Of Mice & Men Theme's Essay

Julian Brunson
301/8-9
Of Mice & Men Essay


In the story titled “Of Mice & Men” it tells the tragic story of how two men try to fulfill the American Dream, but keep running into roadblocks on the way. In this classic tale it follows George and Lenny, two men who are forced to move west after a series of unfortunate events.

It all started back in Weed when Lenny began to sexually harass an innocent woman. I know what you are thinking though, you’re thinking Lenny is a pervert but no he isn’t. See there’s sort of like a big part I left out in letting you know that Lenny’s a little slow (in proper terms: MENTALLY CHALLENGED). Well back to what I was saying, Lenny not knowing right from wrong began to inappropriately touch a woman, which sparked a manhunt looking for the two of them. After running for a period of time they got away.
Between all of the madness, it’s hard to see, but in this tale of two men they actually have themes. Some of the themes I’ve seen in this story are the Fraternity of brotherhood, the pursuit of the American Dream, and human predators.

The first theme I will elaborate on is the American dream. In conjunction with that you can see some of the ideals, which are: family, fame, fortune, and dwelling. As for family you can clearly see that George, Lennie, and Candy appear to be close almost as family. As for their current situation they are stuck in what appears to dwellings, but no fear because they have plan’s to make it out of the gutter. Fame comes into play along with Curley’s wife, who is sick of her living situation, and wants a career in show business.

The next theme I want to elaborate on is the Fraternity of brotherhood. One example of this how all the men unite to complete their work on time at the ranch. Another example of brotherhood is when all the men united to kill Lennie, the reason for them uniting to kill Lennie was because of the fact that Lennie killed Curley’s wife. One more example of brotherhood is how the men can unite to relax, in the story men united on they’re off time to play horseshoes, & go into the city.


The final theme I will elaborate on from “Of Mice & Men” is the human predator theme. The first well-known predator in this story is Curley. Curley is known as the bully of the ranch. He was known for picking on people that were bigger than him, slim, and his wife. Another bully on the ranch was crooks. He was known for picking on white people as a whole, and especially Lennie. The third and last person I will talk about is Curley’s wife. In my opinion she was more of a sexual predator, who usually picked on Curley, George, and Lennie.

In conclusion these are the themes that I think make up Of Mice & Men.