Characters In the novel ‘Of mice and men’ Essay

The novel ‘Of mice and men’ is set in 1930’s America. The characters suffer from this because of the Great Depression in 1929. This led to many things, for example people losing their jobs. Because of this factor the characters Lennie and George have to travel from place to place looking for a job and a place to live. Also Woman and Black rights did not exist as they were 2nd class citizens, Crook says to Lennie â€Å"Why aint you wanted† â€Å"Cause I’m black†, unlike contemporary America. Also in the 1930’s people were discriminated against because they were put before any other person wanting the job. I think the differences between 1930’s America and today’s America shows drastically in this novel by affecting the characters jobs and social lives. Lennie is a very interesting and important character in the novel; he affects all the character but mostly George. He is very forgetful, George says to Lennie â€Å"So you forgot that already did you!!!† Steinbeck uses Lennies ‘forgetfulness’ as a way to kill Curley’s wife without Lennie knowing. Also Lennie cannot take care of himself, unlike today society cannot provide help for him and if left alone him would slowly die. Also if he was left alone he would not be able to get a job because he would be discriminated against, but with the help of George he has a chance to work if he follows Georges rules, â€Å"If he sees ya work before he sees ya talk, were set†. In this quote George is telling Lennie what to do around the boss, Stienbeck makes it clear in this quote how much discrimination there is in the 1930’s. George, I think, is the main character in the novel, mainly because he controls the book by helping and telling the characters what to do. He teaches Lennie how to behave to other people, I think if Lennie weren’t there, George would be depressed and lonely, although George sometimes get annoyed with him, he thinks a lot of him and this is why he was king enough to kindly kill him. Candy is also an important character in this novel and I think she is also very clever. â€Å"Everybody wants a bit of land, not much† she understands what its like to live in a mans world. Curley’s Wife is a very depressed character because she is a 2nd class citizen and once had hopes of becoming famous, â€Å"he was gonna put me in the movies†, her dream disappeared and is now the wife of Curley’s wife and has no role and no job in the novel, she also wants children but Curley doesn’t, and that is what a mans world was like in the 1930’s, whatever he says, goes. She gets so depressed for company that she approaches Lennie, I think she does this because she knows that he’s the only one that will listen to her, this depression leads to her downfall as Lennie accidentally kills her. Crooks is also a very depressed character because in the 1930’s blacks weren’t seen as equals. I think in this novel Crooks is vulnerable to attacks, â€Å"Listen nigger, you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?† She can have him killed because in the 1930’s woman were in a higher class then blacks, so her word is more reliable in court then Crooks. Crooks is also very wise, he has worked on the ranch for a long time, â€Å"I seen hundreds of men come by on the road†, and says that their dreams never come true its â€Å"just like heaven†. Crooks says to Lennie, â€Å"You guys is just kidding yourself. You’ll talk about it a hell of a lot, but you won’t get no land.† Crooks like everyone, is lonely. â€Å"A guy talking to another guy and it don’t make no differences if he don’t hear or understand, the thing is, they’re talking†, this quote shows how desperate Crooks is for company, like Curley’s Wife, he turns to Lennie.