Of Mice And Men - Characters and themes

George

Loneliness

• "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world." The ranch workers were lonely because they had no family nor friends
• George was not as lonely because he had Lennie, but he became lonely after Lennie's death
• He had also been seen laying "his delibrate solitaire hand" on several occasion, which suggested his loneliness.

American dream

• He and Lennie shared the same dream of owning their own ranch: "'O.K. Someday-we're gonna get the jack together... 'An' live off the fatta the lan'..."
• However he can only abandon this dream after Lennie's death as Lennie was necessary for the dream to become true

Curley's wife

Sexism

• The men did not understand that she flirted out of loneliness and called her by offensive words such as "tart"
• She did not have a name and was merely called "Curley's wife" --> treated as Curley's property, not an individual --> she lived in a patriarchal society where women were not treated equally as men
• Like other women at the time, she did not work --> women were disrespected and treated as objects. They could only have been either housewives or prostitutes

Loneliness

• She was lonely because she was the only ******* the ranch and had no one to talk to: "I get lonely... How'd you like not talk to anybody?"
• This is why she flirted with the ranch workers as she can only be noticed in this way, and gathering attention became her main focus in life:"Well - she got the eye."
• She wore red:"rouged lips...Her fingernails were red...red mules...red ostrich feathers" --> connotated love and danger --> foreshadowed the troubles she will cause and her death
• Even though she was married, Curley still visited the brothel with the other men and she was left alone

American dream

• She had a dream of becoming a movie actress, however the dream failed as she never got the letter from Hollywood. She accused her mother for stealing it, so she married Curley, a man who she did not love, to get away from her mother
• Her shoes had "red ostrich feathers" --> she wanted to be exotic and sexual, but she also wore a "house dress" --> this was the reality, not her dream

Crooks

Racism

• He was the only ***** man on the ranch and was referred as the "******" by the others on the ranch. The word is very offensive but was used freely by the people in the novel --> casual and common racism in the society
• He was also referred by other names such as the "stable buck", but was rarely called by his…