Of Mice and Men - Themes

Themes for Of Mice and Men

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Loneliness

'Soledad' The area that Lennie and George are travelling in, which means loneliness in spanish.

'Candy lay still staring at the ceiling' 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. Candy also knew that the fate of his dog was what was destined for him as he was old and would soon be worthless on the ranch. This relates back to the American Dream showing that just one of the groups that didn't benefit from it was the elderly and the weak.

'You got no right to come in my room' 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, but first he is protective over the tiny area that he calls his own, although he knows that he will never own something to himself.

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Becky Grimbles

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This is quite helpful, Any other themes??

Brigitta

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Other themes would be segregation i.e. Crooks. Also there's a theme of dreams like Curley's Wife has a dream and Lennie, George and Candy have a dream.

Lollypop

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This is very good, but do you have notes on Friendship?

Sian :)

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Lonliness, friendship and Dreams :) are all the themes i think :P

asha

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Lonliness, friendship, dream and i think death might be one ?

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loneliness / friendship / dreams / racism / social context (perspective of women - eg Curleys wife, who has no name (no personal identity) and is seen as a possesion of Curley (eg her name: Curley's Wife)) / Animal Imagery (eg Lennie described as bear and Curley desribed as terrier) / Paternity (Georges parent like responsiilty over Lennie who is like a child) / Survival of the fittest (Candy's old and stinking dog gets shot, which represents the 'weak' in society being killed off, and metaphorically representing Candys fate) / Cyclical life (the idea that life just goes round and round, eg people get close to their dreams, and then fail, that you cannot reach happiness (in their situation) only keep trying; this is shown by the repetition at the end from the beggining (eg the same nature scene with the heron/watersnake etc and that the same thing happens that happened in weed, but worse))

I think that about covers all the themes if you want to go in depth.

Matthew

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This was very useful, thank you!

Can you please upload how steinbeck uses power in the novel - Power of: Friendship, nature, masculinity, knowledge and understanding, dreams, control over others,

Matthew

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Hi Reuben Field how is your Mothers Rotten Fat Vagina, when I ****** her on Monday 23rd May 2011

Paige Carey

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The notes on Crooks - 

He is lonely, and yes, to an extent this is enforced, as he is made to live in the barn with the animals (which links with Steinbeck's use of animal imagery). But the irony is, his bitterness at this segregation causes him to be rude towards the other men and to 'push them away', meaning he is part of the reason he is in such a situation. He does own things, and these things are actually very significant. :)

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