Book Review: Of Mice and Men's Lennie's Struggle with Isolation and the Pursuit of the American Dream
Originally posted on October 12, 2019 on Facebook Notes on my Facebook page
I wrote this analysis of "Of Mice and Men" written by John Steinbeck as a Research Novel Paper in the English Composition II general education course that I took at Bucks County Community College and since one of the characters has a disability, I decided to upload the essay as a blog post.
TRIGGER WARNING: If you have experienced physical violence or gun violence, this following blog post, reading this book, and watching the movie may be triggering as it exhibits graphic content. In addition, if you or someone you know have experienced discrimination against having disability/disabilities or any differences, this following blog post may still be triggering. If you need support right now, please seek help from a therapist or other mental health professional or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
Many people with all ranges of disabilities experience isolation and struggle with getting jobs. The novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck takes place in Salinas, California and focuses on how two migrant workers named Lennie and George are attempting to pursue the American Dream. Lennie and George face many obstacles along the way in this attempt. Lennie has an intellectual disability which sometimes gives people the wrong idea about him partially out of discrimination. Lennie's struggles are the reason why George spends time with him so much; he helps Lennie, takes care of him, and makes sure that he does not get into trouble with people who will not understand him. Despite George and Lennie's best efforts, Lennie gets himself into a troubling situation which prevents the pair from fulfilling their dream of acquiring a farm. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Lennie's disability and resulting dependence on George is ultimately Steinbeck's way of commenting on the isolation and overall struggle that people may deal with when pursuing the American Dream.
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Steinbeck gives a modern-day explanation of how Lennie experiences isolation and the struggle of pursuing the American Dream. There are several ways that Lennie experiences both of these issues that are demonstrated throughout the story. Lennie has a disability and the disability community experiences isolation anyway due to people discriminating against them or misunderstanding them. Lennie also experiences this when higher-ups are reluctant about hiring him out of discrimination or misunderstanding him; this isolates him from the working world. Lennie's type of intellectual disability is invisible to some people because it does not have facial features that are sometimes part of intellectual disabilities. The severity of his clear struggles and speech impediment make it visible though. As part of Lennie's disability, he tends to get in trouble a lot due to his struggles with social skills, comprehension, and working memory; as a result of this, he has a tendency to say unfiltered comments which sometimes makes situations end badly. So, when employers hear him say the wrong thing, they may not know that he has learning differences unless they are told and depending on how much they are educated about disabilities, especially the kind that affects people's learning. As a result of them not knowing that he has a disability when this happens, this can give them the wrong idea that he cannot do the job which is how they may misunderstand him. Lennie is big and strong so his disability will not make him incapable of doing a job that requires physical labor like bucking barley; if anything, his physical strength makes him a better applicant for the job than someone smaller in stature like George. The key obstacle to Lennie's employment is therefore based on how people like him are perceived by society. If Lennie's diagnosis is disclosed to an employer, they employer may or may not hire him since discrimination against employees with disabilities/disabled employees is a common issue in the workplace. That is why George tells Lennie, "That ranch we're goin' to is right down there about a quarter of a mile. We're gonna go in an' see the boss. Now, look---I'll give him the work tickets, but you ain't gonna say a word. You jus' stand there and don't say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won't get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we're set. Ya got that?" (Steinbeck, 1965, pg. 8). Besides misunderstanding him, if the boss hears Lennie say anything unfiltered, the boss might even discriminate against him when he sees how his disability affects him. The boss may not even hire George because of this as a way of taking it out on him or because he spends time with Lennie. During their job interview, George does all of the talking and tells a white lie to the boss by saying that Lennie "got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid" to give the boss an understanding of why Lennie is not speaking and provide an alternate explanation for his behavior that will portray Lennie in a more appealing light (Steinbeck, 1965, pg. 23). He reassures him that this will not affect Lennie's ability to work though by telling him, "He's awright. Just ain't bright. But he can do anything you tell him" (Steinbeck, 1965, pg. 23). As a result, the boss accepts him as an employee and says, "Well, God knows he don't need any brains to buck barley" (Steinbeck, 1965, pg. 23). The boss saying this shows that he is in agreement that Lennie's disability should not affect his ability to work this type of job or be a liability to the workplace according to the information about the details of his disability that he has been told. There is also concern that even when George warns Lennie not to do certain things, Lennie will want to take up upon his suggestions, but sometimes innocently forgets due to his poor working memory as part of his disability. Since Lennie tends to get in so much trouble, George is very concerned that someone could do something horrible to Lennie as a result; so, he tells him, "Well, look. Lennie---if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here and hide in the brush" to keep him safe; they find this spot on their way travelling to the ranch (Steinbeck, 1965, pg. 8). Lennie also has hallucinations of Aunt Clara and the rabbit talking down to Lennie in his own voice at the end of the story. Aunt Clara states, "All the time he coulda had such a good time if it wasn't for you. He woulda took his pay an' raised hell in a whore house, and he coulda set in a pool room an' played snooker. But he got to take care of you" (Steinbeck, 1965, pg. 99). She is saying that Lennie is wasting George's time because he has to take care of him because of how much he is due to how severe his disability is. After Lennie defends himself by telling her that he will make sure not to bother George anymore, she goes to tell him that he basically will get no where in life because he is worthless. Then, the rabbit appears and tells him that he is not stable enough to tend rabbits following Lennie defending himself by saying that he would not forget to take care of them. However, the rabbit comes back at him by saying, "The hell you wouldn'. You ain't worth a greased jack-pin to ram you into hell. Christ knows George done ever'thing he could to jack you outta the sewer, but it don't do no good. If you think George gonna let you tend rabbits, you're even crazier'n usual. He ain't. He's gonna beat hell outta you with a stick, that's what he's gonna do" (Steinbeck, 1965, pg. 100). The reason that Lennie is hearing the delusions of Aunt Clara and the rabbit talking in his voice is because what he is hallucinating them saying are his own thoughts about himself. He thinks that he is a burden and "ain't worth" it due to all of his mistakes he makes due to his disability. Overall, Steinbeck's greatest dramatic success was Of Mice and Men, which in some ways exemplifies Steinbeck's major themes of isolation, loneliness, failure, and aspiration" (Hadella, 1995).
Besides Lennie's disability, he and George also face many other obstacles when attempting to pursue the American Dream. The ranch employer's son named Curley is a very cruel person and George recognizes that he might present potential problems because he is quick to anger and likes to start fights with people who are bigger than him. Lennie's innocent and thoughtless behavior coupled with his size makes him an easy target for Curley's antics. In the second to last chapter of the novel, Lennie is sitting alone in the barn and suddenly Curley's wife appears. At first, he reluctant to speak to her because George told him to avoid her, but she reassures him that he can. She goes on to complain about her loneliness, how she is mistreated by everyone on the ranch, that she dislikes Curley, and all of the better things that she wishes she could be doing with her life. Just like Lennie, she has had to struggle with isolation and struggled to achieve the American Dream, but for her it was because she is a woman and not due to any kind of disability. Lennie suddenly talks to her about his love of rabbits; she asks him why he loves animals so much and he explains that he likes to pet them because they are so soft. As a result, she lets him touch her hair. Suddenly, he becomes overly excited and holds on too tight because he does not know any better about boundaries. This is not the first time that Lennie's inability to understand personal space has gotten into trouble. A similar incident occurred prior to the start of the story where Lennie had stroked a woman's dress and his intentions were misunderstood; however, in the case of Curley's wife, Lennie's attempt to prevent himself from getting into trouble due to repeating his mistake with another woman leads disastrous and tragic consequences. Curley's wife cries out in fear as a result causing Lennie to panic; so, he covers her mouth. The more she became, the tighter he gripped, which resulted in Lennie accidentally breaking her neck and killing her. Lennie's childlike nature and limited mental faculties limit his self-control and this lack of control prevents him from knowing his own strength. He had previously crushed Curley's hand, and killing Curley's wife shows how destructive Lennie's strength can be without proper supervision. Once Lennie realizes what "a real bad thing" he has done, he runs away to hide in the brush as George had suggested him to do whenever he got in trouble (Steinbeck, 1965, pg. 89). When George finds out that Lennie accidentally killed Curley's wife, he is concerned that Curley will do something very violently bad to Lennie as a result; so, George shoots and kills Lennie ending their chances to pursue the American Dream. If Curley would have killed Lennie, that would have caused their American Dream to be over too, but George killed Lennie instead because he was concerned that whatever Curley and the lynch party coming after him had plans on doing something much worse to him. George is making Lennie look across the river while he tells them about their dream of owning a farm as he pulls out a gun to shoot him so that he does not know that he is going to kill him. In addition, Of Mice and Men takes place in the era of the Great Depression and during this time period, there was a lack of opportunity for jobs. Due to Lennie's disability, his amount of abilities are limited and one of his abilities that he is the most gifted in is manual labor. He is very strong physically, but he struggles mentally; so, he is limited to only being able to work in jobs that are more focused on physical work resulting in him having a lack of opportunity in getting jobs. Even though Candy does not have a disability that affects his learning, he and Lennie have a similar mental capacity. He makes some unfiltered comments too. They act like one another in many ways in regards to this part of them. For example, they both talk about animals living on the farm that they have an American Dream about when George and Lennie agree with him to allow him to join in this plan of theirs. "Furthermore, he acts like Lennie when he comes into Crooks' room in the barn, saying only, 'This is the first time I ever been in [Crooks's] room'; he seems honestly not to realize that the reason for this is that, as Crooks declares, 'Guys don't come in a colored man's room.' Yet Candy has been on the ranch for a long time, just as Crooks has" (Cardullo 2007). In addition, it is ironic that Candy who is a person without a disability that affects his learning would say something like this because it could come off as offensive; so, as a person without learning differences, it is ironic that he did not know better to keep this thought to himself out of respect. "Along with Curley's wife, the actions of Lennie, George, Curley, Crooks, Candy, and even the lighting itself consistently remind readers that this is, indeed, a play within a play. Steinbeck creates a world where people are prevented from being their true selves, and in the rare instances when they reveal a more authentic self, they face negative consequences" (McMurray 2004).
Despite Lennie experiencing isolation and struggling to pursue the American Dream, there are also many times that he does not experience isolation and that he does experience the American Dream. However, "to stress the similarity between Candy's position and Lennie's, Steinbeck has Candy, and no other character in the play, treat Lennie as his mental equal. Furthermore, George never explains Lennie's condition to Candy as he does, say, to Slim" (Cardullo 2007). When Lennie and George do start working at the ranch, they meet a man named Candy that works on the ranch too who is very accepting of Lennie. When he, Lennie, and George communicate, Lennie's disability is actually never mentioned to Candy because of how accepting he is of him. Candy treats Lennie just like everyone else at all times. He treats him with the same exact respect that he gives to people without disabilities and talks to him just like everyone else, which is very inclusive. Lennie and him are even alike in many ways. Candy technically has a disability too because when having a conversation with Lennie and George, he states that he lost one of his hands while working on the ranch. Sometimes when people with differences are accepting of others of all differences right away, they do not even mention those other people's differences because they understand it enough; so, this could be why he is so respectful to Lennie. The fact that he has only one hand, limits his abilities in the workplace too, especially in this specific type of job that requires physical work just like Lennie's mental capacity affects his ability to work. He explains this when he says, "'I ain't much good with on'y one hand. I lost my hand right here on this ranch. That's why they give me a job swampin'" (Steinbeck, 1965, pg. 58). Despite Lennie's poor working memory, he can remember some things; George's presence is effective in making Lennie mindful of what he should and should not do based on past experiences. He can remember how to perform physical work and when Curley's wife tries to speak to him, he remembers that George told him to avoid speaking to her. Lennie also remembered to hide in the brush when the lynch party is looking for him after he kills Curley's wife despite his poor working memory. George told him to hide there if he ever got in trouble again in the future. In addition, "The dream of the garden is so omnipresent in the lives of Lennie and George, two 'bindle-stiffs' who are the major characters in Of Mice and Men, that Lennie for all his mental capacity, can recount the terms of their ambition, more fantasy than anything else, by heart" (Gladstein 2014). Despite Lennie's difficulty remembering things, it is so easy for him to remember his and George's dream because it is so full of common sense. Overall, Lennie can succeed in many areas despite his disability.
Lennie's disability causes him to experience a lot of isolation and struggle with pursuing the American Dream althroughout the novel, Of Mice and Men. Lennie is not accepted by others and mistreated due to discrimination and misunderstanding. Due to how severe his disability is, he depends on George to help him at all times. Lennie would not be able to achieve the American Dream independently without George's help.
If you are affected by physical violence or gun violence, you are not alone and there is hope. If you or someone you know needs support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
You can also visit The Mighty's hotline resources page by clicking on this link: https://themighty.com/suicide-prevention-resources/
1. Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck. 1965.
2. McMurray, E. "Of Mice and Men: Actors in a Play." Steinbeck Studies, vol. 15 no. 2, 2004, pp. 103-106. Project MUSE, http://muse.jhu.edu/article/176441
3. Slater, J. F. "Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (Novel) (1937)." Short Story Criticism, edited by Catherine C. DiMercurio, vol. 265, Gale, 2019, pp. 35-44. Literature Criticism Online, http://link.galegroup.com.bucks.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/FLSGPO300852940/LCO?u=newt_ovrc&sid=LCO&xid=99c5e69b.
4. Cardullo, B. On the road to tragedy: mice, Candy, and land in Of Mice and Men. American Drama (16:1). 2007, 19-29. 2007. 10610057. English Literature: Twentieth Century: Authors: Steinbeck, John. 2007:17273. https://literature-proquest-com.bucks.idm.oclc.org/searchFulltext.do?id=R03887508&divLevel=0&queryId=3110737206283&trailId=16988B2A5E4&area=abell&forward=critref_ft
5. Gladstein, M. R. "Edenic Ironies: Steinbeck's Conflicted Vision." Steinbeck Review, vol. 11 no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-13. Project MUSE, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/547351
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