Of Mice And Men: Themes
- Created by: Ruby Foster
- Created on: 06-04-13 18:29
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- Themes
- Broken Dreams
- Curley's wife hoped of being a movie star, but her dreams broke when she didn't receive a letter
- George and Lennie share a dream - to own a little patch of land and live on it in freedom.
- Lennie's main desire is to tend the soft-haired rabbits they will keep.
- Candy joins George and Lennie's plan of owning a piece of land.
- Crooks dreams of being seen as equal to everyone else
- Friendship
- Friendship is very important for George and Lennie, and to keep their dreams alive
- George and Lennie's friendship is unusual, because people in their position doent usualy form bonds
- The other members at the ranch form relations with George and Lennie, and therefor end up sharing the same dream
- Inequalities
- Candy is old and disabled, therefor feels like he needs to work harder in order to obtain his position on the ranch
- Crooks is black and disabled, therefor receives racial discrimination
- Curley's wife faces alot of discrimination for being a women - sexism
- Lennies learning disabilities put him at a disadvantage to the others and makes him more vulnerable
- Loneliness
- People who are lonely have more need of a dream
- George is not lonely during the novel, as he has Lennie. He will be lonely afterwards, without his best friend.
- Lennie is the only character who is innocent enough not to fear loneliness, but he is angry when Crooks suggests George won't come back to him.
- Curley's wife is married to a man that she doesn't love and there are no other women on the ranch for her to talk to
- When Candy's ancient, ill dog was shot, Candy has nothing left. He delayed killing the dog, even though he knew deep down that it was the best thing, as he dreaded losing his long-time companion.
- Crooks lives in enforced solitude, away from the other men. He is bitter about being a back-busted ******. He is thrilled when Lennie and Candy come into his room and are his companions for a night.
- Strength and weakness
- Curley uses his physical strength to intimidate people
- Strength is valuable to people in George and Lennies possition
- Lennie has a lot of physical strength that he can not control
- Human tendencies defeated George and Lnnie in the end
- George and Lennies dream
- This is the most powerful symbol in the novel
- This represents possible freedom,self reliance and protection from the cruel world
- This idea seduces the characters and readers
- Predatory nature of human existence
- Oppression does not only come from the powerful, but the weak whom want to make the weak even weaker. i.e. crooks and Lennies argument,
- the need to oppress comes from weakness
- All characters at some point admit to having felt loneliness
- Corrupting power of women
- Early on, we learn George and Lennie were run out of their previous ranch due to a women
- Women have no place in the authors idealistic vision of a world structured around men
- George believes women are trouble and corrupt men, therefor does not desire a relationship with a women
- Women are perceived as being trouble throughout the novel i.e. Curley's wife
- Candy's dog
- Represents that the strong dispose of the weak
- A metaphor for Candy
- Candy fels like he is heading for the same fate s his dog
- Broken Dreams
- Of Mice And Men
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