By: Daniel Varnis
The film Of Mice and Men curated and created by the original novella Of Mice and Men that was written by the very well known John Steinbeck, which was later published in the year of 1937. Of Mice and Men was set to be John Steinbeck’s way of sharing his ideas of the living conditions for people during the Great Depression. Considering the setting of the book is the 1920s-1930s, the language and dialect of the book caused the book to be added to the list of the Top 100 Most Challenged Books of 2000-2009. On top of that, the use of profane language – or what we deem to be profane in today’s society – caused the book to be banned from hundreds of thousands of libraries in schools across the United States.
Of Mice and Men is a story about the life of two Californians who are trying to make ends meet to survive. Going around from farm to farm, job to job, Lennie (played by John Malkovich) and his partner George (played by Gary Sinise) work day in and day out trying to keep a job in order to survive. Quoted directly from the book and film, George and Lennie longed to “live off the fat of the land” by owning a farm and by “tending to the rabbits.” If anyone were to watch the movie or read the book, they would easily realize and understand why rabbits play such a huge role in the story. Actually, rabbits are one of things that truly hold together the relationship between the two of them and it introduces the theme of friendship versus partnership.
Two key pieces of information that is crucial to understanding the story behind George and Lennie’s friendship are that Lennie is a mentally challenged gentle giant and George is a very uptight and mainline workingman. The contrast between their two personalities are something that bring George and Lennie closer, while also sometimes bringing them further apart.
Of Mice and Men is a story about the life of two Californians who are trying to make ends meet to survive. Going around from farm to farm, job to job, Lennie (played by John Malkovich) and his partner George (played by Gary Sinise) work day in and day out trying to keep a job in order to survive. Quoted directly from the book and film, George and Lennie longed to “live off the fat of the land” by owning a farm and by “tending to the rabbits.” If anyone were to watch the movie or read the book, they would easily realize and understand why rabbits play such a huge role in the story. Actually, rabbits are one of things that truly hold together the relationship between the two of them and it introduces the theme of friendship versus partnership.
Two key pieces of information that is crucial to understanding the story behind George and Lennie’s friendship are that Lennie is a mentally challenged gentle giant and George is a very uptight and mainline workingman. The contrast between their two personalities are something that bring George and Lennie closer, while also sometimes bringing them further apart.
Within the film, the movie starts off showing George and Lennie being chased by a crowd of angry farmers. Later on, the viewer then finds out that they were being chased away because Lennie did something that was not socially acceptable to a woman on the farm where they were once working. This is one example that displays the friendship that once was between George and Lennie, possibly becoming a partnership. Considering the movie takes place during the Great Depression, it was almost impossible for anyone to find any form of job. For Lennie and George to be forced to leave their job was very bad, because the odds of them finding another one was slim. While that was hard on the lives of George and Lennie, they still dreamt every night about living together and owning their own farm.
While the film does a very good job being thematically sound, another strong aspect of the film is the structure of the characters. Of Mice and Men is probably one of the only films that could convince the viewer that the character who is trying to be mentally challenged, is actually mentally challenged. John Malkovich, the person who plays the role of Lennie, should have won an award for best male actor, because his rendition of the mentally challenged Lennie was phenomenal. His ability to get into that form of mindset is truly amazing, and not an easy task to complete. While Lennie is a person to forget things very easily, one thing that he does remember is his love to pet things that are soft. As innocent as that seems, his desire to be delicate leads him to trouble. Lennie’s lack of knowledge on many things is what truly influences his love for soft things because it’s such a delicate situation, pun intended.
Looking at Of Mice and Men today, in a society where there are jobs and money, it’s very easy to say that this movie represents some of the earliest stages of people attempting to achieve the American dream. Unfortunately, for Lennie and George, that was almost impossible, due to the lack of jobs. It’s not easy to say that Lennie is the reason why George was never able to progress. Because in the end, George never wanted to be by himself, he appreciated the company and persona that Lennie had to provide, even at the times when George was at the end of his rope.
Citations
"John Malkovich." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000518/>.
"Of Mice and Men: George and Lennie's Dream." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Sept. 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24-zvMyxNAo>.
"Of Mice and Men (1/10) Movie CLIP - Lennie's Dead Mouse (1992) HD." YouTube. YouTube, 30 July 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCM-sEpyh1Q>.
Steinbeck, John. "Of Mice and Men Quotes." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/40283-of-mice-and-men>.
"Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." American Library Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009>.
<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000518/>.
"Of Mice and Men: George and Lennie's Dream." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Sept. 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24-zvMyxNAo>.
"Of Mice and Men (1/10) Movie CLIP - Lennie's Dead Mouse (1992) HD." YouTube. YouTube, 30 July 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCM-sEpyh1Q>.
Steinbeck, John. "Of Mice and Men Quotes." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/40283-of-mice-and-men>.
"Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." American Library Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009>.