Of mice and men

George and Lennie (whom has a mental disability) are friends that look after each other, which is rare in the dust bowl depression (where the book is set). They start to work on a ranch to try and earn enough money to get their dream, a house. All Lennie wants is this house where he can tend to the rabbits. With the help of their new found friend Candy they are just about to achieve this dream when Lennie accidentally kills curly's wife (the bosses son). George kills Lennie so that Lennie wouldn't have to be killed in a bad way.

Themes of ranch life;Hierarchy: all men know their place. Whole farm is a machine for work. It is simple and no luxuries.e.g apple boxes for shelves. Men are not machines. They have strengths and weaknesses. Ranch life is unhealthy and destroys men's dreams. e.g Candy's one hand, crooks back, Curley's hand. Bill Tenner moved on to show that it is possible.Themes of names:Names describe character, some ironic Lennie SMALL, Curleys' wife has no name because Steinbeck wanted to show that she is not recognised as an individual. Soledad is the local town it means loneliness. Weed is a plant you don't want G + L is from weed. The novels title is from a poem about failure it is a constant reminder everything fails in the end.Themes of Shooting Candy's dog:Carlson does it for selfish reasons, slim has power to save dog but doesn't, Candy is useless like the dog,no mercy on ranch for anyone. It shows the cruelty of living here not because of the dog because no one cares how candy feels.Themes of dreams: The novel is about the American dream-promising equality,Everyone had a dream,people are going no where,Dreams are not real,G dream dies with Lennie.

Themes of hands: Curly is described as handy and get his hand crushed by Lennie, candy lost a hand, Lennie always kills with his hands accidentally, G small strong hands, Slims Hands are large and lean, Curley's wife's hands are part of her sexiness.Themes of women: Curley'swife only Weapon is her sexuality, Aunt Clara authority figure for Lennie. Susy runs a brothel.Men and women don't understand each other.Themes for loneliness: Everyone is lonely, all single men no families, George plays solitaire a game for one, Curly is lonely even though married only time we see them together is when shes dead.Curley's wife is lonely tries for companionship by flirting, Crooks lives alone because hes black,There is no solution,They rely on the dream,Lennie has pets but kill them,Candy has a dog but it's shot,when anyone makes friends it ends in disaster.Themes of Lennie's death: George has 3 options, Lennie goes to jail, Lennie gets lynched,hide Lennie;all options are bad,Lennie's death is inevitable,G just has to kill L to stop everything else, Death is Lennie's new dream he dies with dignity.