Theme Of Empathy In Of Mice And Men

The novel, Of Mice and Men, was written by John Steinbeck and is set in the Salinas Valley of northern California on a small ranch somewhere around the 1930’s. The novel is about the adventure of two men, George and Lennie, in hopes of achieving their dream to, “live off the fatta the lan’.” In the process of obtaining their dream, they are faced with a numerous amount of road blocks. The biggest road block would be when Lennie kills Curley’s wife, at this moment in the story all hopes of their dream have been put to rest. Steinbeck uses characterization in the novel to express empathy for a number of characters including Crooks, Lennie, and Curley’s wife.
Steinbeck characterizes Crooks, a stable buck, in a number of ways to create empathy