad woman of the house who has a bad reputation. The swamper tells George, “I think Curley’s married . . . . a tart”(11:ch.2). She has an eye on every farm hand. Candy Candy ,the old farm worker, is the symbol of “ loss” at the farm. The man has spent his life on the farm and is now on the verge of total decay along with the dog who once was a sheepherder. In the struggle for existence these people are taken as burden and it’s better to do away with them according to survival of the fittest scheme. Candy develops a good relationship with Lennie and George and the mention of their dream to him sparks a kind of new life in him and he proposes to invest in their project. The main characters in the story are involved in struggle for existence and the survival is not very easy in this world which is full of many hostile persons. Man’s worth is because of his utility and when this utility diminishes. The worth of man also diminishes. George can not keep his humanistic bond with his friend as the latter accidently entangles into the situation which is beyond his control. Hence, George has to do away with him with his own hands. The obsessions of Curley’s wife and Lennie come in the way of George and Lennie’s dream. Works Cited "Of Mice and Men Book Pdf Free Ebook Download from Www.wuhsd.org." EbookBrowse.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2012. . For intext citations I used the following source MLA In-text citation: bedfordstmartins.com/hacker Read More