John Steinbeck’s

Of Mice and Men

“Of Mice and Men” is a book published in 1937 by the Nobel Prize winner, John Steinbeck. The novels title was originally called “Something that Happened”, but was later changed after John Steinbeck had read the poem, “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns. This poem suggests that no plan is fool-proof and no one can completely be prepared for the future.

The novel follows two immigrant workers, George and Lennie in California during the great depression. The small and quick-witted George Milton has promised Lennie’s grandmother to take care of Lennie. Lennie Small, opposite George, is big and strong, but has mental disabilities making him more of a child than an adult. They both share the same dream which is getting a ranch and living of “the fatta the land”[1], meaning that they can make a living by selling or trading the crops grown on their ranch. Lennie and especially George want to be their own masters, since they both have lived their whole life taking orders from people further up in the hierarchy. Lennie is extremely fond of soft things making his biggest wish to tend to soft rabbits. This special liking of his has in the past brought him in difficult situations.

The story starts out a few miles south of Soledad on a beautiful hillside close to the Salinas River and the Gabilan Mountains. Two men emerged on to a path, one being Lennie and the other one being George. They had escaped a lynching from their former workplace in Weed due to Lennie’s fondness for soft things. A girl mistook Lennie’s motive when he grabbed on to her dress. They went in search for a new workplace where they could be accepted – and they eventually found one in Soledad.

The bunk house was a long rectangular building where the people who work on the ranch, sleep. There were three small windows positioned on three of the four walls. The door was placed on the last wall. In the bunk house there were eight bunks each with an apple box nailed above the bunk functioning as cheap shelf for the farmers. A big square table was situated in the middle of the bunkhouse used mainly for playing cards on. Grouped around the table were boxes for the players to sit on. The bunk house wasn’t very tidy and was probably infested with lice, roaches or other scourges[2].

The traveling farmers did not have a lot of privacy. The bunk house was one large, open room meaning that everybody could see what everybody was doing. Each individual only had authority over their own bunk and their personal belongings. Their personal belongings were never any more than what they could carry on their back since they only stayed the same place a few weeks, only to search for another place to work[3]. The atmosphere in the bunk house is neither cheerful, nor depressing. The workers have come to the farm to work, not to have fun, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a good time together.

All the workers get along very well with one another. Each person has and knows his own place in the hierarchy, which means that the workers know how to behave, which makes the atmosphere relaxed. Within the hierarchy the workers treat each other with respect. All individuals know that the people surrounding are the only friends that they are going to have as long as they stay on that particular ranch. Most of the workers are lone workers, meaning they don’t travel with a companion. They are without doubt lonely and therefore grateful for the other peoples company.

The incident with Candy’s dog not only gives a good picture of how the workers treat and respect each other, but also how John Steinbeck describes the everyday atmosphere and how it suddenly changes into something dull and gloomy. The incident involves Candy, Carlson and partly Slim. Carlson is a fairly young ranchhand who is high-ranked in the hierarchy. He has good persuasion skills, but is a bit selfish. Slim is the jerkline-skinner and the “head” of the workers. Everybody looks up to him and his word is law. Slim has a calm nature and knows how to act in critical situations[4].

Candy the old, one-handed swamper has an ancient dog that smells horrible. Carlson, suggests putting an end to its misery, since he finds the dog old, useless and its stench, hideous. Carlson offers to shoot the dog himself as Candy won’t do it. Candy is not at all fond of the idea of losing his best and only friend, but what can he do? Candy who is near useless on the ranch and at the bottom of the hierarchy and being up against high-ranked Carlson? The only way for Candy to prevent his dog from getting shot would be to get support from Slim. Unfortunately Slim agrees with Carlson that the dog isn’t any good for himself[5]. Candy looks from face to face for support, but Slim’s word is law. Carlson then takes the dog out and shoots him with the same gun that George uses to shoot Lennie with later on in the story.

This short event shows how they respect and treat each other. It might be a selfish act what Carlson does, getting rid of the dog due to its smell. However, Slim agrees with Carlson that shooting the dog would be the best and most humane way for the dog to die. It would be too painful for the dog to die a natural death, seeing how poor a state it was in. Carlson and Slim did what was best for the dog and even offered Candy a puppy. This shows that they know how Candy must feel and by giving him a puppy, it might compensate some for some of his loss.

The overall theme of this novel is friendship. George and Lennie had a very strong friendship, so strong that in order for Lennie to avoid being lynched by Curley, George had to kill Lennie. Some other themes are fate, life, hopes and dreams –the “little man” pursuing happiness. The novels title was taken from a poem. The connection between the poem and this novel is fate. You can prepare a plan to perfection like George did. George, Lennie and Candy finally had the money to buy their long desired ranch. They only had to work a few more weeks, but then Lennie gets in trouble. George had it in the back of his head that this could happen[6], but he wasn’t prepared for it and as a result he lost his ranch and his best friend. Dreams that are so important can be shattered so quickly. The fate of a few farmhands doesn’t change the order of the world.

[1] Chapter 1, page 14 – 15.

[2] Chapter 2, page 20.

[3] Chapter 4, page 73.

[4] Chapter 3, page 50 – Decision about Candy’s dog. Chapter 5, page 106 – Took the lead when setting off to find Lennie.

[5] Chapter 3, page 50.

[6] Chapter 5, page 103 –”I should of knew,” George said hopelessly.