“In a dark time, the eye begins to see…” -Theodore Roethke
For some people, losing everything is the only way they will truly appreciate what they once had. In the 1930’s The Great Depression began the Americas economy crashed. People lost their homes, their jobs, and most of their belongings due to an extreme rise in prices. Because so many people lost their jobs, many had to become migrant workers and travel around the country to find work. Not having a stable home or a job can affect someone’s mental health in a significant way. The real life conflicts and themes in John Steinbeck's, Of Mice of Men show the true psychological struggles the migrant workers faced during the Great Depression. The first literary element shown within Of
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Simply having dreams or hoping for a brighter future can keep people going and working hard even when times are bad. “They come an they quit and go, an every damn one of em’s got a little piece of land in his head an never a godan one of em ever gets it” (76). Crooks tells Lennie that he has seen men come and go and even though they have the dream of the land they never actually get it. Lennie holds onto that dream and remembers it to keep himself going and working hard because he has hope that one day they will eventually succeed in getting their land. Another theme in Of Mice and Men is that doing the right thing is not always the easy thing. “A guy got to sometimes” (107). Slim says this after he sees that George shot Lennie and he understands that he had to shoot Lennie because his strength was out of control and it was hurting both Lennie and George whenever Lennie got into an accident. Sometimes people have to do things out of the safety of others even if it is the hardest thing to do. George shooting Lennie is a great example because even though it was hard for him he knew that if he did not do it, that they would get in a lot more trouble in the