Review : Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

General information about John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck (1902/California-1968/New York) was probably one of the most successful US-writers. Born in California, he soon discovered his literary talent and started writing about his experiences in life in short stories or later also in novels. Taking part in World War II as a reporter about what occurred during this cruel time, he is considered a writer about the American Dream. The American Dream, which aims at lasting peace and wealth for everyone, has often been part of his stories.  After failing to achieve a degree at Stanford University he had to make a living as a migrant worker, which took two hard years, so you could say that he included a lot of personal experiences and facets of contemporary American life  in Of mice and men'.

Short summary of Of Mice and Men

In the middle of beautiful California in the 1930s we get to know our main characters, George and Lennie. George, quite a  small guy who is pretty intelligent and skilled, and his friend Lennie, an unskilled and retarded, but tall guy, are moving around in California from farm to farm because there is no other choice for them to make a living. Both of them have lost their old jobs because of Lennie's break-downs, who just cannot get his act together. But both are good friends and used to each other. So it would not be easy for them to just give up their friendship. Dreaming of a better future there is nothing else for them but to look for work where they could make some money from harvesting the crops. Having found quite a convenient farm with bunks for them, their dream of their own piece of land with rabbits and mice seems to come closer. Even if there have been some embarrassing incidents, they never give up  hope to save as much money as  is necessary for realizing their dream. Having arrived at the farm, they realize that they have to work hard, be disciplined and even suffer. Every day they have to get up at a certain time, otherwise they will not get any food. Everything works out at first, but Lennie, who always dwells on his dream of his own home with small and cute pets seems to demolish everything with his uncontrolled behaviour. Lennie is getting more unpopular because he does not respond to the workers' (such as Slim and Curley) questions and  always looks straight at George, who often does not know how to react and behave towards Lennie. When the farm owner's son Curley, an aggressive guy who used to respect George at first because of his muscles and his body, asks George why he goes around with such a shy guy, George has to defend himself. The conflicts hit their peak, when Curley's attractive wife, a discontent girl nobody talks to, offers Lennie to touch her soft hair. Lennie, being crazy about soft things such as small mice and puppy-dogs, does not stop when Curley's wife tries to tear his hand off after a while. Accidentally, he hurts her so badly that she dies afterwards. Everybody could blame Lennie for having killed the wife. The rest of the farm, who has spent their time at a party nearby hears the noise and arrives soon. Will Lennie be punished and above all, how?? Will Lennie also be killed?? Will George, who has always tried to be a support to him, still defend him?? Will it cross their plan of buying a house in which even their roommate Candy would invest 350 dollars? Lennie escapes to a place near the bank of the river Salinas....

What is special about this book

The plot of  'Of Mice and Men''only consists of a few places such as the river, some days at the farm and interaction with characters outside the farm. So,all in all, only a short period is covered in only 113 pages. Although the story is not divided into separatel chapters with  headlines, the simplicity of the words and the American slang (young people's language) make the book fun to read. You can always identify with the speakersand know exactly their positions. The classic novel is more or less presented by a 3^rd person narrator who seems to have planned everything in a screenplay. Also the description of the landscape at the beginning (e.g. with maple trees, lizards and golden rivers) illustrate the story and create an interesting story. There are some sentences you have two read twice, but the majority, above all, when Lennie talks, is very easy to understand.

What I really liked about the novel

What was really amazing to me was that it is a story about true friendship and that you can easily imagine American life back then. Despite all the conflicts they face, it is difficult to attack George and Lennie because they stand together and support each other as far as possible.

Both of them have to live with disciplined and strong workers and it is nice to see how they take part in the daily chores there. The work they have to do only succeeds if there is enough crop in the end. They have to share their abilities and everyone is needed. Even Crooks, a dark-skinned worker who is often ignored in a time of racial segregation, is needed because of his strength.

In addition, the book is easy to read and logical because you can always comprehend the action.