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Which to choose?  Friendship or Isolation...

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Which to choose?  Friendship or Isolation...

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In this novella, George and Lennie represent THE ideal male friendship.  They don’t talk about how they feel about each other or why they should stay loyal – they just stand by each other, and that’s that.

In contrast, everyone else is isolated from one another.  Everyone seems to get along quite well together by talking about how isolated they are, even though the men on the ranch are constantly together and chatting.

Although they are always together, George and Lennie are isolated from the rest of the world. Friendship is a negative relationship in the novella; every time any character gets close to any other, something goes wrong.

Friendship:

LENNIE exclaimed, "But I wouldn’t eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans

with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it." (p.13 in pdf)

Isolation:

LENNIE whined, "If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time." (p. 14 in pdf)

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The American Dream:  a reality or an illusion?

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The American Dream:  a reality or an illusion?

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Of Mice and Men captures the feel of rural America during the Depression. Different outlooks are presented:
--the never-will-be starlet trying to make it to Hollywood,
--the isolated black man born and raised in California,
--a ranch full of men that like to go to whorehouses, play pool, and drink away their earnings
--men that are constantly bouncing from job to job just shy of making ends meet.

The America of Of Mice and Men is populated with dreamers who are constantly struggling to achieve their dreams.

This novella argues that there is no single America. Rather, there are many different groups

(women, blacks, farm workers, farm owners), each with their own unique struggle.

Quote:

GEORGE complained, "…If I was bright, if I was even a little bit smart, I’d have my own little place, an’ I’d be bringin’ in my own crops, ‘stead of doin’ all the work and not getting what comes up outa the ground."
(p. 40 in pdf)

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Of Mice and Men deals with many of America’s age-old, hot-button issues, including sexism, racism, ageism, and discrimination against those with disabilities. Most importantly, this prejudice isn’t ever explicitly noted or fought against – those who are discriminated against accept the prejudice against them as a way of life.

Prejudice is a fact of life on the ranch because it was a fact of life everywhere in America at

that time.

Crooks said darkly, "Guys don’t come into a colored man’s room very much." (p. 76 in pdf)

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"O.K. Someday - we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and -"

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Slim looked through George and beyond him. "Ain't many guys
travel around together," he mused. "I don't know why. Maybe
ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other."
 "It's a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know," said George. 

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"Why'n't you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs?" said Carlson.

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 "Well, I got a right to have a light. You go on get outta my room. I
ain't wanted in the bunk house, and you ain't wanted in my room."
 "Why ain't you wanted?" Lennie asked.
 "'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play
because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you
stink to me." 

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 "I been here a long time," he said. "An'
Crooks been here a long time. This's the first time I ever been in
his room."
 Crooks said darkly, "Guys don't come into a colored man's room
very much.

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Me an' Lennie an' George. We gonna have a room to
ourself. We're gonna have a dog an' rabbits an' chickens. We're
gonna have green corn an' maybe a cow or a goat." He stopped,
overwhelmed with his picture. 

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Lennie said, "Well, I ain't supposed to talk to you or nothing." "I get lonely," she said. "You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How'd you like not to talk to anybody?"

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 "Go on," said Lennie. "How's it gonna be. We gonna get a little
place."
 "We'll have a cow," said George. "An' we'll have maybe a pig an'
chickens . . . . an' down the flat we'll have a . . . . little piece alfalfa-
"
 "For the rabbits," Lennie shouted.
 "For the rabbits," George repeated.
 "And I get to tend the rabbits."
 "An' you get to tend the rabbits."
 Lennie giggled with happiness. "An' live on the fatta the lan'."
 "Yes." 