Friday, March 1, 2013

Investigating Themes in Of Mice and Men

Choose one of the following questions that interests you most to respond to in this week’s blog post:

1.)  What different forms of power exist in Of Mice and Men?  What kind of power does Lennie have?  What kind of power does George have?  What kinds of power or powerlessness do other characters possess?  

2.)  What kind of relationship do George and Lennie have?  Is their relationship a friendship?  How does this relationship express Steinbeck’s position on the individual versus the community?

3.)  Is the American Dream a real possibility in the story?  If yes, what characters, symbols, events, or other details from the story confirm that the American Dream is within reach?  If not, what characters, symbols, events, or other details from the story represent the American Dream as out of reach?

Check out the info History.com has to offer about the American 1930s!  Who had power in the 1930s?  Who did not?  What kinds of power existed then?  What important relationships were formed in the 1930s?  Was the American Dream still alive in the 1930s?


Unfortunatly, it seems like the "American Dream" is nearly impossible in George's case when it came to "Of Mice and Men." With all of the things that Lennie's done behind George's back, it seems like the boys are getting themselves into trouble 24/7! What Steinbeck is trying to say is that there are multiple characters in the story that want to achieve a dream with no problems or complications in the process, but while they're all getting closer and closer to that achievement, they just happen to warp into a big fault all of a sudden, ruining their chances. In the real world back then, it seemed as if the wealthy had the best chances of the american dream, considering that they were already living it! Though it wasn't so great for the immigrants and poor, who were just trying to make a new start in their lives in a horrible economy, where one-quarter of all wage-earning works were unemployed. 


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