John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men And Migrant Workers

Of Mice and Men and Migrant Workers

The Great Depression is remembered as one of the most painful and rough times in the American history. Society, which was already highly hierarchic, grew even bigger gaps amongst social groups and created new ones. One of the most famous was migrant workers. In Of Mice and Men; John Steinbeck effectively used the themes of politics, moral dilemmas and friendship to realistic represent how migrant workers society looked like during the Great Depression.

The most clear way in which Steinbeck expressed the struggles of migrant workers was by their political and economical views. Their biggest idea was that having a piece of land, no matter the size, would make their lives a lot better. “Everybody wants

One of these characters is Candy. He is put through hard times such as the decision of killing his dog or not, were neither of his options are appealing. “I ought to shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog” (Steinbeck 60). In this specific part of the novel you can clearly see how if they have an obstacle or they consider something a burden, they will make it disappear no matter the emotional attachments to it. This quote represent the remorse of the circumstances and decisions made due to big conflicts and the disapproval to what society is making them go through, without blaming anyone but themselves. A lot of things can be inferred about this passage. One of them is the pain behind his words and the feeling of loneliness that is carried out through the book. However, the biggest loss in the book is not Candy’s dog but Lennie’s life. This is a huge part of the novel, and how Steinbeck gives an end to this book. At this specific moment, Slim is asking George for an explanation of what happened after they find Lennie’s body. “An’ you got it away from him and you took it an’ you killed him?” (Steinbeck 104). Everyone can agree that this is the biggest conflict presented in the novel. Should George keep taking care of Lennie or should he just get rid of this burden? At the end of the book he has no option but to say goodbye to his friend. The question changes in should I let them kill him or should I kill him myself, just like Candy had to decide with his dog’s life. Steinbeck is trying to represent what types of problems are presented to citizens during the Great Depression, especially migrant workers and explains why they normally would choose not to go in