Of Mice and Men Essay

Present or Future

In Of Mice and Men, a novel by John Steinbeck, two characters, George and Lennie face the problems of an average person living during the great depression.  The two companions find work on a farm in the Salinas Valley, where they face temptation, as well as having to overcome personal disabilities in order to fit in.  All of the characters, especially George and Lennie have to deal with these problems, creating a constant battle within themselves between the present and future, or themselves and who they are.

           

Although Lennie and George are the main characters, all of the characters must fight not to give into temptation.  These temptations include blowing their monthly pay on booze and whores.  Crooks, the African American stable boy says this in to Lennie,

“I seen guys nearly crazy with loneliness for land, but ever time a whore house or a blackjack game took what it takes.”(76)

This quote says that almost every one has this dream to own their own land, but trade that great future in for instant gratification.  When there are hard times like this, people are so focused on the horrible conditions they are in that they forget that they only have to work for only a few months in order to achieve this dream of owning land.  This doesn’t only happen in the great depression; today many Americans choose to do drugs for the price of all their money and their life, for only minutes of pleasure.  In Of Mice and Men You see people staying on the farm and never leaving, because at the end of every month, instead of saving their money, they gamble it away, and spend it on alcohol and whores.

           

            Although everyone has a battle against themselves, the most displayed self on self-conflict in the story is Lennie trying to fit in, but his mental condition holding him back.  A great example of Lennie's conflict is displayed when George is talking to the boss and Lennie interrupts when he wasn’t supposed to.

            “Lennie looked startled and then in embarrassment hid his face against his knees” (6)

 This shows that Lennie understands his disability, but still struggles to fight it.  He knows that he is left out of society because of this.  Lennie has to work very hard in order to keep up, and even when he works twice as hard as the others, he still forgets, and is an outcast.  Even though Lennie can’t connect to the other workers, he still makes a friend with Crooks, the black stable buck.  They connect instantly because they both don’t belong with the others for reasons that they can’t control, Lennie’s mental problem, and the color of Crooks skin.  Because of Lennie’s disability he also holds George back, these mental problems of course change the life of the person that has them, but is also a burden on the people around them. 

           

            Perhaps the most important character against self-conflict happens with George.  George represents the common man of the great depression, except for one thing, he is with Lennie.  What George ends up doing to Lennie is a clear example of what people will do for instant gratification.

            “God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy.”(11)

George only says this because he is blaming all of his problems on Lennie, not the Great Depression, which it really is.  It is George's own fault for this, instead of saving up money for their house, he wastes it all.  George claims that his life would be different without Lennie, but if he didn’t have Lennie he would loose a since of responsibility, and end up like everyone else.  When Lennie kills Curly’s wife, and runs away, George kills him giving others the impression that he did it for Lennie's own good.  George really did this for his own good.  He got tired of moving around from place to place simply because Lennie was a fool.  When George killed Lennie, he knew that they could have made it to another town.  Having a “Place” in life is so important in that time, people loose their families and their lives, and if you don’t belong to anything, then your life is meaningless.  George always said that he and Lennie were different from everyone else because they had each other, but in the end George realized that he didn’t want to be different, so he killed Lennie.  As I said earlier, people traded in their futures for immediate pleasure; you can see this after George kills Lennie, and then goes with Slim for a drink.  After this George will probably go in to a cycle every month, get some money, and then waste it, over and over again.

           

            People at this time were selfish and rude because they already had everything taken away, so they felt like they deserved more then what they had.  This leads to them having to choose from a future, or an escape from the present.  Most people including George chose the escape.    Lennie must constantly work to act normal to be accepted, but Crooks will never be accepted because he can’t simply pretend to be white.  The difference between George and Lennie is that George gives into temptation, while Lennie continues to dream for their future on the little farm where he can tend the rabbits, without even thinking about giving up hope.  Within the characters of Of Mice and Men, a constant battle rages within each character because of the hardships of the great depression.