Published: 1937 (Covici Freide)
John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, tells the story of two flawed friends during the Great Depression who stick together until the elements of an uncertain world collide too fiercely to keep their bond alive. George is the caretaker, a quick-thinking and pragmatic man looking out for Lennie, a true oaf with a large frame, larger heart, and little else at his disposal. Our story starts with these two friends sitting on a river bank planning out their next job as they slink through the Salinas Valley looking for work so they can save up enough to have their own spot of land with chickens and rabbits. George sees Lennie as both someone worthy of sharing this life with, but also someone who in an instant can ruin it for them both. Lennie, clearly suffering from intellectual disabilities, has already gotten them in hot water in Northern California for accidentally holding on to a women’s skirt too tight and not letting go of it. George, aware of Lennie’s inability to control his strength or make good decisions, has trained Lennie to listen to him exclusively. Lennie can’t lie to George, as seen by George calling him out for lying about holding a mouse early in the novel. This dynamic, Lennie hiding behavior he knows could get them in trouble, is repeated throughout the novel with more dire results with each instance.
After an introduction to our characters and their brotherly dynamic, George and Lennie roll up on a farm where they have arranged to work, and over one short weekend their presence will upset the proverbial apple cart in serious ways. We meet Slim, the wise and respected mule driver, Candy, the one-handed down-n-his-luck and past his prime farmhand who wants to hitch his wagon to George and Lennie’s dreams, and Curley, the hard-hitting and aggressive-minded son of the owner. They all work together, but their work is oft-interrupted by Curley’s wife, a young and friendly newlywed who always seems to slip from Curley’s control enough to make him paranoid she will cheat on him with one of the other farmhands. George and Lennie prove themselves, George with his wit and control of Lennie and Lennie with his prodigious strength. They impress Candy with their plan to own land so much that he hitches his wagon to them, promising to front over half the money to buy a farm in the future. George and Lenny get acquainted with Curley, who already has issues with Lennie because of his Napoleon complex, and they learn of his prototypical harlot wife, looking to flirt with anyone she talks to. Curley even challenges Lenny to a fight, which ends in Lennie crushing Curley’s hand and in a twisted way gaining his respect when Slim forces Curley to lie and say that it was caught in a machine. Trouble is brewing, a crucial scene in this novel that encapsulates all of the elements that will lead to our friends’ demise occurs when Lennie goes to where Crooks, a black farm hand, lives. Crooks is sleeping near newborn puppies that are in a barn. At first, Crooks tells Lennie to get out, but Lennie does not want to because he is obsessed with petting the puppies. Crooks senses an opportunity to mess with Lennie so he probes and gets more info about George’s plan for the farm, even coming around a bit asking if he can work on it. Curley’s wife comes in during this moment of connection, and immediately takes a sledge hammer to the camaraderie, belittling Lennie’s IQ and cutting down Crooks’ position as the only black man on the farm. At once this scene seems a bit on the nose, a woman comes to cut down men who are making genuine connection, but Curley’s wife seems to be jealous of the freedom that even these poor helpless men have, and so in some ways it shows that people are formed by their environment and that societal convention can make anyone into an unpleasant tart, or a vindictive man.
Our novel ends with Lennie up to his old tricks, accidently killing a puppy as he pets it, which sends him into an emotional spiral. In walks Curley’s wife who initially flirts with Lennie by having him put his hand in her hair, but once it gets caught she screams. Lennie freaks out and covers her mouth, eventually snapping her neck, forcing him to flee back to the river bank we met him and George at in the beginning of the novel. George and the other farmhands find Curley’s wife dead, then go out to search for Lennie and bring him to justice. George sneaks away from the group back to the riverbank, distracts Lennie by sharing their old dream of owning land together in a final touching moment, and then shoots him in the back of the head to end the whole ordeal himself, as he feels responsible for bringing this chaos. Slim consoles George as they walk away, George is now alone in this world without his brother.
Some final thoughts:
- I don’t think this book lends a sympathetic or critical eye on its main characters, the story is a deeply human story about what people do with what they have. George is holding on to companionship in the face of loneliness, Lennie is holding onto his protector after they leave their Aunt Clara, Curley is holding onto his ill-conceived dignity by fighting anyone and exerting control over his wife, even Candy the one-armed farmhand is trying to preserve his future by hitching his wagon to a good prospect. What makes this novel special is the intersection of all these dreams and fears, it just happened to end in a tragic four-car pile up.
- I never read this book in high school English classes, I read it independently, and I see how the use of language and portrayal of race and gender roles does not ascribe to modern conventions or acceptable discourse, rightfully so, but like I tell my history students, this book is a product of its time and should be examined for both its essential qualities which are timeless, and its flaws which are wrapped in its context. I relish the opportunity to negotiate difficult themes and topics presented by a work such as this. I think that is why this tragic story of the search for belonging is deeply affecting for young readers, we can see our hopes, dreams, and lack of control in some of these characters.
Rating: 4.3/5
Will Reviews Things 