Of Mice and Men

Topics: The American Dream

Nature vs. Society
Violence
Lonliness
 American Dreamin’
• The phrase the American Dream came into the
American vocabulary starting in 1867 when
writer, Horatio Alger came out with his book
“Ragged Richard.” It was a rags-to-riches tale of
a poor orphan boy in New York City who saves
his pennies, works hard and eventually becomes
rich. It became the model that through honesty,
hard work and strong determination, success
was available to anyone willing to make the
journey.
 “Real” Dreams
Steinbeck’s novel is his message
about this idea of the American
Dream:
FOR MANY PEOPLE:
The American Dream is not a goal
you can choose—it is a fantasy
designed to keep your mind off of
how miserable your life really is---
designed to keep you working and
blaming yourself when it doesn’t work
out.
 The Dream Farm
• This is a dream shared at first only by
George and Lennie. At this point it is truly a
“fantasy”—like a bedtime story about
princesses and castles to make Lennie
happy. Later, however, when Candy comes
up with the money—it changes into a “goal”
type of dream—like the American Dream
itself.
Dreams as a Defense Mechanism.

• Dreams are one of the ways in which the

characters combat the loneliness and
hopelessness of their existence.

• The characters who truly believe that

dreams can come true are naïve and
childish—in this novel.
 The Sensible Point of View
• Crooks has “grown up” point of view about
dreams:
• 'Seems like ever' guy got land in his head.‘
• ‘Don’t’ never come true—nobody gets to
heaven and nobody gets any land.’
• Just as soon as Crooks allows himself to
believe he may be wrong, even for a
moment—Curley’s wife sets him straight
again—and he goes back to acting like he
“doesn’t want it anyway.”
 Believers are Fools and Children
• To Lennie, the dream is a childish obsession.
• He believes that he will have it if he is “good.”
• He believes he will have it if he works hard.
• He believes in it enough to protect it.
• Curley's wife is another who has dreams: movies,
clothes and a life of luxury—the reader knows they
are nonsense. She allows the denial of her dreams to
be an excuse for her bad/foolish behavior: she
believes she DESERVES the dream.
 Nature
• Steinbeck shows the world of nature to be
a beautiful and peaceful one, but disturbed
by the actions of men.

• The beginning of the novel sets this

pattern, as the creatures at the pool are
scattered by George and Lennie's
approach.
Mice or Men: Nature vs. Society
• The ranch and its buildings, being created by
men, are in contrast with the natural world.
Notice that the bunkhouse, for example, is quite
bare and poorly lit (unlike natural beauty) and
Crook’s room is full of medicines, books and
broken things (man’s ideas and world needs
fixing all the time—unlike nature).
• Even more unnatural is that Candy, Lennie and
Crooks are all deformed or “unnatural” in some
way, and are part of society.
 Violence: Natural or Wrong?
• Curley is the most obviously violent character –
he IS mean—but he’s also cunning.
• Carlson is unconcerned about killing Candy's
dog—it is the “way of things” (he thinks nothing
of cleaning the gun in Candy's presence). But,
he means nothing by it—he is not being MEAN.
• Lennie reveals an animalistic, or natural
violence: powerful and dangerous, but not
“Mean.” He wants to get along with everyone
and he wants soft things—but he is too simple
and too strong, by nature, to pull it off.
 Lonliness
• Candy-- is old and crippled: society is
mean ”pretty soon they’ll put me on the
county.” His only comfort is his old dog,
which keeps him company and reminds
him of days when he was young and
whole. Once his dog is killed he is totally
alone. He eagerly clutches at the dream--
even after Lennie dies.
• Crooks—alone by race: society is mean
”they all say I stink”
 Loneliness
• Curley’s Wife—alone by gender: society is mean, “don’t I
need someone to talk to--all the men are scared of each
other”
• George—alone by economic status: society is mean, “if I was
so smart, would I be working for my fifty and found? (yes,
because guys like him never get a chance at education or
opportunity)”
• George has Lennie—but plays solitaire and risks Lennie
getting in trouble when he tries to find the companionship of
“equals.” When Lennie is killed he is totally alone—he
ceases to dream.
 Themes
• Themes are what the author has to say
about a topic. Themes are expressed as
statements/sentences
• What Steinbeck says about loneliness
• What Steinbeck says about dreams
• What Steinbeck says about violence
• What Steinbeck says about nature and the
dealings of man.
 What’s in a Name?
• As a final note, it is worth pointing out the
significance of the name Soledad - the town
near where the story is set. In Spanish, it means
loneliness (solitude) - a cue to one of the major
topics of the novel.
• The Name of the Novel itself is from a poem
where the line reads (trans.): “The best laid
plans of mice and men can go wrong in the end,
and leave us nothing but grief and pain for
promised joy”--a cue to the theme of the novel
related to the topic of goals/dreams.