January 13, 2010
Of Mice and Men essay
An allegory is a work where characters are symbols of ideas. They may symbolize anything from honesty to sadness. In an allegorical novel these characters and the ideas they represent form together to suggest a moral. The novel, Of Mice and Men is one of these allegorical novels. Its theme or moral is about friendship: the friendship of George and Lennie. The actions of the characters that represent ideas in the story bring about the chance for George to show his caring and love for Lennie in a powerful way making the story allegorical. All of the characters play a part in the novel whatever their size of the role that connects them allowing Of Mice and Men to function as an allegory.
There are many characters in Of Mice and Men. All of them are an important part of the story and symbolize something. The minor characters, although minor, still represent something either thought or felt by people. For example: Carlson represents lack of emotion that could almost be seen as a form of cruelty. Slim represents calmness; his laidbackness during the novel makes him an admirable character to any appreciative reader and his quick thinking during a time of emergency as in when Curley and Lennie fought (it could be considered a fight) is also admirable. Crooks represents hate for those that are prejudice against him, but he also shows jealousy that he is not part of the group, so he represents loneliness as well. Candy represents desperation as his life on the ranch comes to an end, and sadness at the loss of his beloved dog. The boss represents good natured sterness. Those are basically what all of the minor characters in the novel Of Mice and Men symbolize or represent.
Although the minor characters in Of Mice and Men play a major part in the plot and overall makeup of the story, the major characters are the basis for everything that is Of Mice and Men. If Of Mice and Men was a tree, George, Curley, Lennie, and of