Theme Analysis

In last week's blog response, I asked you to select a theme that "hit home" with you the most.  Now that you have set your sights on a theme you would most like work with some more, it is time to test your skills of analysis.  Scan through the last chapter (6) in Of Mice and Men and see if you can pull out a moment from the text that, upon close reading, says something about your selected theme.

For example, imagine that I am a student who was most interested in the theme of "The American Dream."  When scanning chapter 6 I came across this moment in the text:

 "A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows.  A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically." 

Next, try to analyze how this moment is somehow connected to the theme you have chosen.  It mights sound something like: 

One of the final images of setting that Steinbeck offers us in Of Mice and Men involves a snake being eaten unexpectedly by a taller, silent bird.  The snake "gliding smoothly up the pool" is similar to an American citizen in the 1930s attempting to work their way towards a goal of prosperity.  The snake moves its way around obstacles as it sees them, just like a hardworking citizen has to jump some hurdles in the pursuit of their dream.  However, the unfortunate truth of the matter is that "The American Dream" is beyond the grasp of most people because of unforeseen enemies to their progress.  The tall heron might be a symbol for the more powerful upper or dominant class of society silently waiting in the shadows.  The heron ultimately swallows the snake, and in the same light, many Americans dreams are snatched from American people in ways that they do not suspect.  

     "Slim said, 'You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.'" (Steinbeck 107.) In this scene George had just finished killing Lennie and all the guys came to see. Right now in George's head he might be regretting killing Lennie, because he will no longer be a friend and even bigger will be lonely. In the beginning of the book when Lennie and George came to the ranch they came together. The workers at the ranch said it was rare for two guys to come together and work together. Lennie and George were best friends. They have never been separated and have always been together. This must have been hard for Lennie, because like most people in the 1930s they were all lonely, but George had a friend who they both looked out for each other. In the 1930s even though you had a friend they will leave your side, because in order to survive you had to worry about yourself and only yourself. George gad to to kill Lennie, because he was getting into the way of his life and work. So, to make peace he had to kill Lennie. This left George lonely and just like the guys on the ranch said it was rare to find a person by your side during this crisis the country. Hence, the name the Great Depression, because everybody was lonely and had no one to be with. Loneliness during the Great Depression