In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice of men, two migrant field workers, George and Lennie, venture to Soledad in hopes of fulfilling their dreams of one day owning a farm; however things do not go as planned. George, a logical young man is introduced as a companion to Lennie, a bulky yet unharming field worker. When the boys reach Soledad they are confronted with the brutal truth that keeping their jobs may be harder than it seems. Lennie runs into trouble with the bosses son which is soon resolved, yet later he makes a mistake which ultimately causes the boys misery.
I can relate to George and Lennie’s dilemma; however, on a less severe level. As George and Lennie had hoped for something I had longed for something as well. My eighth grade year I had wished to join dance, yet I had not been able to because I had already agreed to tutor. In relation to Lennie and George I was never able to join the club. As both men I was devastated and was always quite regretful of my inability to join.
Published in 1937 Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men has truly intrigued me with its diverse and conflicting characters. One of my favorite parts was when Lennie had injured Curley although he had not mean to and he was simply defending himself. In Chapter Three Lennie, “Crushes Curley’s hand,” so harsh he has to go to the doctor (Steinbeck 43). I found it amusing Lennie had not done anything to Curley, yet when he was physically hurting him he was reluctant to fight back. The novel kept me enticed with its shocking scenarios and I certainly enjoyed reading it.