Investigating Themes In Of Mice and Men

1.) What different forms of power exist in Of Mice and Men? What kind of power does Lennie have? What kind of power does George have? What kinds of power or powerlessness do other characters possess?

2.) What kind of relationship do George and Lennie have? Is their relationship a friendship? How does this relationship express Steinbeck’s position on the individual versus the community?

3.) Is the American Dream a real possibility in the story? If yes, what characters, symbols, events, or other details from the story confirm that the American Dream is within reach? If not, what characters, symbols, events, or other details from the story represent the American Dream as out of reach?


Check out the info History.com has to offer about the American 1930s! Who had power in the 1930s? Who did not? What kinds of power existed then? What important relationships were formed in the 1930s? Was the American Dream still alive in the 1930s?

2)  What kind of relationship do George and Lennie have? Is their relationship a friendship? How does relationship express Steinbeck’s position on the individual versus the community?

George and Lennie have a conflicting relationship, they both rely on each other. George looks to Lennie for protect hi, he says that no one should mess with Lennie which was proved in chapter 3, when Lennie breaks Curley’s hand. Lennie looks up to George for guidance. George is the one who told Lennie to get Curley.

I think their relationship is a true friendship. I don’t think George would have stayed with Lennie if he didn’t care for him. I think Lennie probably thinks of George as his only family member after Aunt Clara passed.

Steinback shows how Lennie relies on George to be his parental figure. He asks George to tell him stories, for permission to do things, etc. George relies on Lennie to rough anyone up if they bother them. Lennie doesn’t know any better than to listen to George, so he does.

 How to be socially involved: http://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a-z/7977_socialising-how_to_stay_socially_involved