Essay For The Exam

Beyond The Line


What do you think was the main purpose of writing “Of Mice & Men”, and can you relate the book to man vs. man, man vs. self, and man vs. world?

In my opinion, I feel as though that the main purpose of writing “Of Mice & Men” was to show the readers how being mentally challenged or lost while traveling with one of you close friends can get you a long way on your journey. In the story you have two friends Lenny, and George who plans a trip to a ranch. If you have read this story then you can probably infer that Lenny is mentally unstable and George is like the drill sergeant from hell. This book definitely has the three m’s. Man vs. man, man vs. self, and man vs. world.

First, man vs. man plays a big role in the story. Lenny is kind of like the loose, not caring type that wants to play with pups, and rabbits, and not taking their journey as serious as he should, while George on the other hand wants to complete their journey focused and “by the book”. Anytime George spots Lenny off task or doing something inappropriate like drinking water too quickly from the lake then he will anxiously correct his partner so that he is following his rules. Pretty much the entire story is basically Lenny vs. George or in other words man vs. man.

Secondly, Lenny is a big boy. Certain things he does affects the lives of other people or animals. To him he thinks he is just being himself but to the “average” normal human he is harming the lives of other living creatures. For example, as you should already know that Lenny likes to play with pups and rabbits. George would give him an animal to play with and some how the animal would end up dead or suffocated in his pocket. Another example of Lenny’s shocking accidents was when George told him to stay in the barn. Surprisingly he did but then Curly’s wife eased her way in the barn to talk to Lenny. To make a long story short she ended up dead laying in the hay. Lenny only wanted her to be quiet because she was screaming, but ended up snapping her neck. Several problems occurred regarding Lenny and his careless acts, that’s why man vs. man definitely would fall under those accidents. After Lenny realize what he had done he ran away to hide because he knew what he had done was wrong, which lead him to think about the men coming after him.

Furthermore, man vs. society or world would be appropriate for George and Lenny’s adventure because each place thy ended at caused nothing but problems for them. On example that can prove my assumption is when the two men got on the bus to began their journey. The bus driver did not approve of George’s attitude so he let the two off the bus and told them that the ranch is only “a stretch down the road”. He knew what he was doing when he let them off but the two didn’t realize it until they read a sign that said fives miles until their destination. (Not sure of the mileage) Arriving at the ranch put a load on their shoulders because; a man known as Curly that didn’t favor tall men so apparently he hated Lenny due to his height greeted the two men. Lenny and Curly ended up scuffling, which causes Lenny to break Curly’s knuckles.

To sum up, what was the main purpose of writing “Of Mice & Men” I would like to say to engage the readers in a journey they will never forget.