In the novel, Of Mice and Men the author John Steinbeck explores the concept or people trapped in their own sets of life circumstances. Each of the characters with the exception of Slim dream of a better life. However, they are trapped in a life from which there seems to be no escape. Each of them - Curley, his wife, Carlson and Crooks are lonely and unhappy with their lives. They can only dream of a better life but seem to be unable to make that life happen. Their lives are controlled by their obligations and their past choices. Each person seems to lack control over their own lives.

The main characters, George and Lennie are no exception. That they lacked control over their own lives and were to some extent at the mercy and decisions of others - they were doomed to fail in fulfilling their dream of owning their own farm. In Chapter One, when the two characters are introduced George warns Lennie that he must behave himself as they are going to work on a ranch, that he must behave himself and not create trouble like he did where they worked before. This reveals that there has been trouble in the pa

From the very beginning of the novel, it is apparent that they needed and were dependant on each other. George was controlled by his need for companionship and his self-imposed obligation to care for Lennie. No one said he had to care for Lennie - it was his own choice. Lennie was controlled by his own lack of intelligence and his ineptitude to care for himself. They were doomed to fail

Lennie has been dependant on George since the death of his Aunt Clara. He is a simple minded oaf who, while being very strong and man-like in appearance is very much a child inside. He is impulsive. He feels a strong need to touch things and is not aware of how the acting of touching will affect other people. An example of this would be when he wanted to touch the lady's red dress. The act so frightened her that she though he was trying to rape her. Lennie is unable to make the connection between his behaviour and the reactions of others. He brings the puppy into the ranch house with no apparent understanding that the puppy needs its mother or how the puppy in the bunk house will affect the others. When Lennie pays Crooks a visit in his own room, he again shows that he has no und

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Approximate Word count = 789
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)