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- Of Mice and Men: themes and context
Of Mice and Men: themes and context
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Steinbeck wrote about the struggles of ordinary workers during the Depression.
Context
The Great Depression of the 1930s left millions unemployed. Migrant workers moved from farm to farm for short-term work.
Droughts and dust storms (the Dust Bowl) drove many families west to California.
Racism and the limited rights of women shaped the lives of Crooks and Curley's wife.
Droughts and dust storms (the Dust Bowl) drove many families west to California.
Racism and the limited rights of women shaped the lives of Crooks and Curley's wife.
The title
The title comes from Robert Burns's poem *To a Mouse*: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley", meaning that even careful plans often go wrong.
Like the mouse in the poem, George and Lennie lose their hoped-for home.
Like the mouse in the poem, George and Lennie lose their hoped-for home.
Key themes
Dreams and the American Dream: almost everyone dreams, but no dream comes true.
Loneliness and friendship: George and Lennie's bond is rare.
Power and weakness: the weak (Candy, Crooks, Lennie, Curley's wife) are crushed.
Fate: foreshadowing (Candy's dog, the puppy) prepares us for the ending.
Loneliness and friendship: George and Lennie's bond is rare.
Power and weakness: the weak (Candy, Crooks, Lennie, Curley's wife) are crushed.
Fate: foreshadowing (Candy's dog, the puppy) prepares us for the ending.
How does the death of Candy's dog foreshadow the ending?
- Carlson shoots the old dog because it is 'useless'.
- Candy later says he wishes he had shot it himself.
- George shoots Lennie himself, just as Candy wishes he had done.
Answer: It prepares the reader for George deciding to shoot Lennie himself, as an act of mercy.
Context: Great Depression, migrant workers, Dust Bowl, racism, women's limited rights. Title from Burns's To a Mouse. Themes: dreams, loneliness, power, fate and foreshadowing.
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