Of Mice and Men

 

by

 

John Steinbeck

  

 

100 Most Challenged Books

Steinbeck, J. (1937). Of mice and men. New York, NY:

Penguin Books.

As a theatre lover, I first experienced this story by watching four different movie and stage dramatizations of Steinbeck’s story.  So I welcomed this opportunity to read the original book to see how it compared.  Plus, I was curious why the book would be considered “controversial.”

Since Steinbeck often wrote of migrant workers during the Great Depression in books like this and The Grapes of Wrath, it would seem his books would be popular in a contemporary world where this group makes up such a large part of our society.  Like so many of us, George Milton and his friend Lenny Small cherish the American dream of someday earning enough money to get their own place.  Since this same vision is probably what has been bringing so many immigrants to American for centuries, it would seem Steinbeck wisely wrote of characters most readers could easily associate with.

   

By giving his character of Lenny the last name “Small,” it seems Steinbeck may have been simultaneously employing an oxymoron regarding Lenny’s large physical stature and symbolism regarding Lenny’s limited intelligence.  It is a sad irony that Lenny’s big heart makes him love to pet anything soft, yet he accidentally kills these things, including the pretty wife of the bosses’ son.  And this, in turn, leads an even more tragic irony – George, out of love, kills the friend who always trusted him.  I suppose this may be why some critics found the book controversial, but I enjoyed it more than the stage and movie versions of it that I’ve seen.

It may just be an idiosyncrasy of mine, but I’m always curious about what inspires artists.  They say there are no new ideas – just ones that have been recycled.  I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but I do continually see what appears to be curious similarities in art forms.  For example, in 1931, the movie Frankenstein depicted a giant of a man with a simple mind who likes to pet soft things, like a little girl he meets by a pond, but he accidentally kills her.  Six years later, the book Of Mice and Men depicted a giant of a man with a simple mind who likes to pet soft things, like a woman, but he accidentally kills her.  It makes me wonder if this was a case of sheer coincidence or if John Steinbeck liked to go to the movies.   

           

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