The Faithful Representation of American Reality in John Steinbeck's, Of Mice and Men

Ryan McMillan

Mr. Ealy Block 2

February 28, 2008

The Faithful Representation Of Reality Realism is a writing style that depicts all of the common, ordinary aspects of life. While Romanticism was enormously popular and influential in the mid 19th century, bitterness from The Great Depression inspired authors to produce stories with characters and plots consistent with the common person’s feelings of poverty and despair. Realists felt that literature had an ethical obligation to present life in all of its doubtful and complex forms; rather than depicting a story with a twisted and fantastical plot. John Steinbeck is one notable author from the realist genre. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men demonstrates the vulnerability of people who suffer in periods of political unrest and economic depression through his characters and plot schemes. The whole concept of this specific literary genre is “dependent upon a theory of a common vision” (Fremon 65). This idea compels the reader to indulge in a subjective experience while reading the text. Rather than just reading the words on the page, the author’s primary goal is to have the audience emotionally and personally connect with the story being told. The Great Depression was an era that brought about an especially negative facet of realism, being that the majority of Americans had become “companions with poverty and economic hardship” (Smith 13). The majority of the characters in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men wander around searching for hope when ultimately there is none to be found. Lennie is the most innocent and hopeful of all the men on the ranch, but Crooks attempts to destroy his optimistic outlook by stating, “Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land" (Steinbeck 74). This statement has the effect to pull the reader away from believing that there might be a positive twist to life, which is the ultimate result a realistic writer attempts to achieve. It is evident from the beginning of the novel Of Mice and Men that the two main characters, George and Lennie, have nothing but each other. This is enough for them at times, but they spend their lives traveling from town to town, searching for work in order to purchase a small farm and “live offa the fatta the lan'” (Steinbeck 57). Hope of someday achieving this dream is “the only thing that drives these characters throughout the book” (Fremon 64). Often, George becomes aggravated at the fact that he has nothing and channels his frustration towards Lennie:

Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble....An' whatta I got,' George went on furiously. 'I got you! You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out (Steinbeck 11).

But after conflicts like this are resolved, the story continues to hold a shimmer of belief that George and Lennie will acquire the sought after farm along with happiness because the pair has remained together through all of the strife and struggle. However, the end of the story shatters all hope: “And George raised the gun… to the back of Lennie’s head… He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). The general mood of the book is pessimistic but with a slight positive, hopeful aspect created by the possibility that the characters could potentially climb out of poverty and into a state of satisfaction. But all hope is lost when George kills Lennie because the pair will never have their farm together, and now they do not even have each other. The effect this scene has accurately describes the feelings and personal experiences of people who lived in similar social and economic situations to George and Lenny. Poverty caused by the stock market crash of 1928 “pulled many Americans into a state of financial depression that seemed to have no end.” (Fremon 7). Some people were able to remain optimistic when there was not much to be hopeful about. They did this by “appreciating family and friends rather than possessions” (Fremon 23), which was difficult to do in such hard times. Steinbeck incorporated this appreciation into the characters of George and Lennie, which is obvious when George comments to Lennie,” I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.” Unfortunately this vision is only kept alive for a short time, until the final effect the realistic tone is unveiled in the conclusion of the novella. Of Mice and Men is a prime example of a story that contains all of the aspects of realism in accordance to life during a certain time period. A major theme in this book was suffrage during economic depression, which reflects a truth experienced by the vast majority of Americans during The Great Depression. John Steinbeck vividly portrayed this impoverished lifestyle through the depth of the characters as well as through the bitter reality of the plot.

Fremon, David K. The Great Depression. Berkley Heights: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1997.
Smith, Christopher. American Realism. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2000.
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Books. 1993.