Of Mice and Men: Crítica al Sueño Americano y a la Sociedad de los Años 30 en la Novela de Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck, which he employs to mirror and criticise the different aspects of the cruel American society of the 1930s. Steinbeck uses the characters' locations to criticise the lives that migrant workers led and to present his ideas on segregation and the unreality of the American Dream.

Steinbeck begins his novella in a natural location where he portrays the American Dream as utopian and, therefore, unrealistic. The characters George and Lennie are surrounded by 'sycamore trees' and a 'green pool'. The use of the word 'green' has connotations of 'fertility', portraying this land as the land of opportunities, as if George and Lennie could grow anything there and make a profit from it, thereby fulfilling their American Dream. However, George and Lennie's final destination is not this place, but rather a ranch, which seems to be 'about a quarter mile' down the way. The fact that they will never arrive at the place where they want to fulfil their American Dream therefore demonstrates the impossibility of the American Dream.

Steinbeck also demonstrates how this seemingly utopian setting is deceitful, as he mentions the 'winter's flooding' or the 'crisp sycamore' leaves. This shows that this setting is not always like this, that it is not always this reality, thereby mirroring how the American Dream is not always how or what people think it is. During the Great Depression, many people became unemployed, and so more of them started to think and believe in the American Dream. This leads them to wander around the country, with the impossible aim of achieving this dream. Steinbeck uses this location in his novel to criticise the impossibility of achieving such a dream.

Steinbeck then presents one of the most significant settings of the novella: the Bunkhouse. The Bunkhouse is where all workers sleep, and Steinbeck uses it as a way of mirroring the emasculating and ruthless lives workers led in 1930s America. Steinbeck describes how 'the walls were whitewashed and the floor unpainted'. The almost neglected appearance of the bunkhouse represents how society at the time treated migrant workers. Many workers migrated to California to find jobs, but when they arrived, many were told they had to leave, as there were not enough jobs for all men. This created an insecure lifestyle, and therefore bosses did not feel the need to provide a comfortable or decent space for people who could leave at any time.

Curley's Power and the Culture of Violence

To begin with, Curley is really powerful on the ranch, due to the fact that his father is the boss, so we can see how, throughout the novella, Curley takes advantage of this over the migrant workers on the ranch. Curley thinks it's acceptable to mistreat people simply because he holds a high position on the ranch, showing how he likes getting into fights with characters he considers weak or unable to fight back. Steinbeck uses Lennie to illustrate this point. Mistreating people is a clear example of the superiority some people held in 1930s America, a time in which violence was normalised.

Curley is really insecure about his size. He wears 'high-heeled boots' to appear wealthy and so that he doesn't look small. He bullies people to feel superior about his insecurities: 'he ain't a big guy'. This shows how he envies tall and strong people. We can see how Candy complains that he picks fights with every guy: 'alla time picking scraps with big guys'. His dream was to become a big and strong individual like the others.

Curley and His Wife: A Toxic Relationship

Furthermore, Curley's relationship with his wife is presented as toxic: 'I can't talk to anyone but Curley'. Here we see that Curley is a controlling and demanding person who only lets his wife talk with him, the opposite of the relationship George and Lennie share. In the 1930s it was normalised for wives to be the property of their husbands, which is why Curley's wife has no name and readers only know her as 'Curley's wife'. Women were expected to listen to their husbands and do everything they said. In this case, Curley banned his wife from leaving the main farmhouse, but she always disobeyed him and made up excuses for why she left, and Curley always had to run around looking for her.

Curley and Lennie: Jealousy, Power and Vulnerability

Throughout the novella, Curley has another relationship, this time with Lennie. They share an adversarial relationship because Curley saw him as an easy and fragile rival. We can see how jealous Curley is of Lennie's size and, because of that jealousy, Curley wants to shoot him: 'I'll shoot him in the guts'. Lennie is seen on the ranch as a really vulnerable and weak character, so Curley takes advantage of that by discriminating against him. This is an example of 1930s society, where those seen as weak were bullied by those seen as powerful. This relationship is somewhat ironic, because Lennie is physically one of the most powerful characters yet weak on the ranch, whereas Curley is short but really dominant on the ranch.