By themes, we refer to the ideas which the author is trying to give us. We can assume that most authors do not write just for fun, but that there is some message or philosophy that they would like us to learn.
An author likes to think that his readers are different (and hopefully better), because they have read his book. Often the ideas are ones which the author believes in passionately.
How did you feel when you finished reading 'Of Mice and Men'? Were you sad or upset? If you can analyse why you felt that way, then you will be part way towards understanding the important themes of the novel.
I shall discuss the themes under the following headings:
Loneliness affects many of the characters, and Steinbeck seems to show that it is a natural and inevitable result of the kind of life they are forced to lead.
The itinerant workers are caught in a trap of loneliness - they never stay in one place long enough to form permanent relationships. Even if such relationships existed, they would probably be destroyed by the demands of the itinerant life.
Let's examine the lonely situation of some of the characters, see how they try to deal with it, and the result.
Candy is lonely because he is old, and is different from the other hands. His only comfort is his old dog, which keeps him company and reminds him of days when he was young and whole.
He has no relatives, and once his dog is killed is totally alone. He eagerly clutches at the idea of buying a farm with George and Lennie, but of course this all comes to nothing.
Candy's disappointment is expressed in the bitter words he utters to the body of Curley's wife, whom he blames for spoiling his dream.
George is also caught in the trap of loneliness. Just as Candy has his dog for company, George has Lennie (who is often described in animal-like terms). Continuing the parallel, George too is left completely alone when Lennie is killed.
The dream farm is his idea, and he says 'We'd belong there ... no more runnin' around the country...'.
Another lonely character is Curley's wife. Newly married and in a strange place, she is forbidden by Curley to talk to anyone but him. To counter this, she constantly approaches the ranch hands on the excuse of looking for Curley. The only result is that the men regard her as a slut, and Curley becomes even more intensely jealous. Finally, her loneliness leads to her death as she makes the ' serious error of trying to overcome it by playing the tease with Lennie.
Curley himself is lonely. His new wife hates him as do all the ranch hands who despise him for his cowardice.
He has married in an attempt to overcome his loneliness, but has blindly chosen a wife totally inappropriate for the kind of life he leads.
His feelings are all channelled into aggressive behaviour which further isolates his wife and leads to the incident with Lennie where his hand is crushed.
Crooks is another who is isolated because he is different. He copes with it by keeping a distance between himself and the other hands. When he does allow himself to be drawn into the dream of working on George and Lennie's dream farm, he is immediately shut out by George's anger.
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The novel has many examples of a kind of needless violence. For example, Candy relates how the boss gave them whisky and allowed a fight to take place in the bunkhouse.
Curley is the most obviously violent character, however, and whenever he appears there is a feeling of tension.
He is described as pugnacious when we first meet him, and causes George to remark
'...what the hell's he got on his shoulder.'
Candy explains that Curley often picks on big guys ( a sure sign of trouble for Lennie). We are prepared for Curley's later anger, which culminates at the end in his wish to
'... shoot him in the guts.'
Carlson is another character associated with violence. He is unconcerned about killing Candy's dog (and in fact callously cleans the gun in Candy's presence).
He goes to watch the fun when Curley thinks Slim may be with his wife, and later goads Curley more, threatening to
'... kick your head off.'
Later he is very keen to get his gun to join in the hunt for Lennie. The last words in the book belong to Carlson, and it is little surprise that they reveal his complete inability to understand George's feelings about the death of Lennie.
Compared to the other characters, Lennie reveals an unintentional violence. He does not even think to fight back when Curley attacks him, but when he does, it is with immense and uncontrollable force. He has so little control over his own strength that he accidentally kills his puppy, and then minutes later snuffs out the life of Curley's wife.
His actions on these occasions are compared to those of an animal, powerful but thoughtless. Ironically, Curley's wife is attracted to him because of the violence he had shown in crushing her husband's hand.
It is the threat of violence to be used against Lennie that causes George to take the final step of killing his friend.
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Dreams are one of the ways in which the characters combat the loneliness and hopelessness of their existence.
The most obvious example is the dream farm, a dream shared at first only by George and Lennie, but which later spreads to include Candy and Crooks.
Crooks reveals that it is the favourite dream of the itinerant ranch hands:
'Seems like ever' guy got land in his head.'
It is a powerful dream, however, and even the cynical Crooks falls under its spell for a short time.
To Lennie, the dream is an antidote to disappointment and loneliness, and he often asks George to recite the description of the farm to him.
Curley's wife is another who has dreams, her fantasies of a part in the movies and a life of luxury. Part of her dissatisfaction with her life is that it can never measure up to her dreams.
Significantly, none of the characters ever achieve their dreams.
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Steinbeck shows the world of nature to be a beautiful and peaceful one, but threatened by the actions of men.
The beginning of the novel sets this pattern, as the creatures at the pool are disturbed by George and Lennie's approach.
The ranch and its buildings, being created by men, are in contrast with the natural world. Notice that the bunkhouse, for example, is quite bare and stark.
Even more unnatural is that Candy and Crooks are both deformed or unnatural in appearance.
Contrasted to these two characters is Lennie, who almost seems a part of the natural world as he is described in animal terms.
In fact, one of Lennie's dreams is to go and live by himself in a cave. Maybe this would be the only way in which the natural world of Lennie would not come into conflict with the world of men.