Of Mice and Men

A detailed Summary of Of Mice and Men

Steinbeck uses many themes and morals in his writing. Whether he has intentions to add many of these themes and morals is controversial. There very well could be "covert" or "overt" themes throughout the text, thus meaning he wasn't aware that the text could be analyzed in this fashion. Now whether one chooses to "read the lines" or "read between the lines" may determine how the text is portrayed to you, the reader. I chose to focus upon a so-called "overt" theme, because it occurred to me, both the first and the second time, paging through the text that Steinbeck was not fully aware of this "dream" theme that he had created.

Now the story focuses on the two main characters, George and Lennie. Lennie being the childish, unsophisticated brute with small, yet more intelligent George to care for and watch over him. One might ponder why George would stay so true to his fella Lennie. And there is no "correct" answer. It could be due to the fact that they grew up together or maybe due to the fact that George felt insecure without his larger counterpart.

It is my belief that one of the most important themes throughout the text deals with "dreams." Yes, dreams. Many, if not all, the characters in this novel have a dream. Al

These dreams communicated throughout the text play the most important role throughout the story line. They set precedence to the rest of the story and make for an important underlying theme. They serve the purpose of keeping the reader captivated to see what will happen next. Now whether George ever got his own place and found his own woman we will never know, but we do know that if Steinbeck had followed up the story that we would be reading to find out all the details of how each character's dream turned out.

It is unknown whether George ever bought into the livin' off the fatta the lan' scheme. But it is communicated that he had a dream of someday having a lady to love and nurture. It is purely my insight that George never did buy into the scheme. But it is apparent that if he had a lady that he would have to have a place for them to live. So although he played up the scheme with "the boys" I think his dream of livin' off the fatta the lan' did not involve them.

Now many dreams have been outlined. But it is important to remember that the most important dreams are those that George and Lennie dreamt of. Yes, livin' off the fatta the lan' is very important because it sets the basis for the story. A large majority of the story focuses on the fact that the two of them are set on owning a piece of lan'. Now whether George really had intentions of livin; off the fatta the lan' with Lennie is unimportant. What is important is that this dream of theirs is what kept the two of them in line. Lennie wanted the lan' to tend

Some common words found in the essay are:
George Lennie, Lenny Lennie, Lennie Lennie, , throughout text, fatta lan', livin' fatta lan', livin' fatta, george lennie, tells lennie, line lennie, dream livin' fatta, tend rabbits, dreams throughout, themes morals, dream livin', dreams throughout text, themes throughout text,

Approximate Word count = 1041
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels