Most stories we Americans read have happy endings. Even if a story doesn't have a happy ending, there is usually some hope because we Americans like to dream and wish. That's why we have the American dream. Most people in other countries are encouraged to face their options and reality, we are the opposite. We want to dream.
So most of the stories we read leave room for that, they give us room to dream up something nice for the main character whom we get attached through after facing their many obstacles on their hero's journey. This has been my experience. But Of Mice and Men...its ending goes bellow reality, down to the darkest depths which none of us want to face. It is a book that I could confidentially say has a sad ending. But does sad cover it all?
Candy was an old man who was getting too old to work and didn't think there would be much for him. He knew his prospects were grim, but then Lennie and George came along and charmed him into putting all his hope into their dream. Then, he finds Curly's wife killed by Lenie and just like that his flame of hope that was growing brighter each day is extinguished. After getting a taste of something amazing, he didn't want to sink back down. But he was forced to do so. He had nothing left.
As a kid George had thought like any other person of the time, each man for himself. Then, he saw how innocent Lennie was, how he would do anything he said and Lennie melted his heart. Lennie brought a sweetness into George's life that no other rancher experienced and in return George took care of Lennie. Even if they never accomplished their dream they still had each other...or so they thought. Lennie killed Curly's wife and their whole dream was ruined. As George was about to shoot Lennie, he knew there was no going back if he did it. No more sweet, innocent, smiling Lennie. But his more rational side which outweighed his emotional one took over and the shot was fired. It was something that he would have to live with for the rest of his life. A constant heart ache pressing him down. At the moment he shot Lennie his heart was fractured into pieces.
Curly's wife was also someone who had dreamed too much for her own good. She got swindled by the photographer and blamed her mother for it. She put her hopes and dreams into getting that letter from Hollywood. On the night she met Curly she was depressed, probably drunk, and desperate by any means to get away. She took Curly's offer without thinking about it much and found herself in a place that to her was probably worse than her home. Although she was not exactly a great person, she didn't deserve the fate handed to her for just trying to make more of herself than what was common of someone in her position.
Other than Lennie this book discussed the three characters I wrote about above the most and they are quite an interesting selection. They all share something in common which I touched on above. It is not that they are misfits since Crooks is one but he wasn't as main as them. It is that all three of them dreamed much more than they were expected to of the time. A really morbid person would probably pick up the morale "Don't dream unless you want to die or become depressed." To me this book is more explaining how life was back then. Back then it was dangerous to dream but over time through Fairy tales and stories we have become a country that likes to dream. Now a days, it is easier to accomplish dreams and old people, women, and African-Americans have as equal a chance as white men. Now it is more about ability and a lot more people have the chance to accomplish their dream.
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