Of Mice and Men is chiefly concerned with imprisonment and repression Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and hands is chiefly concerned with imprisonment and repression EssayHow does Steinbeck present such themes at bottom the novella?All of the characters within Steinbecks Of Mice and Men have a dream, yet this dream is unobtainable because they are trapped, inner(a) the ranch and inside themselves. They cannot break out because of their flavorstyle and their need for work and money.Lennie and George dream of having their own ranch and live tally the fatta the lan yet they hold each other back. George represses Lennie, he has become like a father to him however will not let Lennie grow up, Lennie cannot talk without Georges permission. What are you gonna say tomorrow when the boss asks you questions? Lennie, however, realises that George cares for him and he has learnt to manipulate George, If you dont want me you only jus got to say so, and Ill go off into those hills properly there.Lennie makes George guilty, so that George feels that he has to stay with him. Neit her will let each other go, as neither knows virtually conduct without them. George and Lennie travelling together is unusual Aint many guys travel around together and this means that they are leftfield as outsiders. Other workers turn up alone so have to fit into ranch life and into the group only as George and Lennie are together, they become unapproachable, as other workers are confused about their friendship. After leaving Weed George and Lennie believe that they have escaped from their problems however whilst Lennie is there they can never truly escape their problems as they will just follow them from place to placeThe marginalised characters are repressed, because of their age, sex, or race. Curleys wife has no name she is just the stereotypical woman. Candys dog also has no name and the cardinal are on the same level on the ranch. Being married to Curley, she has given up her right to freedom, as at the time women were just expected to be a good wife aint I got a right t o talk to nobody? Curleys wife has dreams, like the others which she can never achieve Coulda been in the movies an had nice clothes. She is trapped in the ranch she could leave but would not be able to accompaniment herself, as all she has is Curley.Curley, whilst he seems like he is in control of his life, is imprisoned within his personality. Curley is the oldtimer son and feels that he must live up to the Boss reputation and be an unofficial attracter for the ranch workers, the fact that Slim seems to have taken this role angers him. He is married and uses this to his advantage, he has nearlything that the others do not have and uses this to intimidate the others and show off, seems like Curley is cockier than ever since he got married.However, Curley cannot control his wife and is insane that she may be seeing another worker, he is looking for her throughout the text, he knows her flirtatious reputation and suspects others of being with his wife. It is pointed out by othe rs that Curley is like a lot of other little guys. He hates free guys he feels that has to prove himself, just because he is mall does not mean that he isnt strong. Curley likes to be in control and make others fear him and this holds him back, if he behaved like any of the ranch workers then it is likely that he would be accepted but he cannot change himself now.At the time of the novella, black people were discriminated against and Crooks is an workout of this. He is left to live alone and we rarely see him. If Lennie had not gone into his room and verbalize to him then we would have never met Crooks or learnt about him. He is never given a kick downstairs to speak or voice his opinion. The majority of the ranch workers were involved with the discussion about Candys dog but Crooks being in another room was never involved. Crooks knows being black is the reason for his isolation puzzle Im black but he cant leave the ranch because he is crippled so he is imprisoned somewhere he is ignored.On a ranch where working is all there is to do Candy finds life difficult. He is the eldest and this prevents him from working and socialising. When the others are playing horseshoes Candy is not, he is talking with the other outsiders, George and Lennie, in the barn. Candy is not given chance to think or count on suggestions, during the conversation about his dog he seemed pressured into the decision. Carlson is speaking at him rather than to him and he is given precise little time to form a counter argument.The town where the ranch is situated is called Soledad, which means, in Spanish, desolation or secluded. George and Lennie have to walk miles to reach the ranch, suggesting that it is isolated. Once on the ranch workers are stuck doing the same monotonous tasks daily. Whilst workers could escape from that particular ranch, it would only be to find another. Because of the Depression, workers were stuck travelling from place to place in count of work and once the y had found one place, some were reluctant to move on for fear of not being able to find any more work. Migrant workers were very low down in the social hierarchy and found it difficult to break out, as they needed the money.Steinbeck presents themes of imprisonment and repression well, with many ideas not apparent on the first read. His novella is a look at life in thirties America and he manages to show how life was for many different types of people and shows how everyone was trapped in some way.