Of Mice and Men

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck places a lot of characters as having free will and determinism when in all truth they have none. The author uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey a message of how they are trapped. To quote a quite distinguished reader, “Characters are �trapped’ either by what others think of them, or by their situation.” A lot of the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them shows the extent of their freedom and determinism.

The characters of this novel have very little to look forward to as migrant ranch hands. They travel from ranch to ranch with all their belongings in a bundle, looking for work for fifty dollars a month. If a man is good at what they do in that job, he might be kept on at the ranch indefinitely and wind up as Candy does, old and crippled, always waiting until he is no longer useful. George in the beginning of the story explains the despair of a ranch hand to Lennie:

“Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go into town and

blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to (Of Mice and Men 13-14)

The life of a ranch hand maybe grim, yet the characters in the novel are still vulnerable to dreams if freedom and are determined to succeed. George and Lennie’s way to freedom one day be able to own a land, so he (Lennie) can pet as many rabbits as he wants. Candy and Crooks also has hopes on joining them. Curley’s wife wishes to be free from her husband so she can become an actress.

These hopes and dreams, however, cannot exist without friendship. This is most demonstrated in the relationship between George and Lennie. Without the other neither character would be able to maintain the desire. Lennie is constantly asking George to “Tell about how it’s gonna be.” (14) The constant reminder of the way things will be is what keeps the determination in Lennie alive. At the same time, George can’t be without Lennie. When George kills Lennie, he also kills the friendship, which results in the death of their hopes.

Throughout the whole novel, Steinbeck hints and offers clues that lead us, as readers, to believe all the characters wishes will be fulfilled. Candy and Crook’s interest in George and Lennie’s dream is the main factor that causes the reader to believe that these two newcomers might actually succeed. Crook’s, the stable buck, at first was very skeptical of the offer, “Everybody wants a little piece of lan’… Nobody gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head.” (74) However, when he finds out that Candy’s offer to contribute almost all of the money needed for the land, he wants a part in the plan.

Sadly, in the end every character’s hard work to freedom is crushed, and each becomes a victim of his circumstances. Crooks is a character who is mistreated in many ways because he is black. He is a stable buck of the barn, that seems to not have a real name. The only thing the reader would know about him is the fact that he got kicked in the back by a horse and had a crooked back ever since. Nevertheless he gets yelled at by the boss every time something is wrong. “The boss gives him hell when he he’s mad. But the stable buck don’t give a damn about that,” (32) this is said by Candy. This is why he is trapped and very lonely.

Lennie is not so much stereotyped, but rather trapped