‘Show_How_Steinbeck_Introduces_the_Reader_to_the_Realities_of_Life_for_Different,_but_Ordinary_People_in_the_1930s_California,_Usa.’

‘Show how Steinbeck introduces the reader to the realities of life for different, but ordinary people in the 1930s California, USA.’ Each character in ‘Of Mice and Men’ was different, in terms of class and race, but was also an ordinary being. In effect, each person’s life was ultimately entangled with another’s, and the reality of life for them was one of the most significant events in the novel; explored in great detail by the author, John Steinbeck. 1930s, USA can be regarded as one of the most destructive events in history that shook the world to its core. To this day, we are still living the drastic effects of a chaotic meltdown that drove numerous, innocent lives to their awaiting deathbeds. Steinbeck initiates the reader to a contradictory view of this when he describes the setting in the opening extract. “On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees – willows fresh and green with every spring …” With this statement, Steinbeck immediately invites the reader to take an opposing view to the real situation – where the characters’ lives are in complete jeopardy and disarray because of the titanic economic disaster. It was a distant contrast to the harsh realities of life for these people. Two of these people were George Milton and Lennie Small. George and Lennie shared a dream, an ambition, that dazzled their minds immensely. “All kin’s a vegetables in the garden, and if we want a little whisky we can sell a few eggs or something, or some milk. We’d jus’ live there. We’d belong there. There wouldn’t be no runnin’ around the country and getting fed by a Jap cook. No sir, we’d have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house.” George and Lennie’s vibrant desire was, in truth, a microcosm of the American Dream that had mesmerised the minds of hundreds of men. Their thirst and aspiration was driven by the hope of becoming prosperous and achieving liberation from the major grievances around them. They wanted a place where they would ‘belong’. They wanted a place where they would thrive upon simultaneous and wonderful opportunities. In the circumstances, the veracity of the situation was that their fantasy was simply unachievable. “I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads. Hundreds of them. They come, an’ they quit an go on, an’ every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head… I read plenty of books out there. Nobody ever gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head.” Crooks’ seemingly sinister views regrettably fit in with the crucible conditions at the time. George and Lennie lived at a time where independence was explicably unlikely. The Great Economic Depression and The Dust Bowl brought with them tormenting effects which had forced vulnerable people like George and Lennie to go West, California, for a new beginning. These devastating barriers had distorted peoples’ perceptions. It had contaminated their beliefs and led them to believe that they could break out of their misery and take up a life of eternal luxury. George and Lennie had fallen into the same category and the bitter reality of life for them was that their dream was ill-fatedly unachievable because they didn’t understand the pandemonium that they had been plunged into. Whilst George and Lennie share the same, idealistic, enthusiastic dream, they also share a very loyal and compassionate friendship. At a time where man was fighting for his own survival and walking the agonizing path of loneliness, they show a strange likening to each other. Friendship, in theory, is abstract; however it is one of the most important and profound messages that Steinbeck is trying to convey to the reader. “…I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you…” We are given a different approach and understanding of the character that George really is when he eloquently says this quote. On paper, George seems like the leader; he acts as if he doesn’t care. As we progress through the novel, we realise that George’s vague character is exposed to circumstances where he shows his alliance to Lennie, albeit in the smallest of manners. George and Lennie demonstrate a deep sense of companionship for each other in the face of a society in which individuals show little care for each other. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong to no place… With us it ain’t like that. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.” The isolation that a person faced at the time was enough to drive them to a frenzied state. Yet, George and Lennie’s bonding in the conditions that they were thrust into was affectionate, if not mysterious. “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy.” When the Boss says this quote, it is easy to identify that people weren’t accustomed to having any companions. It was virtually a dog eat dog world. The idea of friendship, delved into by Steinbeck, was unknown territory to many and the reality of life for most of them was a cold isolation from the doors of companionship. Whereas George and Lennie share an exquisite friendship, Crooks, the stable-buck, is surrounded by perpetual loneliness. Crooks is a black man, but at the time, blacks were referred to as "niggers", meant as a white insult. Being a nigger, he is ostracised by the whites at the ranch and he severely resents this. “If I say something, why it's just a nigger sayin' it.” By saying this he shows his outrage and bitterness at being banished to one side. Being oppressed makes him seem cruel and stern, but it also turns him to self-pity and the notion that he is inferior to those around him. He says to Lennie "You got no right to come in my room.....You go on get outa my room. I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse and you ain't wanted in my room.” He then continues by stating his sheer anger at the whites who find it a disgrace that a nigger should breathe the same bunkhouse air as them. "S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black...Sure, you could play horseshoes 'til dark, but then you have to read books." Crooks pities his own circumstances and vulnerability. He brings into perspective the loneliness experienced by all the characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’ by saying “Books ain't no good. A guy needs someone - to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, a guy gets too lonely, an' he gets sick.” He seeks the need for human interaction, the need for company and the need for someone to care and provide security. The oppression Crooks experiences leads him to this desperate plea to be realised as equal. Steinbeck is portraying here the feelings of Americans of his day and age; their aloneness and their salvation. Lennie Small is perhaps the most complex, yet very much sympathized characters in the novel. Relying heavily upon George, Lennie is presumably seen to have the personality of a child. While he acts with great loyalty to George, he has no comprehension of the idea of "loyalty." For that reason, he often does not mean to do the things that get him into trouble, and once he does get into trouble, he has no conscience to define his actions in terms of guilt. Lennie only defines them in terms of consequences such as, "George is going to give me hell" or "George won't let me tend the rabbits." He is devoted to George like a dog is devoted to its master, and he tries to follow George's commands. There is a childlike wonder in Lennie that can be seen evidently in each of his actions. On the other hand, his physical appearance shadows a very much distinguished proportion to his innocent mentality. Strong, huge and lumbering; his large stature is the centre of a feeble joke made by Carlson; where he mocks Lennie’s physical appearance, to his name, Lennie Small.  Although he has a diminished mental capacity, Lennie's feelings are much like that of a normal person, when you take into consideration his mental disabilities.   One of Lennie's biggest concerns is that of a continued friendship with George. “You ain’t gonna leave me, are ya’ George' I know you ain’t!” His trust instilled into George shows another aspect of his childlike behaviour and throughout the novel he shows an immediate distrust of people, except for George. He heavily relies upon George to make the distinction between right and wrong for him. George repeatedly is forced to tame Lennie by constantly reiterating their delicate dream. Lennie lacks the understanding that his actions have consequences. This is seen when he holds on to his pet mouse so tightly that he kills it. He walks his way through life completely oblivious to the dangers of the world; holding on to the dream of someday owning a farm with his best friend, George. George realizes that the bad things that Lennie does are not committed out of meanness. Despite having various mental disorders, Lennie himself acknowledges that he doesn't correspond with the society he lives in. “Well, I can go away, I'll go right off in the hills and find a cave.” Lennie's untimely fate symbolizes that he has become a menace to society. He is cruelly swallowed up by the demeaning situations of the time and this makes the reader sympathize with him because the astute reality of life for him was that his hugely contrasting physical appearance and mental understanding had conflicted so heavily that they had driven him to a stark and unfortunate death. In conclusion, 1930s, USA was a time sunk into the midst of defeated hope and the harsh reality of the American Dream. George and Lennie were poor, homeless migrant workers, doomed to a life of wandering and toil in which they were never able to reap the fruits of their labour. Their desires might not seem so unfamiliar to any other American wishing for a pleasant future; a place of their own, the opportunity to work for themselves and harvest what they sow, with no one to take anything from them or give them orders. George and Lennie desperately cling to the notion that they are different from other workers who drift from ranch to ranch because, unlike the others, they have a future and each other. But characters like Crooks and Curley's wife serve as reminders that George and Lennie are no different from anyone who wants something of his or her own. All the characters wish to change their lives in some fashion, but none are capable of doing so; they all have dreams, and it is only the dream that varies from person to person. Curley's wife has already had her dream of being an actress pass her by and now must live a life of empty hope. Crooks' situation hints at a much deeper oppression than that of the white worker in America - the oppression of the black people. Through Crooks, Steinbeck exposes the bitterness, the anger, and the helplessness of the black American who struggles to be recognized as a human being, let alone have a place of his own. Crooks' hopelessness underlies that of George, Lennie, Candy and Curley’s wife. However, all share the despair of wanting to change the way they live and attain something better. Another key element is the companionship between George and Lennie. The two men are not unique for wanting a place and a life of their own, but they are unique in the terms that they have each other. Their companionship contrasts the loneliness that surrounds them - the loneliness of the homeless ranch worker, the loneliness of the outcast black man, the loneliness of the subjected woman, the loneliness of the old, helpless and cripple. In comparison, George is not blind to the fact that life would be easier without Lennie. “God a’ mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy.” He often yearns for independence when Lennie becomes troublesome, creating a major source of tension in the novel. This tension is not resolved until the final gunshot by the riverside, when the strain of Lennie's company makes it impossible for George to survive with his companion. By killing Lennie, George eliminates a monumental burden and a threat to his own life. The tragedy is that George, in effect, is forced to painfully retreat away from the dream and admit that it has become hopelessly abandoned. “I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got thinking maybe we would.” His proceeding burden is now hopelessness and loneliness, the life of the homeless ranch worker. The ruthless reality of life for ordinary people in the 1930s was that, one had to surrender their dreams in order to survive, not the easiest thing to do in America, the Land of Promise.