Of Mice And Men Literary Analysis

As JK Rowling once said, “Something very magical can happen when you read a good book.” In this situation, what is meant by the ambiguous word “good”? The purpose here is to suggest that there is no single mold for a valuable book; the benefit of literature is a rather plastic ideology. Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck provides value by making its point with almost harsh simplicity, using characters that accurately represent humanity in all its shortcomings, and presenting it all with a structure that emphasizes the above further.
Part of the beauty of this book lies in the black-and-white nature of its plot. Too many books obscure their intended meaning with complex storylines sprouting off in every direction, often confusing the reader

In each character, Steinbeck highlights the flaws, but also the good behind these flaws. Each one is unique and, in that, uniquely human. “All the characters are complex mixtures of good and bad, or rather of bad results from good intentions” (Scarseth 2). On numerous occasions, Lennie is a prime example of this. He wants only something soft to stroke, but his strength negates his childlike innocence. “‘So he reaches out to feel this red dress an' the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on 'cause that's the only thing he can think to do’” (Steinbeck 20). In this instance, Lennie has gotten in trouble once again by grabbing onto the girl’s dress, eventually costing both him and George their job at the ranch in Weed. George understands that Lennie’s intentions are pure; however, Lennie’s physique is simply too intimidating for many people to see him as harmless in mindset. Curley is another example of human complexity in the story. Though it is easy to peg Curley as villainous, he goes far deeper than that. He simply wants to live up to his reputation as the boss’s son, and sometimes he overdoes it. “‘If you don’t tell nobody what happened, we ain’t going to. But you jus’ tell an’ try to get this guy canned and we’ll tell ever’body, an’ then will you get the laugh’” (Steinbeck 31). Curley’s attempt to

The right sentence structure can be the difference between an impossible-to-read block of words and an elegantly written piece of writing. Steinbeck creates his settings through elaborate description, providing insight to their impact. “Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of 'coons, and with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark” (Steinbeck 1). This passage shows the diversity and coexistence of animals in nature through a repeated use of “and.” There is a hopefulness, a yearning to fit in despite differences. As George and Lennie head to the new ranch, they want desperately to have found a place where they belong, and the setting shows this through Steinbeck’s perspective. Later in the book, Steinbeck returns to the same setting, but he uses a completely different approach to describe it. “A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically.” (Steinbeck 50). The focus is no longer on the ability of animals to coexist with