Summary
Of Mice and Men is about two men named Lennie and George and they are off to find a new job. George is short and sharp. Lennie is really strong, but he is special and is obsessed with touching soft things, such as touching mice. However, Leenie is so strong that he kills lots of the things he touches. George and Lennie go to a ranch for their new jobs and are trying to save money to buy their own farm. This duo meets different people such as guys named Candy, Curley, Curley's wife, Slim, and other members of the ranch. At the ranch, Curley's wife, Candice, is very flirty and goes around the whole ranch talking to other men. The men at the ranch don't like Curley's wife because she is too flirty and goes around talking to everyone. However, one day, Lennie starts to touch Candice's hair, but pulls too hard and kills her. Lennie runs away, but George finds Lennie and kills him because George did not want Lennie to suffer from Curley.
Book Review
I, as an avid reader, am familiar with John Steinbeck's works. However, Of Mice and Men has really stood out to me out of all his works. What was very interesting about this story is the character, Lennie. Lots of modern stories these days have characters who have autism, ADHD, OCD, and other disabilities, but these disabilities are not something that you may find in a story from the early 1900s, which was very interesting. Also, even though Of Mice and Men takes place around the same time period as The Grapes of Wrath (another John Steinbeck book), the setting of the Great Depression does not impact George and Lennie as much as the characters in The Grapes of Wrath.
Of Mice and Men, as you can see, is given three stars by me. Yes, this book is a classic and is one of those books implemented in schools, but I am not trying to have a thing against classics. This book was very negative toward people with mental disabilities, even though people with those disabilities may have been treated like Lennie at that time. It really disappointed me how the story promoted having a mental disability as something that is horrible. Still, the story has many other messages about friendship, dreams, and more. I do recommend people to read this book, but it is not something I would strongly recommend.
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