Of Mice and Men

In the novel, Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck illustrates the possibilities that life has and its effects on Lennie, Crooks and George. It shows a view of two outsiders struggling to understand their own unique places in the world. Steinbeck suggests humans have the natural potential to seek happiness although the potential can be fatal or harmful.

Although Lennie does not have the potential to be smart, Lennie has the potential to be a hard worker. However, Lennie's strength did not work with him and the result was fatal. Lennie is an extremely large man who had the strength of a bull. With the us eof his strength, he was a great worker but did not understand how strong he was. George explains Lennie's strength by "That big bastard can put up more grain alone than most pairs can." Through his size and his enormous amount of strength, Lennie could out work other men of the ranch by himself. Through the use of Lennie's strength he became a great worker who knew nothing more than to work. Lennie usses his abilities to work hard, but does not understand how strong he is.

Without George, Lennie does not understand what to do. Lennie gets frightened and uses his strength to hold on to

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George has a great potential to be his own boss, but with the death of Lennie, George loses hope. To accomplish being his own boss, George tries to save his money so that he can buy the ranch: '"If me an' Lennie work one month an' don't spen' nothing, well have a hundred bucks"'.

Crooks chooses to use his knowledge around Lennie. Crooks is proving that he is a very knowledgeable man.

When Lennie breaks Curley's wife's neck, George realises that the potential to be his own boss is lost. When a higher authority is present Crooks chooses to ignore his knowledge because he is scared to speak out for fear of losing his job. Despite Crooks' knowledge he chooses to ignore it around higher authority, this ending up in a 1930's attitude with his knowledge going to waste. If George can accomplish this he will be his own boss. Without Lennie, George feels there is no hope. When he sees that the potential is there, George tries to act on it.

Unlike Lennie, Crooks potential is his knowledge, and Crooks has the ability to use his knowledge to try to escape the problems he has on the ranch. However Crooks falls back into a 1930s attitude and chooses to neglect his knowledge. The novel follows and represents the lives of Lennie, Crooks and George and what they go through to survive. A guy needs somebody to be near him… A guy goes nuts if ain't got nobody".

Approximate Word count = 1091
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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