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A review by kris_mccracken
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
5.0
A bona fide classic, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Even if you have not read it, the central characters will be familiar to you; such has been their impact on popular culture. The novel is the tragic tale of two transient ranch workers during the Great Depression in California takes its title from Robert Burns' poem To a Mouse, which read: “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley” (i.e. “The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft awry.”)
That pretty much sums it up. The smarter of the two drifters, the small and wiry George, aspires to independence. His companion of the road, the enormous but simple Lennie heavily depends on George – his guardian of sorts – shares the dream of living on a small homestead keeping rabbits.
Dreams, loneliness, dependency and friendship are strong themes throughout, and inevitable denouement is crushing. It is hard to believe that such a bleak book – essentially an indictment of the ‘American Dream’ – seems to have become a staple of the teaching of American literature. Every character is seemingly (extraordinarily) unhappy. People are disconnected from each other, yet loneliness is sustained though the barriers established from acting inhuman to one another.
In different ways, all of Steinbeck's characters are powerless, due to intellectual, economic, and social circumstances. Lennie has immense physical strength of any character, but his intellectual handicap renders him powerless. Pretty much all of the range hands are economically powerless. While a nuanced gender analysis not particularly a strong suite of the book, the only female character’s power is concentrated in her sexuality, it has proven a trap for her and she is powerless to employ it due to circumstances beyond her control.
This is a fantastic book, with an incredibly powerful conclusion. It’s easy to see why it has been elevated to the level it has since its release in 1937. Highly recommended.
That pretty much sums it up. The smarter of the two drifters, the small and wiry George, aspires to independence. His companion of the road, the enormous but simple Lennie heavily depends on George – his guardian of sorts – shares the dream of living on a small homestead keeping rabbits.
Dreams, loneliness, dependency and friendship are strong themes throughout, and inevitable denouement is crushing. It is hard to believe that such a bleak book – essentially an indictment of the ‘American Dream’ – seems to have become a staple of the teaching of American literature. Every character is seemingly (extraordinarily) unhappy. People are disconnected from each other, yet loneliness is sustained though the barriers established from acting inhuman to one another.
In different ways, all of Steinbeck's characters are powerless, due to intellectual, economic, and social circumstances. Lennie has immense physical strength of any character, but his intellectual handicap renders him powerless. Pretty much all of the range hands are economically powerless. While a nuanced gender analysis not particularly a strong suite of the book, the only female character’s power is concentrated in her sexuality, it has proven a trap for her and she is powerless to employ it due to circumstances beyond her control.
This is a fantastic book, with an incredibly powerful conclusion. It’s easy to see why it has been elevated to the level it has since its release in 1937. Highly recommended.