Analyzing Themes In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men, is a story about two friends, George and Lennie. They both travel the countryside trying to find work. Lennie is big in size and has a mental disability, but George continues to stay with him. Even though in the story they find work on a farm, they get into some serious trouble.Throughout the text many themes present themselves, but the main themes are friendship, loneliness, and violence.

Friendship is one of the main themes developed in the story. George and Lennie's friendship is unusual. Many people question why George stays with someone like Lennie, but George sticks with him through it all. While they are working in the fields, George and another worker, Slim,bring up Lennie in the conversation.. Talking about Lennie, Slim says a comment about him that could be taken offensively. “‘What's so funny about it?’ George demanded” (Steinbeck 39) .This shows that George is angry that someone would doubt lennie. He feels very protective of him;

This is demonstrated when the boss’s son, Curley, his wife comes into the barn “looking for curley'' . She tends to be very flirtatious with the other men, and seems to be always getting the men in some kind of trouble with her husband. Although she gets into trouble, the reason for her actions is because she is lonesome since no one will talk to her. Her husband treats her poorly, and all she wants is company. In the text she states “Think i like stick in that house alla time?” This shows that she hates being all alone. By using connotative language, they give another example of Curley's wife's loneliness. (Steinbeck 77) She exclaims that she's “looking for curley '' even though we can assume from previous events, that in reality, she's just looking for some company. In the text the men are afraid to talk to her, because they are scared of what Curly will do once he finds out. This causes her to have a lonesome time on the