Literary Critique Of Of Mice And Men

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Critique of: Of Mice and Men In Of Mice and Men there are many themes and motifs. Some of the more significant ones would be the theme of isolation and loneliness. Another such theme would be racism. In John Steinbeck’s story he has a deep theme of isolation. Many of his characters suffer from depression; whether visible or not, due to loneliness. This theme is shown early in the novel when George makes the statement that living the life of a ranch hand is among the loneliest of lives. This idea is a clear expression of the theme of loneliness since someone who wanders from ranch to ranch from work would not have time to make permanent friends. Throughout the story many characters talk of their loneliness, such as Candy, the old man; Curley’s wife, the tempting woman; and Crooks, the elderly Negro. Further evidence of this is shown by them confessing this issue to Lennie and George, who are complete strangers to them. Crooks states that friendship will never be obtained for one of his kind remaking to the fact that he was African American. Georges hope died with Lennie’s life being taken. Another theme was racism. This theme was not as major as isolation, but none the less it was important. Steinbeck’s novel deals with one of America’s greatest issue which is racism. Racism is not just limited to the color of your skin. It also deals with the handicapped, sexism and ageism. The people who are part of these categories consider it a way of life and not just a problem. There are a few people who experience prejudice and are remarkably the same as those faced with isolation. Lennie is mentally handicapped, Candy faces ageism, Curley’s wife faces sexism, And Crooks faces racism. These being the same people are not a simple coincidence. It was meant this way. Isolation and prejudice go hand and hand. If a person is racist to another that person becomes an outcast and is

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