Themes in "Of Mice and Men".
There are several themes throughout the novel, "Of Mice and Men," but one of the main themes, is the theme of loneliness. The first line read "A few miles south of Soledad". This is quite a clever little idea by Steinbeck, since in Spanish "Soledad" means loneliness. The title "Of Mice and Men" also shows something about loneliness since the title actually came from a poem written by Robbie Burns's. The poem was called, "To a Mouse," and the point to the poem was that no matter how well the future may be planned, things often go wrong. Many people in the book are shown to be lonely, such as the two main characters, Curly's wife, and the one they call Whit. Loneliness plays a major part in this novel and that could explain why these people act the way they do.
The physical setting of Steinbeck's novel is very important because the date when the novel took place was in 1929, around the time that the stock market had crashed, which in turn made the dollar becoming just about worthless. George and Lennie were always wandering around from place to place looking for work and a way to earn an honest buck. Since unemployment was high at the time, men had to move around a lot looking for work, which meant they were never in one place long enough to form any real relationships with others, which pretty much meant that they were going to have a lonely stay without many true friends. Hence, they would have been quite lonely when they didn't have any friends.
Steinbeck also represents loneliness through the description of characters. He uses sexism and racism to get his message across. One example of this is when George meets the old, decaying Candy and his...
More John Steinbeck
essays:
Friendship in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
... John Steinbeck dealt with many themes in 1937 when he wrote Of Mice and Men. A recurrent theme in this novel is friendship. During the hard times of ... Lennie's direction. Candy let it all go and then went back to being depressed. His relationship with George and Lennie had been more of a business deal ...
An Examination of the Theme of Cooperation Versus Isolation in Of Mice and Men
... options is liable to be chosen unconsciously. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck focuses on this theme of cooperation versus isolation, and clearly ... these themes mainly because he wanted them to be in the forefront of the mind of society. Though the characters in Of Mice and Men that ...
The American Dream In John Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men" and Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun" .
... obstacles and beating all odds to one day be successful. This subject is the predominant theme in John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men as ... a place to hide in the eventuality that something should go wrong. As much as the dream means to George, he wants ...
How Does Steinbeck present the culture of the migrant workers in the novel "Of Mice and Men"?
... Of Mice and Men" was published in 1973, it was immediately successful and Steinbeck was beginning to be recognised as an author. The novel is set in Soledad, California and is ...
"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck: The theme of dreams in this novel, but explaining a quote from the story.
... Of mice and men”, written by John Steinbeck, the quote was taken form this novel. Spoken ... unfinished and unreachable dreams is what the quote is about. One of the themes of the novel is ...
"Of Mice and Men" A review of the novel and information about the author, Steinbeck
... OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck first takes place a few miles south of Soledad. There were two men by the names of George and Lennie ... work, Steinbeck focused on the struggles between human beings and nature. Of Mice and Men (1937) is a short novel that Steinbeck made ...
"The Migrant Workers of the Dirty Thirties", compares "Of Mice and Men" and "The Grapes of Wrath" both by John Steinbeck, with true migrant workers of that time.
... Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck captures the essence of the trials and tribulations that a migrant worker must go through to survive the harsh conditions posed by the Great Depression and the "Dust Bowl". In these two novels, he ... the stock market crash of 1929 and the droughts and dust ...
"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck.
... the poem is: "The best laid plans O' mice and men gang aft agley." In other words, if you plan something things could still go wrong. Steinbeck chose that title because it suits the theme of the novel as ...