Thematic Ideas In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Thematic Ideas in Of Mice and Men “‘I can still tend the rabbits, George?’ ‘Sure. You ain't done nothing wrong.’ ‘I di'n't mean no harm, George.’” (Steinbeck) Throughout John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Lennie childishly obsesses over his and George’s plan to have their own piece of land, on which he could tend the rabbits. However, this never came to pass as Lennie was put down like an animal, by George. By writing about the lives of this unfortunate pair, Steinbeck addresses many thematic ideas such as having power and being powerless, the difference between right and wrong, and dreams and reality that help the reader better understand the human condition. One thematic idea Steinbeck explains was that power depends on type, situation,
and perspective. When talking to Slim, George admits that Lennie would do anything he asked. He says, “Made me seem God damn smart alongside of him. Why he’d do any damn thing I tol’ him.”. (Steinbeck) George had complete power over Lennie, even though Lennie could have “coulda bust every bone” in George’s body. (Steinbeck) This reveals two different types of power each man had, and that George’s sharp intellect was more powerful than Lennie’s awesome strength. Situational and perspective power was seen in Crooks’ room. In the scene, Crooks starts with the upper hand in an argument with Lennie. He told Lennie that “They’ll take ya to the booby hatch. They’ll tie ya up with a collar, like a dog.” (Steinbeck) However, quickly after Crooks says this, Lennie turns the tables on him and becomes more powerful. He “walked dangerously toward Crooks” and scares Crooks into behaving. (Steinbeck) Though this event Steinbeck shows how power can switch quickly depending on the situation and the perspectives of the participants. Later in the scene, Curley’s wife joins Crooks and Lennie in their conversation. Not wanting to be caught alone with her, Crooks rudely asks her to leave. She furiously replied with, “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” After this Crooks draws himself in and loses all his bravery. Here, Steinbeck again shows that power comes from the situation, while also sending a message about the increase in KKK lynching’s of African Americans. (Zeitler) By adding these events in Georges and Lennie’s lives, Steinbeck reveals that the amount of power a person holds is dependent on its type, and the situation. Another thematic idea Steinbeck addressed was the difference between right and wrong.
He indicates that the clear line we draw between right and wrong is often unclear and muddled. He does this by making his characters face hard choices, and confront harsh realities. The most obvious example of this was Lennie’s killings and eventually his own death. Ignorant of his own strength, Lennie often says, “I’d pet ’em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead.” (Steinbeck) It is impossible to say that Lennie’s unintentional killing was either completely right or wrong. The same can be said with George’s killing of Lennie. It may seem harsh and wrong that George kills his only friend when Lennie couldn’t control his own actions, but George saves Lennie from a potentially worse fate at the hands of the men looking for him. Evans even goes as far as to say that “George will give Lennie a kind of peace while consigning himself to lonely torment.” (Evans) Steinbeck highlights the unclear line again in his description of Curley’s wife. At first, she is described as evil and jail bait, but she reveals another lonely, dreamy side to Lennie before he kills her. This is surprises the reader, making him reconsider her personality, and further expresses Steinbeck’s explanation of the obscure difference between what is right and
wrong. Finally, one of the most important thematic ideas that Steinbeck analyzes is dreams and reality. The title Of Mice and Men was inspired by the poem “To a Mouse”. In this poem is the line, “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” meaning that sometimes a plan just simply can’t go the way we want. This is true with George and Lennie, and it was the message Steinbeck was trying to send to the readers. George and Lennie’s dream, to have a piece of land of their own, never happened and could never happen. All though the story Lennie talks about the rabbits he will tend and “living on the fatta the lan’”, only to die by the hands of his friend. (Steinbeck) It clear from the beginning that Lennie had no place in society. He went from one job to another and was never able to settle down for long. The events that led to his demise were unavoidable and thus, the ending of the dream was unavoidable. Another example of a dream that could never happen was Crooks’ dream to not live in isolation. When Crooks talked to Candy and Lennie he got excited at the possibility of living with others. However, after he encounters Curley’s wife he changes his mind and says, “Well, jus’ forget it. “I didn’ mean it. Jus’ foolin’. I wouldn’ want to go no place like that.” (Steinbeck) The conversation with Curley’s wife brings him back to reality and forces him to give up on a dream that could never come true. In fact, Steinbeck's first title for Of Mice and Men was "Something That Happened," meaning that the events in the story couldn’t have been changed, and that Steinbeck took a non-teleological and non-¬blaming point of view in the novel. (Owens) In a short novel Steinbeck manages to convey a plethora of ideas about the human condition. He shows that power is ever-changing, that right and wrong are not always easy to spot, and that sometimes dreams just simply can’t come true. His novel gives the reader a situation from which they can learn to better understand not only their lives, but also the lives of others.