Justify your choice of major theme(s) in the novel “Of Mice and Men”, and trace its/their development Essay

Within the novel Of Mice and Men, numerous different thoughts are evident. These lam from death (the killing of Curleys married woman and of Lennie) to nature (the descriptions of the fitry at the beginning and towards the termination of the story). However, the themes that I will consider are that of acquaintance and of the Ameri washbowl Dream.Friendship, in my opinion, is one of the most regularly occurring themes in the story because of alone the struggles George and Lennie take hold to overcome in their intimacy, for example, keeping Lennie come forth of trouble so as to avoid any further predicaments. Also, it is considered somewhat strange that these two men (Lennie and George) thrust travelled together for so unyielding given the trend at the clock time of itinerant workers who were close invariably changing their workplace. This shows how strong their bond is and how they would neer leave separately different.To further enhance this take of the constant oc currence of friendly relationship, we see either the opposite experiences present on the ranch same edulcorates friendship with his loyal dog and the general friendship in the midst of all(a) the ranch guys. Candy particularly has a strong friendship in the midst of himself and his dog. His feelings are clearly evident in the scene in which Carlson volunteers to send his dog. Candy is extremely reluctant unless allows it anyway. However, he soon realises his stray after he has decided to become a part of George and Lennies trance and we sack up see he regrets it when he tells George I shouldnt ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.Another friendship that is present and the most integral to the story is the friendship between George and Lennie. This friendship has many different sides to it like anger and happiness and even George existence protective of Lennie. George sometimes rout outt stand the sight of Lennie and constantly breaks into sudden outbursts about ho w life would be easy without Lennie. Yet enigmatical down George realises that he took up the responsibility for looking at after Lennie after his Aunt Clara died and knows he could never desert Lennie because they need each other equally.Their friendship in like manner links into the other theme I have chosen, the American Dream. This theme is what bonds Lennie and George together because they know that they have a purpose and will eventually get somewhere, which is some other reason why George doesnt leave Lennie. Moreover, this theme is also one of the main sources of discourse between George and Lennie. For example, the way Lennie constantly tells George to tell how its gonna be.Again, like friendship, the theme of the American Dream is also a regularly occurring theme that is never far from the action. For example, in the argue scene with Curley and Lennie, it was because Lennie was grinning at the subject of the vision materialising that Curley, upset about his marrie d woman, decided to pick a fight with him thinking Lennie was laughing at him. Additionally, to emphasise this point further, there is a final recitation of it just before George shoots Lennie. George shoots Lennie because he feels that it is his responsibility and he didnt want to see Lennie get shot in the gut at the hands of Curley.The breathing in also has an aura of infectiousness to it and the reader can see this when George and Lennie are sacking over it once again to each other and Candy overhears them and wants to become a part of it. Further more than, in the scene with the quaternary rejects (Lennie, Crooks, Candy and Curleys wife), we see that Crooks also wants to facilitate the dream decent a reality when Lennie inadvertently lets the idea slip out, but by the time the scene has ended, Crooks withdraws because of the verbal attack by Curleys wife on him. Keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny.A further example of friendship is how no trunk tries to bond Crooks because he is black with the exception of Lennie because he doesnt know the difference. game then, in society, racism was openly accepted and it wasnt thought unaccustomed for blacks and whites to be separate. It was regarded as the way it was meant to be. In the case of Crooks, his circumstances also link into the themes of Racism as well as Loneliness, other themes at bottom the novel.The two themes I have chosen both have twists in their paths. With friendship, it is introduced nigh straight away when we read the descriptions of the two men although at basic we dont know the connection between them. However, as the story unfolds, their relationship becomes more apparent and we begin to see the foresight of it.To begin with, we have the basic emotions and things that can happen deep down a simple friendship. For example, when Lennie has a dead mouse and is stroking it, George takes it away but Lennie is hesitant. The emoti ons range from anger, give me that mouse or do I have to sock you?, to a caring side when George consoles Lennie after he has confiscated it, I aint pickings it away jus for meanness.On the other hand, as we go deeper into the friendship, we learn that despite the incident in Weed, George is still taking care of Lennie thus concluding that his feelings for Lennie are stronger than those in an ordinary friendship and we can also see that their relationship resembles that of one between brothers. As we move onto the ranch, we see that there is a general sense of friendship between all the ranch guys and also see that racial secretion is evident in the form of Crooks loneliness.Returning to Lennie and George, when theyre introduced to Curley, the defensive element of their friendship comes back into play when Curley gets annoyed that Lennie isnt talking, George becomes protective of Lennie and defends him. Again, the friendship has drastic contrasts, for example, one minute George is almost going to hit Lennie and the next, hes preventing him from getting hit by Curley.A new character comes into the fold in the form of Slim who is more appreciated by George than Lennie although he gives Lennie one of his pups. George becomes friendly with Slim by confiding in him about Lennie. For example, he tells him about Weed and how when earlier, he used to beat Lennie up but Lennie would never retaliate and the time when he told Lennie to jump in the river and Lennie did. This builds up an element of trust deep down their newly formed friendship. An he jumps. Couldnt swim a stroke. He damn near drowned before we could get him.Finally, we come to the final scene and this is when George and Lennies friendship really hits a downfall. After Lennie has killed Curleys wife and has run off, Candy finds the body and informs George. Judging from Georges reaction, (I should of knew. I guess way back in my head I did.), it can be interpreted that he realises what the circumstances will be resulting from Lennies actions. Nonetheless, he joins the ensuing manhunt, kno evolveg where to find Lennie, and meets up with him in the embroil. At this period in the novel, we can sense the apprehension within George simply from his actions and responses to Lennie. For example, when Lennie says I done another bad thing.It dont make no difference, George said, and he fell silent again. Even so, George realises that Lennie can prove to be a menace to society and is unsafe because everyone is looking for him. George manages to be mentally strong and shoots Lennie because he doesnt want his long time cherished friend suffering an agonising death at the hands of someone else. Ironically, we see that as one friendship ends, another one blossoms as George walks off with Slim. The theme of Friendship runs through the wide novel and even beyond with the new friendship formed between George and Slim although it cant possibly replace his friendship with Lennie.For the American dr eam, it also follows a path, which changes as it unfolds. We first learn of it during the first scene where we are introduced to George and Lennie when, after George has just shouted at Lennie, Lennie tries to win him back over by telling George to tell how its gonna be. We are surprised that what could be labelled as two oddballs (one is like a giant, the other like a mouse) are unified by something so simple.From then on, the dream takes a backseat until it reappears when Lennie and George are telling it again and Candy overhears them. As mentioned earlier, the dream has an infectiousness aura about it and this is what has drawn Candy to it, the fact that you can have your own license and avoid taking orders from a boss. It is at this point in the novel that Lennie and George (with Candys input) are the closest theyll ever be to actually seeing this dream of theirs become a reality. Later, Crooks also falls victim to this idea of independence and freedom such is its ability to at tract tidy sum towards it. Unfortunately though, at the end of the scene, he withdraws because of the verbal attack on him by permeds wife. Curleys wife reminds Crooks that he is black and black people in those days were oppressed, resulting in even the simplest aspirations of a person not being realistic.Another point about the dream is how its pull in Lennie the tag of being stupid. For example, in conversations with Crooks and Curleys wife, he says things about the rabbits he will soon be able to tend and how he shouldnt do wrong or he wont be able to tend them. He is so obsessed with this idea that its all he talks about to others and this has lead both Crooks and Curleys wife to calling him crazy because they dont know what hes talking about and this is a factor as to why he is considered slow, not just because of his intellectual inability but also because of the things he says not following the thread of conversation.Lastly, in the final scene, Candy asks George if the dre am is off after they find Curleys wifes body but he doesnt respond. In any case, when he meets up with Lennie, Lennie requests that George tell the dream again one last time. George obliges and then shoots Lennie during it, signalling the end of the dream they once shared. The theme of the American Dream, like that of Friendship, is introduced almost from the beginning and runs right through till the end but doesnt extend beyond however as its been given a conclusion.The two themes chosen are interconnected very closely The complications of George and Lennies friendship got in the way of them realising their dream. The friendship and dream got in the way of each other spelling disaster for both. For example, Lennie being killed (friendship) and the dream not seeing the light of day (American Dream). This point also links with the meaning of the title of the novel.