Of Men and Mice

Of Men and Mice

Raphael Radon
Ms. Peters
English III Honors




In "Of Mice and Men" George speaks of a dream ranch to Lennie . He speaks of it to Lennie as a parent would when telling an intangible fairy tale to a child. Lennie asks George to tell the story so frequently that he basically knows all the words before George even says them. This ranch is a continuous reference to how the characters feel about their dream . The ranch has a specific structural   function in the story.   Its a bond Between George and Lennie , a "hook" to encourage the reader to change his mind although you are pretty sure of the outcome , and a symbol of the flock of people who are down on their luck looking for a way out   .

George who is an intellectual and responsible man has no common bond between his slow and childish friend Lennie . George who inherited guardianship from Lennie’s aunt Clara has an authoritative relationship with Lennie this isn’t enough to solidify an ongoing relationship . There is something else which is needed . It is a conflict or worry that both men have to be involved in . This is how they form a common bond because they share the same dream and are working together to achieve it . They are ready to go through thick and thin to get to their goal.

As a reader reads the story , they quickly seem to get the impression that they will never achieve their goal . For one Lennie is a "Ball n Chain" to George . George drags him around and Lennie is constantly getting into trouble , so often that before George and Lennie even step foot on the ranch George tells Lennie to hide out in the brush in case of trouble thats how sure he is that Lennie will drag him down and get in trouble . When Lennie fights curly its safe to assume he might be fired or in trouble so the dream ranch would be impossible to fulfill without a steady job to bring in money . So it seems hard to believe that the ranch will ever exist. On the contrary George finds an actual real ranch for sale . It was...