Of mice and men
...es. He is ‘shapeless of face’, having no features – the opposite of George. George’s strong features make him look strong minded. Lennie being ‘shapeless of face’ makes him look dependant and also not fully formed. His arms ‘hung loosely’, and ‘wide sloping shoulders’ gives Lennie a child-like character. Also as he walks ‘heavily dragging his feet’, he is deliberately walking slowly to make George aware he is not happy walking. The relationship is clearly symbiotic, they depend on each other. The two men can’t live without each other, as their two completely different characters make the perfect pair. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place…With us it aint like that. We got a future…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.” This quote gives the impression the men share a dream, they have a ‘future’. Their dream is to own a small farm and live happily ever after, even though there is not a good chance of this happening. Lennie believes that their dream will come true, where as George knows it’s nothing more than a fantasy. The quote also explains they don’t own anything just the small belongings they carry and clothes on their backs. Without each other they would have nothing. The theme of loneliness is an all pervasive one that affects every major character in the novel. Candy has combated his isolation by owning a dog. Candy can’t live without his dog as he’s had him for as long as the workers can remember. The dog isn’t given a name, just spoken as “Candy’s dog”. The dog is in its last years, very frail and sick. “That dog of Candy’s is so god damn old he can’t hardly walk. Stinks like hell, too. Ever’ time he comes into the bunk house I can smell him for two, three days. Why’n’t you get Candy to shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups to raise up? I can smell that dog a mile away. Got no teeth, damn near blind, can’t eat…” After all the complaining of the rest of the workers, Candy finally gives in and lets Carlson shoot his old, beloved dog. Candy doesn’t want to give up his dog, but decides it’s best for the suffering dog, as well as the worker. Mostly Candy is scared of becoming lonely. He has forgotten how it feels to be lonely, as he’s had his dog for so long. After the dog has been killed, Candy regrets not doing it himself as he owed it to his loving companion, for all the years the dog was by his side, making sure he had a pain free quick death. This incident foreshadows the ending of the story, when George shoots Lennie. George knew if Lennie was killed by the other men, they would make sure he would suffer – a slow painful death. Even though George hated the thought of him killing his best friend, he does it to make sure Lennie (also like Candy’s dog) has a quick pain free death. Similarly, Curley’s wife has tried to combat her growing isolation through constant flirtation with the men. “A girl was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged and wide spaced eye, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.” Curley’s wife also isn’t given a name as she’s seen as not important enough. She is described as ‘a girl’, not a woman of her age. Describing her as this makes her sound immature and also not responsible. Curley’s wife hates this child-like description of herself, so try’s to do everything she can, to hide this. She wears a lot of make-up to make her look older and also her red fingernails, give a mischievous, strong minded look. Also her dress and hair, gives a cute, innocent look. She uses her body to attract the men’s attention on the ranch, although she’s not interested in her own husband. Wearing red also gives Curley’s wife a dangerous look, warning her prey. When Lennie arrives at the ranch, he becomes Curley’s wife’s new target Lennie is mesmerized by her beauty, not knowing how to control her behavior towards him. Lennie doesn’t realize the harm she can bring, and just wants someone to talk to who understands him – enjoying the same things. When Curley’s wife is tragically killed by Lennie it’s because she was desperately looking for someone to talk to, just as Lennie is trying to find companionship. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was a book that I enjoyed and found quite interesting. What I found appealing about Steinbeck’s writing was his ability to make you want to read on as soon as you opened the book. The sad tale of Lennie’s faults and George’s understanding of him is gripping. You wonder what Lennie will do next, and when George is finally going to have had enough. Steinbeck draws sympathy from his readers, for a lot of his characters - Candy and his poor old dog, George with his unhappy life and mostly Lennie. Lennie was a chara...