The Nature Of Human Nature In Of Mice And Men

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In the novella, Of Mice and Men, human nature is expressed throughout the situations that occur and the people George and Lennie meet. The story takes place in 1930s California during the Great Depression. George and Lennie are migrant workers and had to flee from their old jobs in weed because of a false accusation. During this journey, they meet people from different backgrounds and dreams. The themes we will see in this story demonstrate both the positive and negative sides of human behavior. At the beginning of the story, the first aspect of human nature that we see is friendship. Both of them being migrant workers, they have been working alongside each other for so long, they became close friends and George became his caretaker. Both …show more content…

Several characters like Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks, show their desperation for human interaction. Their longing for companionship shows that there is a universal need for companionship. Candy’s only companion was his old dog, who was killed by Carlson because he could “smell that dog a mile away. Got no teeth, damn near blind, can't eat.” His old age also makes him less useful in the ranch and not wanted as much. Another example of loneliness is Curley's wife. Everyone on the ranch would avoid her because she liked to flirt with the workers, but the only reason she acts like this is because she “gets lonely," she said. "You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad.” Crooks was the only African American in the ranch and had a room to himself and was kept separated from the other workers and because of this, he tried to get power over …show more content…

When Curly was cornering Lennie, George told Lennie to fight back. Lennie ended up crushing Curley’s hand and shifted power to him. Another example is when Crooks starts teasing Lennie by saying that George isn’t going to come back and Lennie gets fearful and says “George won't do nothing like that," he repeated.."George is careful. He won't get hurt.” Crooks continues to tease him and eventually makes Lennie snap and say "Who hurt George?” Crooks detect danger and starts to move away. He loses his power after he confronts Curley’s wife about entering his room and she threatens to hang him. After that he felt very small and completely lost his