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It Is All Up to Fate?
The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming
it." - Moliere. While this may be true, can the
obstacle truly be overcomed? Is it even our choice?
John Steinbeck's' Of Mice and Men explores many such
questions. The narrative follows Lennie and George,
two friends finding work in a ranch. They're saving up
money to buy their own farm, and along the way they
have interactions with different characters. Most of
the main characters are disadvantaged and nearly all
of them have an American dream. The story follows what
happened with their American dream and how they deal
with their lives in the ranch. Many people have
certain limitations, and they attempt to overcome the
obstacle caused by it, but fate would not allow their
endeavors to prevail.
Many people have their own limitations. Three
characters in particular are restricted in their own
unique way; Curley's wife, Candy, and Crooks. With
Curley's wife she's first described as having "full,
rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made
up"(Steinbeck 31) along with other descriptions about
her appearance. There is nothing said about her
character and even her name is unknown to the reader.
This imagery of the only woman in the ranch is
stereotypically pretty, hinting at the typical woman a
man wants, with no regards to her personality. This
objectification makes it so that a woman's looks are
her only power and, in the book, all they did was lead
her to trouble. Candy's trouble is his crippling age,
and he's disabled with only one hand. He obviously
doesn't have the strength of the other workers. This
makes him weak and the ranch is a place where there is
no place for the weak. When Candy is shown to "stare
at the ceiling" (Steinbeck 49) he's been deeply
affected by the death of his dog. His dog was put to
death because it was old and no longer had any
usefulness. The dog symbolizes weakness. Its age makes
it so that it can't be compared to anything young.
It's blind, and thus it is constantly dependent on its
owner. Weakness is also what isolates Curley's wife.
Being a woman, she is treated with condescension, it
is not accepted for her to talk with anyone else
besides Curley. If one can no longer serve a purpose,
he or she will be removed, with no consideration to
his or her situation. Nobody considers Crook's
situation either. He's more secluded from the ranch
workers than anybody else, since his race prevents him
from interacting from everyone else. His crooked back
is one of his weaknesses and he has "had more
possessions than he could carry on his back"
(Steinbeck 67). His possessions are all he has that
make him happy. His back is a symbol of oppression,
and in this case, it stems from racism. He is
constantly bent forward when facing white people since
they rule over him. This oppression is what compelled
Candy to allow his innocent dog to be put down. People
are helpless against oppression because they have no
chance of defending themselves, and their lack of
choice is what causes their downfall
Loneliness has been the biggest obstacle that has
limited a person. Crooks isn't the only one who is
lonely. Everyone refuses to talk to Curley's wife and
without his dog Candy doesn't have anyone. Loneliness
was an effect of their constrictions. The characters
attempted to overcome this loneliness by talking to
Lennie. When Curley's wife's "words tumbled out in a
passion of communication" (Steinbeck 88) she
exemplified her desperation to talk to someone. The
words are personified as tumbling because they escape
her mouth suddenly, as it wasn't supposed to happen.
She's isolated because she's the only female in a
ranch on men, but this proves how she's actually just
like everyone else. She's also someone who couldn't
achieve her American dream. The characters were
supposed to cure their loneliness because fate would
interfere with their lives. Candy has been fate's toy
for years. Candy couldn't achieve his longing for
peace in in old life. He talked to Lennie so that he
could stay at their ranch with them and live out his
last days in peace. Otherwise he will suffer a worse
fate, as he says "I wisht somebody'd shoot me. But
they won't do nothing like that" (Steinbeck 60) if
they ever let him go. A man is preferring death over
spending more time at the ranch because most of the
characters want a content life. Though, this better
life can never be achieved, because fate won't accept
it. Crooks also wants peace. He's accepted his social
stereotype as an African American and seems to feel
disdain when white people come near him. He ends up
isolating himself even more, but he submits himself to
"Lennie's disarming smile" (Steinbeck 69). It's ironic
that he would be so welcoming towards Lennie when he
has just told him to go away, meaning that he actually
appreciates the company. Like many characters, he
submits to Lennie's smile because that's the only way
fill that empty void in his life. By interacting with
those who are accepting of someone can that person's
unhappiness be relieved, but the world does not have
many people who are this accepting.
Even though there were attempt obstacles, that was
never achievable. Crooks finally found someone to
confide in, but that ended rapidly. He was pulled back
to reality, where he realized he could never be with
Lennie and George. When he "looked at the door"
(Steinbeck 83) after Candy, George, and Lennie has
left he was looking at a symbol of a boundary that he
could never cross uninvited. The other characters were
had more freedom because they were still thought of as
people. Crooks is not a slave, but he is as much of a
possession as his books. A limitation can make a man
worth the same as an old dictionary. The dreams in
this book are also worth this much. "Looked down at
the hay" (Steinbeck 94) before letting George answer
because he knew the truth. There was no way they were
ever going to buy that ranch. That dream was a symbol
of temptation. There wasn't a character who achieved
his American dream, because it's unachievable. Yet,
people constantly fall for its trap believing that
their wishes can become a reality, but their
disadvantages would keep their wishes from coming
true. Curley's wife wished to be in the movies but
being a female, she was deceived into believing this.
This forced her to marry Curley for financial reasons.
The horses "rattled the halter chains" (Steinbeck 98)
when she died because it foreshadowed the unavoidable
danger. The loud rattling occurs whenever she was
around, for it was a warning of what fate had in store
for them. Fate is what decides one's path in life, not
one's dreams.
Though people attempts to overcome the obstacles that
stem from their limitations, their endeavors are never
authorized by fate. Jamal Penjweny is a photographer
who showed many people in Iraq holding a picture of
their favorite athlete. Each of these Iraqis were
people with a dream, but due to poverty or physical
injury they could not become the famous stars they
though they were going to be. They didn't decide to be
born poor or get life-changing injuries. Fate was the
one who made disadvantaged.
References: Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Penguin
Books, 1993
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