Common Themes In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

“In Of Mice and Men, Steinback has shown the readers, something about the pain of living in a complex human world and created something beautiful from it” (Scarseth 4). Thomas Scarseth believes that, John Steinbecks “Of Mice and Men,” is a teachable book, due to its ability to teach lessons about how events, people in society, or just simply want someone to go, but as time goes on, we as people, need to accept these tragedies.
Firstly, Scarseth teaches the audience that the characters are a complex mixture of good and bad. In Of Mice and Men, none of the characters are strictly labeled, “good or bad.” Each character in the novel does show a mixture of both characteristics. I believe that the characters are not purely, “good or bad.” For example,
in the beginning of the novel, “Of Mice and Men,” Lennie is portrayed as quiet, mentally challenged, but towards the end was made out to look bad and cruel for killing Curley’s wife. As the book began to progress, Lennie became more aggressive and defensive. On page 63 in, “Of Mice and Men,” it states, “Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand.” This goes to show that Lennie found the courage to stand up for himself, and how his characteristics change from the beginning and end of the book.
Furthermore, Scarseth expresses that, “Of Mice and Men” teaches readers about friendship and love amongst characters. Throughout, “Of Mice and Men,” George took Lennie under his wing and acted as parental figure to Lennie. I believe that Scarseth’s claim of friendship and love throughout the novel due to the amount of thoughtfulness, sympathy, and bravery George showed Lennie. This was well known to the readers, throughout the story. On page 22 in, “Of Mice and Men,” it states, “I never seen one guy take so trouble for another guy.” This shows the audience, George’s courageous and audacity towards his friend.
In addition, Scarseth also teaches the readers that the style of, “Of Mice and Men,” is simple.
In the novel, the ideas and themes have simple concepts, such as prejudice, isolation, and companionship. I believe that ideas and themes in Steinbeck’s, “Of Mice and Men,” are simple concepts due to the vass majority of ways prejudice, isolation, and companionship are used and expressed throughout the book. These are all expressed from or by different characters in the story, therefore it is able to help the reader get to understand and identify themes, then proceeding to get to know the characters personalities. To show an example of prejudice, on page 60 in, “Of Mice and Men,” it states, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else.” This expresses the powerfulness that certain characters had, such as Carlson in this case, and their decisions overruled the rest. For example of isolation, on page 81 in, “Of Mice and Men,” is writes, “Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink.” This writing shows the readers about racial discrimination towards a person, such as Crooks in this instance. To describe an example of companionship, Candy and his relationship with his dog, was a very close bond, as his dog was his companion until Carlson killed the
dog.
In conclusion, Scarseth believes that, “John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men, expertly portrayed showed the readers, something about pain of living in a complex human world and created something beautiful from it.” Scarseth shows us his claims throughout, “A Teachable Good Book: Of Mice and Men,” such as characters having multiple characteristics expressed in the novel, teaching us that friendship and love is what, “Of Mice and Men,” is all about. The style of the story is a very simple concept, including prejudice, isolation, and companionship. Furthermore Scarseth helped readers recognize themes, characteristics, and tragedies throughout the book.