Book portfolio Q.2

Josh Braley

Period 5

Mr. Middleswart

1-16-08

Of Mice And Men

“Tell about how its gunna be George, tell about the rabbits,” is what Lennie would say to George throughout the book. He was talking about going to live off the fatta the land, in a little cabin in the woods, having nobody to answer to but them selves, he’s talking about their “American Dream.” The American dream is desired by many, but it is very rare to accomplish it, you might get close but then it might be over, the theme of a historical fiction book, “Of Mice And Men” by John Steinbeck. The theme is important because it is good to have dreams, but you need to know that they can disappear very easily. In the beginning of the book Lennie gets into trouble in Weed, so him and George take off and hide. Then they get a job at this ranch, they start working there. George and Lennie talk about the dream and Candy, an older man with no arm, says he’d like to join them and he would help buy the place. So now they’re close to their dream until Lennie kills Curley’s wife. This forces George to shoot Lennie so he won’t be tortured by Curley.

George and Lennie are good friends, they travel with each other, George keeps Lennie out of trouble and Lennie keeps George company. George is a smart guy, he is a hard worker, but most of all a good friend. He works for his money so that maybe some day he can get that little cabin. He snuck him and Lennie out of Weed and got them a new job. After Lennie kills Curley’s wife, Curley wants to him, instead of letting that happen George shoots Lennie himself, quick and painless. Lennie is a big strong guy, but he’s mentally challenged and sometimes he just doesn’t know what to do in situations. Lennie crushed Curley’s hand when Curley was beating on him, he just wouldn’t let go of it, he panic and crushed it. Then Curley’s wife wants Lennie to touch her hair so he does, then she starts telling him to let go so he panics and holds on, so she starts screaming and he shakes her and breaks her neck. George and Lennie were both just trying to work towards their dream, but because of one little accident their dream was crushed.

This theme is true, everyone has a dream life that they would like to live, but very few people actually accomplish this dream. In my dream life I want to be a Professional Poker Player, sure it could happen but it’s a lot more likely to not happen. You could ask anybody what their dream life is, and I guarantee your going to get an answer. It’s unfortunate that so many people don’t accomplish there dream but that’s just the way it goes. You should have a dream, it might not come true but you can try to get there.

John Steinbeck did a good job with this book, he entertained people, and he showed people that sometimes things don’t work out the way you had planned. The characters seem very realistic, the way he put his conversations, he made it so it was actually like some migrant workers from back then talking. The American dream is very hard to accomplish, and he defiantly showed that by making them come close and then making everything go wrong. Throughout the book George and Lennie are just trying to get that little piece of land and have nobody to answer to. “Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck, showed that the American Dream is very tough to accomplish, even when you think you can do it, it might go away.