Of Mice And Men Tragedy Essay

Over the course of history, plays and storytelling have been man’s greatest form of entertainment. Whether they are in the form of a novel, a film, or a play, all inspire emotions within the audience that very often cannot be paralleled otherwise. Tragedies, one of the most emotional forms of storytelling, has evolved throughout time, from Romeo and Juliet to The Fault in our Stars. However, what has not evolved is the goal and the structure of an effective tragedy. As Aristotle once said, a tragedy is “a play about a basically good man, important to society, who suffers a fall brought about by something in his nature, provoking the emotions of pity and fear in the audience”, this remains the same no matter the medium that was used to represent

Although at first glance, Of Mice and Men may not appear to be a tragedy, Steinbeck effectively creates one’s mood by including a character whose dream has betrayed him as a result of an uncontrollable factor, the issue of responsibility for a weaker person, and an ending that leaves a depressing and unresolved issue. Firstly, in the novella “Of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck creates an ordinary character, George, who has a hope and a dream. However, this dream does not come to fruition due to a force that was outside of his control. After Lennie kills Curley’s wife, George realizes the impossibility of his dream, saying, “I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would,” (Steinbeck, pg 94), which demonstrates the realization that a dream, which one had been thinking about for so long, might never happen. However, the loss of his dream was in no part George’s fault. Due to Lennie’s uncontrollable urge to cause mischief, George is not able to achieve his ultimate dream to have his own farm. This event may cause