I finished reading Of Mice and Men and now I feel a bit sad. I did
enjoy the book and Steinbeck’s craft as an author, but I am saddened by Lennie’s
death. What really surprised me was the ending of the book. I was expecting a
peaceful ending where the main characters “win” like in most stories, but this
one did not end like that. Although Lennie would have been lynched and
tortured, the death of a man that never tried to hurt anyone makes me sad. The
worst part of it was that George, his best friend throughout the novel, was the
one who killed him. George discusses their relationship, “"It ain't so
funny, him an' me goin' aroun' together," George said at last. "Him
and me was both born in Auburn. I knowed his Aunt Clara. She took him when he
was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along
with me out workin'. Got kinda used to each other after a little while" (Steinbeck
39). As unfortunate as this seems, it needed to be done by George to protect Lennie
from a worse, torturous death.
On a separate note, Steinbeck did an excellent job building up to the climax and concluding his novel. The climax did come surprisingly late in the story, however. Steinbeck provided a very successful exemplar of a full-circle ending, returning to the beautiful, still lake Lennie and George started our novel at. Steinbeck was very descriptive at this part just as he was earlier in the book when he writes, "Already the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan mountains, and the hilltops were rosy in the sun." (Steinbeck 99). The personification brings that descriptive sentence to life and exemplifies Steinbeck’s descriptive craft.
For any of you looking to read this book, I highly recommend it. Steinbeck
penned a classic novel with Of Mice and
Men containing an unexpected ending, great author’s craft, and animals.
What else do you need in a good book?
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