FINAL PAPER

AMERICAN STUDIES

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men in Relation to Migrant Workers’ Life

in US 1930s and concept of American Dream

Elya Aprilia R

08/267861/SA/14322

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF CULTURAL SCIENCES

GADJAH MADA UNIVERSITY

2011

Of Mice and Men was published in 1937. It is set in the Salinas California

during the Great Depression. The novel portrays a life of migrant workers (Lennie

and George). They were two best friends (George and Lennie) who work on the

ranch. George is characterized as small and quick man with a dark face, restless eyes

and a thin nose while Lennie is a man with a large face, pale eyes and wide shoulders.

Lennie owns a big body but he is childish mentally and often forgets things that had

already happened. Together they travel from one ranch into another to save money.

They have a big dream of having their own ranch and Lennie wants to keep rabbits.

The plot started when George and Lennie decided to work at a ranch near

Soledad, California. George was always talking to Lennie to obey his orders and not

to make trouble so they could save money for fulfilling their dreams of having their

own ranch. One afternoon when all of workers were playing horse-shoes, Lennie

went to the barn. At the moment, the wife of boss’ son came and begun to talk to

Lennie. She shared her hair story. She said that her hair was so soft and it made

Lennie wanted to stroke it. However, she was frightened by Lennie. She struggled to

get rid, made some screaming but Lennie’s hands prevented her from making much

noise. Lennie had broken her neck and she was dead .The story ended with Lennie’s

death. He was executed by his own fellow, George. George realized that Lennie

would be better not to live again because he would only get into troubles.

George and Lennie represent the life of migrant workers in America

especially in California. During the great depression, migrant workers life seemed to

be a miserable one. “Most of men who work on the ranch are the loneliness men in

the world. They have nothing in the future to think about” (quote from Of Mice and

Men). Through the characters of Lennie and George, and also other workers

characters, it can be seen that people who work as ranch workers have to face

loneliness. In the novel, it is stated implicitly that each characters have their own

problem of loneliness. Most of them are having no families and no home. They have

to face the life their selves without any support. It seems that what they have in mind

is only how to survive. They are having no future since their jobs do not guarantee

anything. The life they had seems to be monotonous. They earn money but then they

spend that money to go to whorehouses, play pool, and drink. After having a day full

of work, they try to look for a fun and those things are their escape.

Of Mice and Men also serves another fact of migrant workers. Migrant

workers usually come from different background. All of the characters in Of Mice

and Men represent different culture background. For example, Crooks, he is a black

stable man who represents the black people. In the novel, he is depicted as a black

who is isolated from other men because of the color of his skin. Curley, the boss’ son

is a white who is typically as aggressive young man who always seeks for fights.

Curley’s wife, the only woman characters in this novel represents a woman of ranch

who always dress up in fancy and put on heavy make up. Each character symbolizes

people of America at that time. On the ranch, people are gathered together to work.

They are not only forces to work but also fit their selves with people from another

background with their own unique struggle.

Steinbeck's simple writing also reflects the simplicity of each character. All

the characters in the novel are working class people. They talk, eat, and live very

simply. In the novel, the migrant workers live in the barn even for stable man like

Crooks, his bunk is in the harness room. Migrant workers are people who never have

high demand for their life. They take their life in good part. Life for them is all about

pleasure which comes from work. No matter how pain it is, they accept their life and

job with broad minded.

The novel Of Mice and Men portrays the life of migrant workers during 1930

especially when Great Depression hit America. In American history, Great

Depression becomes the most popular history of people suffering. The stock market

crash lead many people to lose their jobs and lands. People mostly were poor and

desperate for work. “People experiences of and reaction to the depression differed

substantially. There were also different effects based on region and economy activity

(McElvaine, 200:14).

“In the 1930 many people come to California from Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Drought caused their crops to fail and with no income they lost their land. They

believed the stories they heard about easy living in California. The

population of the central valley where the land was good for farming grew

dramatically for the first time.”

(Ansari, 2009: 19)

California as a place setting of Of Mice and Men plays important role in

American history. California became the witness of how people make struggling of

their living in 1930s. At that time, there was a mass exodus in people making their way

to California in the midst of the Great Depression. Some states like Oklahoma,

Arkansas, and Texas had suffered greatly because of a severe drought worsened by

over-farming and poor soil which produced a disaster of Dust Bowl. The hardship

forced people to migrate and their choice was California. California was seen as a

promise and opportunity land since California provided the most work. The extended

growing seasons and variety of crops in there was also one of the reasons why

California became the destination for many migrant workers.

Along with historical background, John Steinbeck has succeed in fictionalized

the real situations. As described in novel Of Mice and Men, the migrant workers such

as Lennie and George also moved to California to look for the job. In the beginning,

it is mentioned that George and Lennie have to lose their job because of Lennie’s

mistake. Thus, they had to move into another ranch and experienced another life.

Lennie, who is physically strong, tend to maintain work of physical strong.

“The migrant workers lived hard life. They had to move from field to field to

find work. They slept in camps set up by the growers. They could never be

sure if they would have jobs from one month to the next. They earned and

owned a little “

(Ansari, 2009: 19)

Those statements strongly describe what the life that migrants workers have.

In case a ranch was no longer a good place for them to work, they have to move into

another ranch. It might be happened when some trouble happened for example

because of wages disagreement, quarreling, or maybe like a case of Lennie who killed

the wife of bos’ son. In the ranch, all they have to do is only working and obeying the

ranch owner’s will. Life for them is only to earn money, spend the money for their

fun without having plan about the future.

Most of migrant workers do not know each other. They come from different

area and background. They do not care of others because what they have in mind is

only how to survive. However, Of Mice and Men is a story of two men who were

different from others. Goerge and Lennie went work together. One day in the future

they were going to buy their own ranch and Lennie was going to keep rabbits. What

makes George and Lennie differ from others is that they went work together and they

have their dream. George and Lennie also take care of each other. Although George

often complaining about Lennie and said that he would have a better and an easier life

if he did have Lennie with him all the time, he cares much of Lennie. They have a

plan, a hope and a dream of owning their own ranch. Those are things which make

life worthy for them.

Of Mice and Men is a novel which represents America in some parts. George

and Lennie’s dream of having their own ranch really highlights the concept of

American Dream. In the concept of American Dream, as first, it is asserted that one

must have dream of good life.

“There is really no other way to understand their migration except as

motivated a belief that it could procure some gain, if not for themselves in

providing a reassuring sense of purpose then at least for the good of their

children and community who might be saved even if they themselves were

not.“

(Cullen, 2003:159)

As stated above, the migrant workers must be driven by need of dream of

good life. No doubt that everybody has this kind of dream. However in migrant

workers case, the term of good life seems to be somewhat different from other

workers. The fact that their job is not a permanent job forces them to have different

term of a good life. A good life for them is a live where they can eat, sleep and having

little fun. It may be true that in their deep heart, they have a big dream but the real life

shapes it different. What people do determines what people get. Migrant workers earn

a little money so it hard for them to reach their big dream unless they make extra

work.

Dreams play significant role in one’s life because dream triggers plans.

Another fact from migrant workers portrayed in the novel Of Mice and Men of having

no family and no home, make their life getting worse. They fail to dream because

they have no dream foundations such as family. If they have family, the case will be

different. They will think about their family and make some plans to have better life.

Unfortunately, they have no future to think about because everyday life is their future.

They also do not care about others life. Thus, what they have in mind is only to

survive. Life is today’s life for them.

Dream of home ownership has been second dream which appears in John

Steinback’s Of Mice and Men.

“The American dream of owning a home” we call it.” (Cullen, 2003: 136)

“From the beginning then in America was not only an abstraction such as

money important but to do so was the development of a particular place

where a variety of people could transform, acquire and lose lives.”

(Cullen, 2003: 137)

This kind of dreams makes George and Lennie become different from others

migrant characters in the novel. For others migrant workers, working in a ranch are

enough for them to live. They never have a dream of having their own ranch because

it is kind of impossible thing since their wages are low and they have no family to

take care of when they grow older. However, George and Lennie are different

because they have their dream together. While other workers having no person to take

care of and who care of them, both George and Lennie enjoy their each other

company.

Lennie always asks George to tell about the ranch and rabbits that they are

going to have. Alhough it is kind of boring for George to tell about ranch and rabbits,

George never complain and rejects Lennie’s request. For George and Lennie, their

dream of owning a ranch is their manifestation of their interdependent feeling

towards each other. Both of them need a place where they can spend the rest of their

life. Companying is an elixir of loneliness which haunts them every time as

individual. Compared to other characters, George and Lennie have a step higher in

recognizing loneliness. Unfortunately, fate brings them into different ends. Lennie’s

nature of stroking things leads him to his own death. He kills the ranch owner’s

daughter in law and his best friend has to execute him in act of mercy. American

Dream in Lennie and George’ live is simply a dream which they fail to bring into

reality. Sometimes we have to get on circumstances which often make everything far

from our expectation. We are free to dream of something but how we pursue a dream

is not as easy as we dream.

I affirm that I have only used approved sources and my own brain for this research.

Elya Aprilia R

References

Ansary, Mir Tamim. 2003. People of California. Chicago Illinois: Heinemann

Library.

Steinback, John. 1937. Of Mice and Man. London: Heinemann Educational

Books Ltd.

Cullen, Jim. 2003. The American Dream. New York: Oxford University

Press.

http://faculty.washington.edu/gregoryj/dust%20bowl%20migration.htm

taken on May, 22nd at 4.28 pm