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A review by zena_ryder
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
5.0
Simple, beautiful, tragic.
I had read this book many years ago and the "feel" of it remained with me. It is one of those books that gets under your skin and affects you long after you've closed the cover. The characters are superbly drawn; the language is simple and says so much with so few words; the story is tragic and pulls you along with the anticipation of the terrible ending. You know, even the first time you read it, that nobody is going to live happily ever after.
This particular story is sad and unusual (because of Lennie's unusual strength, combined with his mental disability), but the trap of poverty was not unusual and Steinbeck does a masterful job of conveying that — all with a light touch. Reflecting on the book, one is reminded that the trap of poverty is still very much in existence.
Some other reviewers have criticized Steinbeck because we do not even learn Curley's wife's name in the book. The male characters are scared of her and the "trouble" they feel that she will cause. She is even blamed for her own death. However, I don't think that Steinbeck himself was "victim blaming". The conversation she has with Lennie at the end of the book shows that she is lonely, she wants company and conversation, and she is trapped by her husband's possessiveness and jealousy, just as much as the farm workers are trapped by their poverty and lack of education. She has no name because that is how she is seen by the other characters — just as Curley's wife, a possession, a thing to be afraid of — it's irrelevant to the other characters what her name is or who she is or what she is experiencing. Steinbeck handles that perfectly, I think, with the simple "trick" of referring to her only as "Curley's wife".
I had read this book many years ago and the "feel" of it remained with me. It is one of those books that gets under your skin and affects you long after you've closed the cover. The characters are superbly drawn; the language is simple and says so much with so few words; the story is tragic and pulls you along with the anticipation of the terrible ending. You know, even the first time you read it, that nobody is going to live happily ever after.
This particular story is sad and unusual (because of Lennie's unusual strength, combined with his mental disability), but the trap of poverty was not unusual and Steinbeck does a masterful job of conveying that — all with a light touch. Reflecting on the book, one is reminded that the trap of poverty is still very much in existence.
Some other reviewers have criticized Steinbeck because we do not even learn Curley's wife's name in the book. The male characters are scared of her and the "trouble" they feel that she will cause. She is even blamed for her own death. However, I don't think that Steinbeck himself was "victim blaming". The conversation she has with Lennie at the end of the book shows that she is lonely, she wants company and conversation, and she is trapped by her husband's possessiveness and jealousy, just as much as the farm workers are trapped by their poverty and lack of education. She has no name because that is how she is seen by the other characters — just as Curley's wife, a possession, a thing to be afraid of — it's irrelevant to the other characters what her name is or who she is or what she is experiencing. Steinbeck handles that perfectly, I think, with the simple "trick" of referring to her only as "Curley's wife".