Resumo de Of Mice And Men - John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men may only be about 100 pages long, but it is
more thrilling, powerful, and emotional than most novels five times its
length. The novel essentially shows the harsh way of life for migrant
workers during the 1930?s, which was a common theme in Steinbeck?s
novels. What makes this book so special is that the characters are
people that the reader cares about, which makes their plight and lost
dreams so heartfelt. The novel introduces two migrant workers,
George and Lenny, as they are looking for a place to stay before
finding work on a ranch. George is short and quick-witted and Lenny is
large, extremely strong, and somewhat mentally retarded. Lenny is
unable to take care of himself so George provides for him. George may
at times get angry at Lenny, but Lenny is all that George has that
separates him from a world of loneliness and alienation. Most migrant
workers have no family or a place to call home, but George and Lenny
have each other. Lenny may be mentally-incapacitated, but he is a very
sympathetic character. He is a kind person who always tries to do the
right thing and this is why the reader cares about him. Lenny is
also very strong. He likes to touch soft things, but because he does
not realize how strong he really is he causes damage. Lenny often plays
with mice and he kills them because he pets them too strongly. One time
Lenny saw a girl?s dress that he liked and petted it because he likes
soft things. He did not mean any harm, but the girl got scared and
started screaming and George and Lenny had to leave the ranch and find
a new place. It seems that Lenny always gets in trouble and George has
to save him because Lenny is incapable of dealing with the hostilities
of the modern world. Lenny and George also have a dream of a new
way of life. They want to acquire money so they can buy their own
ranch. This perception of this dream binds George and Lenny together.
At the ranch where they find work this feeling of alienation is
evident. Crooks is a stable buck, who feels alienated because he is
black and the others look down at him because of this. He sits in his
room and reads books because it is all he has. Candy is an elderly
migrant worker who has one good hand because of an accident. He feels
worthless just like the old dog he has. There is also Curley?s wife
whose husband is the son of the ranch boss. He is abusive and will not
let her talk to anyone because he is jealous. She has aspirations to be
a movie star, but feels alienated from the rest of the world living on
the ranch. In addition to portraying loneliness on the ranch,
Steinbeck shows the harsh realities of the world. Lenny tries to do his
job and stay out of trouble, but Curley does not like him because is
prejudiced against large men. Lenny does not want any trouble with
Curley, but he is unable to deal with him or the world around him.
The novel ultimately ends in tragedy, and Lenny and George?s dream is
not attained. The reader becomes attached to the characters and begins
to feel sorry for them because of how difficultly they live and how
they desperately strive for something better. It is a sad book that
brilliantly depicts the feeling of despair during the Great Depression.

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