Thematic Essay On Of Mice And Men

John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men chronicles the experiences of two unlikely friends Lennie and George, as they follow the path of life in pursuit of their own version of the American dream. Steinbeck incorporates thematic ideas that define dreams and what prevents them from being manifested, tensions concerning race and gender, and the significance of relationships within the story. Use of these thematic ideas amplify the strength of feeling throughout the story, and connects the reader with themes they can identify with.
Throughout Of Mice and Men, there are characters, like Curley’s wife, who dream of how their lives could have been different. “Well, a show come through, an’ (Steinbeck 88). In the case of Curley’s wife, she could have been a movie star, if not for her mother’s disagreement. Curley’s wife constantly reminisces on how she could have, theoretically, made something of herself if reality had not stepped in the way. George and Lennie dream of owning a farm, and plan to “live off the fatta the lan” (Steinback 14). “George’s imagined
Women like Curley’s wife were looked as possessions to be owned, who were void of feeling, and could not feel the effects of loneliness. African Americans like Crooks were discriminated against and left unincluded, on account of the color of their skin. “I could get you strung up on a tree so fast it ain’t even funny” (Steinbeck 81). Crooks is berated with threats from Curley’s wife and derogatory language from other workers on the ranch. “A lifelong victim of segregation of social ostracisms, Crooks lives in constant fear of inadvertently breaking society’s ridgid taboos” (Bloom). The rigidness of society in 1930’s drives Crooks to distance himself from others and, Curley’s wife to seek company with others. Steinbeck uses these thematic ideas to depict the difficulty of social life for some of those when lived in the 1930’s to the