Analysis of John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men - Research Paper Example

Candy, after losing his old and decrepit dog, begs the two to let him join them so that he will not be alone. Crooks, also desiring not to be left alone on the ranch, wants to join their dream of independence. Curly’s wife, before she dies, confesses her dream to be a movie star. In fact, the only characters that do not admit to such a dream are those who stand atop the social and economic hierarchy. Curly, for instance, enjoys his place of power and represents a repressive force in the story insofar as he suppresses and controls the dreams of others. These are dreams of independence that reflect the concept of the American dream generally; however, at least from Of Mice and Men, the reader comes to realize that such dreams are economic and spiritual, impossibilities.

The impossibility of the stereotypical American dream is only strengthened by the overarching economic climate in which the men live. As Crooks tells George, “Nobody gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land” (Steinbeck 74). What Crooks say here is particularly interesting because it indicates that men are both economically and spiritually deprived of what they truly need. While George and Lennie are seeking the seemingly simple goal of acquiring their own land and independence, Crooks’ observation is that such land would provide more than substance and bodily satisfaction. Independence is, for all intents and purposes, an intellectual and mental necessity just as it is a bodily one. That is why each of the dreamers on the ranch spends all of their time thinking about how they are going acquire their own bit of land and with it their independence from the control of Curly.
As critic Todd M. Lieber puts it, “To George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men, for example, land represents fulfillment; out of their deprivation they dream of having land, and their dream is a need for identification” (267).

Thus, the reader should avoid simplistic interpretations of George and Lennie’s desires for land as a materialistic one in the context of a Great Depression economy in which every person faced extreme hardship. Rather, one should interpret land as a symbol that is capable of seducing the imaginations and dreams of men affected by loneliness and isolation caused, in part, by economic circumstances. Candy is instantly drawn into the dream just by overhearing it and even a dispassionate Crooks longs for human contact beyond the walls of Curly’s ranch. In this manner, Steinbeck’s novella offers a detailed picture of how the spiritual and bodily concerns of men are integrated into a single whole. Without fulfilling one’s needs economically, one cannot hope to achieve one’s goals spiritually and vice versa. Without land, “they have alienated fragments of men, less than the whole” (Lieber 267). While Curly’s ranch can provide basic material sustenance for all of its members, there is something inherent to an independent ranch that drives up the spirits of the characters and thus drives their American dream.

With reference to the thought that dependent men make only parts of a whole, the theme of “worn” and “damaged bodies” plays a significant role in Of Mice and Men according to critic Thomas Fahy. He writes, “[A man] typically measures self-worth in terms of usefulness and a strong body. His dreams for a better life cannot be achieved without it. But these bodies eventually begin to break down under the strain of poverty and abusive working conditions” (6). In the novella, Lennie is particularly valuable to the ranch and in turn, he offers something of value in return to George, who is relatively weak and not so valuable. Likewise, characters like Crooks and Candy represent the kind of worn and decrepit bodies that lack spiritual fulfillment.

Both George’s lack of physical strength and Lennie’s lack of mental strength seems to contribute to their inability to ever acquire the resources they need in order to accomplish the American dream, which also suggests that Steinbeck has in mind here the inherent impossibility of the American dream.

Eventually, through the course of the story, these limitations end up taking both George and Lennie further away from that dream. In the final scene, it is a snake that represents the Garden of Eden: “A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows” (Steinbeck 99). In many ways, it is a paradise lost both spiritually and economically. The use of Christian imagery is not a coincidence. It is in fact a device the author uses to cement the view that the American dream is impossible to both parts of man’s life. Read More