What defines good?
Is it enough to think good to be good?
What if one cannot control one’s own behavior?
This is the story of a dream, and the price you have to pay for it.
Of Mice and Men is such a short book that you can finish it in 2 hours, but after you turn the last page and close it, you won’t be able to do anything but stare at the wall.
After reading the book, I also watched the play in the theater, and the ending had me in tears.
George and Lennie, two friends, are the main characters of our story. George is
physically small but clever; Lennie is strong but mentally challenged—he can’t control his actions. Even if his intentions are good, he can’t control them, nor can he realize what he’s doing. Lennie likes mice and rabbits because they’re cute and soft. But whenever he tries to grab and rub a mouse or a rabbit, he kills them because of his uncontrolled strong hands.
George and Lennie travel around and work at different farms to save money. There’s a reason why they can’t stick to one farm—they keep getting expelled because of Lennie. But if that’s the case, why doesn’t George leave Lennie or stop working?
The reason is that they have a dream. They dream of having their own farm one day, with a pretty farmhouse and lots of rabbits. They’ve been working for this dream for years. It is this dream that holds them together and gives their lives purpose. It gives them courage. Something to live for, something they can dedicate their lives to.
We can say their dream is really
utopian. First of all, the book takes place during the Great Depression. Plus, they are working-class; they don’t even have a place to live. Many others with similar dreams never had the chance to achieve them. With Lennie’s disability, it’s almost impossible for them. But they still have an advantage others don’t—they have each other, unlike other workers. Perhaps it is because they have each other that their dream can exist at all.
Having a friend, having a friend you can really trust in a world full of lonely people is very special. Especially at a time when people need each other.
“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.”
George and Lennie meet other workers on the farm where they work, and I think all of these characters are very interesting.
First, we have Candy, a really old man who has a really old dog. He is the oldest character among them, which makes it harder for him to connect with others and make friends.
Second, we have Slim, the smartest of them all, the “prince” of the ranch. He earned everyone’s respect and is present in almost every major event that happens at the ranch. He is smart and skilled, can communicate with people, but struggles with making “friends.”
Next, we have Curly, the boss’s son, the representative of the wealthy class. He always gets into fights and picks on others, relying on his position. He doesn’t even try to make friends because he doesn’t need to, and no one likes him.
Fourth, we have Curley’s wife. She is flirty and talkative, but no one sees her as an individual. In fact, she doesn’t even have a name mentioned in the book. She is the only woman in the ranch, which makes it harder for her to make friends.
We have some metaphors in this book and, in my opinion, Candy’s dog is the most important one. We mentioned that Candy had a dog as old as he is, which also gets sick frequently and smells really bad. A worker named Carlson offers Candy to kill the dog because it’s clearly suffering. As much as Candy loves his dog, he also feels like this would be for the best, but he’s not brave enough to do it.
So Carlson gets a gun and shoots the dog without even thinking.
But then Candy feels regretful, thinking he should’ve shot the dog himself. But what’s even the difference? Either way, the dog would’ve been dead.
The difference is the intention behind it. That dog didn’t mean anything to Carlson — he probably hated it.But Candy had spent his whole life with that dog; he loved it. He genuinely wanted to end its suffering, not just get rid of the smell.
“I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”
If death is inevitable, it is better to be killed with mercy than with hatred.
She starts screaming, and Lennie panics, trying to cover her mouth. But he ends up breaking her neck.
Now, I’ll skip to the end of the book.
Curley’s wife, a flirty woman as we all know, comes across Lennie in the barn. After a short conversation, She asks Lennie if he’d like to touch her hair, since she knows he likes soft things. But one thing she didn’t count on was that Lennie is mentally challenged and can’t think straight. When Curley’s wife tells him to stop, he doesn’t. She starts screaming, and Lennie panics, trying to
cover her mouth, but he ends up breaking her neck. He realizes what he has done and runs to the hay bales, remembering that George told him to go there if he ever got into trouble.
By that time, Curley realizes what happened to his wife and starts looking for Lennie, talking about how he will torture him. Since George knows where Lennie is, he rushes to the hay bales before Curley’s team. He talks with Lennie about their dream, the house, the rabbits…
“I can still tend the rabbits, George? I didn’t mean no harm, George.”
Then he grabs his gun and shoots Lennie in the back of the head.
Because if death is inevitable, it is better to be killed with mercy than with hatred.
Lennie falls on the ground, with all the dreams they had. And George realizes a harsh truth right after – he is now completely alone, just like everyone else…
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