John Steinbeck's classic novel "Of Mice and Men".

Essay by en87High School, 10th gradeA-, February 2004

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Who doesn't know of John Steinbeck's classic novel "Of Mice and Men"? It

is a novel that almost everyone educated in the United States has either

read it or pretended to read it. But how many have seen the 1992 film "Of

Mice and Men"? The relative obscurity of 1992 screen version of this

timeless drama does not mean that it was poorly done. Just the contrary

is true, it is one of the best film adaptations of a novel that I have

seen. The novel and the film are very similar. The Steinbeck's novel

could be though of as the screenplay's first draft. There were some small

changes, but they were instituted for the good of the film. I liked the

film better than Steinbeck's novel. "Of Mice and Men" is a story of

people who express their troubles clearly, holding on to thin dreams as

they go about their thankless business.

The novel, set in the 1930s, is a

story of friendship of migrant workers George Milton and Lennie Smalls.

The pair travels from ranch to ranch, dreaming of someday making enough

money so they can buy their own plot of land and a stake in their future.

George is a father figure and protector of the strong simple-minded

Lennie. Lennie's strength is his gift and his curse. Like the child he

is mentally, he loves animals, but he inadvertently crushes them to death.

Women, to him, are rather like animals, -- soft, small, and gentle. And

there lies the tension that powers this narrative to its tragic

conclusion. The film version and the novel are very similar. There is

minimal description in the novel, enough to set the scene, and the rest is

dialogue. The film's story is very pure and lean as Steinbeck's original.

Producer/director Gary...