A
m I my brother’s keeper? It’s the question Cain sardonically put to God in the book of Genesis, when God confronts Cain about the death of his brother Abel. And as we all know, due to Cain’s scornful nature things didn’t turn out very well for him. But, how does Cain’s challenge apply to John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men?
John Steinbeck described his “whole work drive” as being aimed at “making people understand each other.”[1] The first reading we posted of Steinbeck’s work, It’s a Regular Greek Tragedy, examines a social/ historical reading of Steinbeck’s book. As a result of this reading, we gain a better understanding of the tragic human cost associated with economies that create, and benefit from, a class of disenfranchised workers.
Despite Cain posing it in a cynical fashion, “Am I my brother’s keeper” is actually a serious moral question. And when read in the light of its mythic implications, Of Mice and Men revolves around that very issue. This (second) interpretation encourages an understanding of the human condition gleaned from a mythological reading of Steinbeck’s “playable novel.”[2]
Though Steinbeck endeavored to be true to life, he didn’t consider himself a Realist. Realists focus on the here and now, the immediate. They concentrate on specific action and its verifiable consequence. While it’s true that much of Steinbeck’s fiction is realistic and informed by firsthand events, he transforms those encounters into a thematic or spiritual experience common to humankind, thus giving his works – specifically Of Mice and Men – mythic overtones.[3]
During the late 1930s, a “back-to-the-farm” movement emerged in California. This movement not only idealized the mystical bond between humanity and the soil, its philosophical viewpoint advanced the notion of independence and self-realization as direct byproducts of living close to the land.[4] Not surprisingly, this Edenic cultural development aligns with a central motif in Steinbeck’s work, America as an imperfect New World.[5]
___
There are no Edens
in Steinbeck’s writing.
The small, confined valleys Steinbeck preferred for his settings were very effective as symbols. As noted above, for Steinbeck, the small California coastal valley appears to suggest a climax to America’s Edenic myth. It’s a final opportunity for paradise at the end of the frontier.[6]
But, as anyone who has read Steinbeck will tell you there are no Edens in his writing. There are only allusions to the primordial paradise. And, in the fallen world encompassed by Salinas Valley, New Eden is an illusory and painful dream where the “sons of Cain” that populate it are fated to wander in isolation.[7]
Referring to the itinerant farm workers examined in the first installment of this essay, economic researcher Frederick C. Mills states, “it is the constant craving for human company, for friends, that is so strong among the floating class.”[8] Mills further stresses, “denied wives, or families, or circles of sympathetic friends, this feeling can only be partially satisfied thru the institution of ‘partners.’ Most men hate to travel alone on the road.”[9] This isolated and rootless existence is imposed on the itinerant workers that people Of Mice and Men.
When read mythologically, Of Mice and Men examines the nature of man’s fate in this fallen world. And, Steinbeck places particular emphasis on the question of whether man is destined (like Cain) to go his way alone as a solitary wanderer, or live in companionship with another? In doing so, Steinbeck effectively poses the same question Cain put to God: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”[10]
___
George and Lennie vs Cain and Abel
Parallels to the Cain-and-Abel story are evident throughout the tale of George and Lennie, providing Of Mice and Men’s mythic structure. Most people are only familiar with the general outline of the Cain and Able story. So, in order to see how it applies to Steinbeck’s novella, the details need to be filled in. Cain, Adam and Eve’s first-born son, was a “tiller of the ground,” and their second child, Abel, was a “keeper of sheep.”[11] The crux of the story is that Cain’s offering of “fruit of the ground” failed to find favor with God, while Abel’s livestock was well received.[12]
Rejected, jealous, and angry, Cain kills Abel. When God later inquires about Abel’s whereabouts, Cain replies in a biting and backhanded manner, “I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?”[13] Needless to say, God being God, He already knew what happened to Abel.
God, of course, punishes Cain for Abel’s murder. His choice of punishment seems to say “be careful what you wish for,” regarding Cain’s arrogant and sarcastic remark about not being his brother’s keeper. As if to facilitate the detachment he appears to wish for, God banishes Cain from His company, as well as the companionship of his parents (Adam and Eve). And, to seemingly drive the point home, God also curses Cain to wander the earth as a “vagabond” from that day forward.[14]
George and Lennie’s dream of owning a farm represents an aspiration to break the pattern of wandering and loneliness that defines this post-Fall exile, and return to the perfect Garden.[15] In this fallen world, where people drift past each another alone and infinitely lonely, George and Lennie have each other. Together, they embody humanity’s fundamental need for connectedness.[16] The following exchange between the two, about their dream and the significance of their relationship, paints an apt picture:
“With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit-in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.”
Lennie broke in. “But not us! An’ why? Because . . . . because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.” He laughed delightedly. “Go on now, George!”…
“O.K. Someday – we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and—
“An’ live off the fatta the lan’,” Lennie shouted. “An’ have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George.” [17]
…
Cain-esque Loneliness,
a Primary Theme.
George and Lennie’s friendship clearly stands in contrast to the Cain-esque loneliness that runs through Of Mice and Men. As such, their companionship draws attention to the desolation experienced by virtually all the significant characters that people this fallen world.
Lennie’s remarks in the opening segment of the work mirror the observations above made by Frederick C. Mills:
Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. They don’t belong no place… They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.[18]
And, George’s exchange with Slim speaks to the negative effects loneliness can have on people:
“After a long time they get mean. They get wantin’ to fight all the time.”
“Yeah, they get mean,” Slim agreed. “They get so they don’t want to talk to nobody.”[19]
Candy’s damaged hand leaves him unable to work alongside the other men on the ranch. So, when Carlson shoots his dog, Candy is deprived of any real form of companionship. His promise to make a will leaving his share of the farm to George and Lennie shows just how alone Candy is. His decision to do so is grounded in the fact that he has no one else to bequeath it to.
Crooks speaks to the loneliness engendered by racism, and not being wanted in the bunk house “‘cause I’m black.”[20] Being ostracized, of course, makes being the only person of color on the ranch cut even deeper. As Crooks tells Lennie, it’s not about being with someone you always agree with or even understand. “It’s just the talking. It’s just bein’ with another guy. That’s all.”[21]
Which brings us to Curley’s wife. Like Crooks, she yearns for acknowledgement, and essential recognition as a human being. It’s no accident that she doesn’t have a name. As Steinbeck points out in a letter to the actress playing Curley’s wife on stage, “Her craving for contact is immense.”[22] And she gets attention the only way she knows how.[23] Confiding in Lennie, she tells him, “I get lonely… You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?”[24]
___
Is Of Mice and Men
really that pessimistic?
With all that loneliness (not to mention the work’s conclusion), Of Mice and Men sounds like the dark, “depressing” work it was challenged for being… But is it, really?[25] I say “no, not at all.”
It’s true that, like all human beings, the characters are flawed. And, it doesn’t take long to figure out that George and Lennie’s dream of a farm (and proverbial New Eden) is never going to happen. However, as noted above, George and Lennie have what Candy, Crooks, Curley’s wife… and Cain long for — human connectedness.
Lennie sums it up perfectly, “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.”[26] And, as antithetical as it may seem, George shooting Lennie is actually looking out for him. Because this time Lennie’s mistake (accidentally killing Curley’s wife) is too grave for George to take care of the way he always has in the past. This time, a gang of ranch hands is scouring the woods for Lennie, and by all indications they plan to lynch him. And, they’re rapidly gaining ground.
As George steadies himself and puts the gun to the back of Lennie’s head, he recites the story of their dream farm. The tale never fails to sooth both George and his friend. Just as the vigilante horde can be heard “crashing” through the brush, George pulls the trigger.[27]
In doing so, he thwarts the vicious cruelty the mob would most certainly have visited upon Lennie. George provided Lennie with the only protection available. The fatal pistol shot effectively sends Lennie off to their dream farm forever – and metaphorically their New Eden, where “ever’body gonna be nice to you,” and there “ain’t gonna be no more trouble.”[28]
___
In Conclusion.
As mentioned above, Steinbeck’s novella revolves around the question Cain put to God: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”[29] The answer… emphatically in the affirmative.
When read in light of these mythic implications, Of Mice and Men gives rise to a deeper understanding of humanity’s fundamental need to be connected to each other. Steinbeck’s work points out the divisiveness, isolation, and devastation that results when we Other and revile our fellow man. We would do well to remember how it turned out for Cain when he behaved in such a manner – especially these days.
Endnotes:
[1] Gannett, Lewis. “John Steinbeck: Novelist at Work.” The Atlantic Monthly. (December 1945), 59.
[2] Steinbeck, John. Stage. January, 1938.
[3] Harmon, William, and Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009), 456; Timmerman, John H. John Steinbeck’s Fiction: The Aesthetics of the Road Taken. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986), 8-9.
[4] Hadella, Charlotte Cook. Of Mice and Men: A Kinship of Powerlessness. (New York: Twayne Publishers/Simon and Schuster,1995), 3.
[5] Hadella, 34.
[6] Benson, Jackson J. “Environment as Meaning: John Steinbeck and the Great Central Valley.” Steinbeck Quarterly. Vol. 10, Issue 1 (Winter 1977), 12-13.
[7] Owens, Louis. John Steinbeck’s Re-vision of America. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1985), 101.
[8] This observation was made in a 1914 journal Mills kept while investigating working conditions in California’s Central Valley disguised as a migrant worker. Mills, Frederick C. Mills papers, AA; Woirol, Gregory R. “Men on the Road: Early Twentieth-Century Surveys of Itinerant Labor in California.” California History. Vol. 70, No. 2 (Summer 1991), 193.
[9] Mills, Frederick C. Mills papers, AA; Shillinglaw, Susan. “Introduction.” Of Mice and Men. (New York: Penguin, 1998), 10.
[10] Goldhurst, William. “Of ‘Mice and Men’: John Steinbeck’s Parable Of The curse Of Cain.” Western American Liiterature. Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer 1971), 126.
[11] Genesis 4:2. King James Bible.
[12] Genesis 4:3. King James Bible.
[13] Genesis 4:9. King James Bible.
[14] Genesis 4:12. King James Bible.
[15] Hadella, 46; Owens John Steinbeck’s Re-vision, 102.
[16] Owens, Louis. “Deadly Kids, Stinking Dogs, and Heroes: The Best Laid Plans in Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men.’” Western American Literature. Vol. 37, No. 3 (Fall 2002), 322.
[17] Steinbeck, John. “Of Mice and Men.” The Portable Steinbeck. Edited by Pascal Covici, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1981), 238-239.
[18] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 238.
[19] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 263.
[20] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 287.
[21] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 287.
[22] Steinbeck, John. Letter to Claire Luce (actress playing Curley’s wife about the backstory of her character), 1938. https://www.fullhurst.leicester.sch.uk/_site/data/files/users/CC5CD968868E4057F8E999F1FB603ACD.pdf
[23] Parini, Jay. “Of Bindlestiffs, Bad Times, Mice and Men.” New York Times. September 27, 1992.
[24] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 304.
[25] ALA. “Banned & Challenged Classics.” Banned & Challenged Books: A Website of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics
[26] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 238.
[27] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 321.
[28] Hadella, 63; Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 320.
[29] Goldhurst, William. “Of ‘Mice and Men’: John Steinbeck’s Parable Of The curse Of Cain.” Western American Literature. Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer 1971), 126.
Images:
1939 Movie Poster. Hal Roach Studios, Public domain via Wikipedia commons. Original image has been cropped.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Of_Mice_and_Men_poster.jpg
There are no Edens in Steinbeck’s Writing. Photo by KC Welch on Unsplash
https://unsplash.com/photos/HkxtJbSuBf0?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink
George and Lennie vs Cain and Abel. Rubens, Peter Paul. Cain Slaying Abel. (1608-1609) Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Source: Courtauld Institute of Art, London.
Cainesque Loneliness, a Primary Theme. Lange, Dorothea, photographer. On U.S. 101 near San Luis Obispo, California. Itinerant worker. Not the old “Bindle-Stiff” type. United States San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo County California, 1939. Feb. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017771237/
Is Of Mice and Men Really that Pessimistic? Lange, Dorothea, photographer. Toward Los Angeles, California. United States California, 1937. Mar. Photograph. Public Domain via Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017769825/.
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Of Mice and Men: Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
m I my brother’s keeper? It’s the question Cain sardonically put to God in the book of Genesis, when God confronts Cain about the death of his brother Abel. And as we all know, due to Cain’s scornful nature things didn’t turn out very well for him. But, how does Cain’s challenge apply to John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men?
John Steinbeck described his “whole work drive” as being aimed at “making people understand each other.”[1] The first reading we posted of Steinbeck’s work, It’s a Regular Greek Tragedy, examines a social/ historical reading of Steinbeck’s book. As a result of this reading, we gain a better understanding of the tragic human cost associated with economies that create, and benefit from, a class of disenfranchised workers.
Despite Cain posing it in a cynical fashion, “Am I my brother’s keeper” is actually a serious moral question. And when read in the light of its mythic implications, Of Mice and Men revolves around that very issue. This (second) interpretation encourages an understanding of the human condition gleaned from a mythological reading of Steinbeck’s “playable novel.”[2]
Though Steinbeck endeavored to be true to life, he didn’t consider himself a Realist. Realists focus on the here and now, the immediate. They concentrate on specific action and its verifiable consequence. While it’s true that much of Steinbeck’s fiction is realistic and informed by firsthand events, he transforms those encounters into a thematic or spiritual experience common to humankind, thus giving his works – specifically Of Mice and Men – mythic overtones.[3]
During the late 1930s, a “back-to-the-farm” movement emerged in California. This movement not only idealized the mystical bond between humanity and the soil, its philosophical viewpoint advanced the notion of independence and self-realization as direct byproducts of living close to the land.[4] Not surprisingly, this Edenic cultural development aligns with a central motif in Steinbeck’s work, America as an imperfect New World.[5]
___
There are no Edens
in Steinbeck’s writing.
The small, confined valleys Steinbeck preferred for his settings were very effective as symbols. As noted above, for Steinbeck, the small California coastal valley appears to suggest a climax to America’s Edenic myth. It’s a final opportunity for paradise at the end of the frontier.[6]
But, as anyone who has read Steinbeck will tell you there are no Edens in his writing. There are only allusions to the primordial paradise. And, in the fallen world encompassed by Salinas Valley, New Eden is an illusory and painful dream where the “sons of Cain” that populate it are fated to wander in isolation.[7]
Referring to the itinerant farm workers examined in the first installment of this essay, economic researcher Frederick C. Mills states, “it is the constant craving for human company, for friends, that is so strong among the floating class.”[8] Mills further stresses, “denied wives, or families, or circles of sympathetic friends, this feeling can only be partially satisfied thru the institution of ‘partners.’ Most men hate to travel alone on the road.”[9] This isolated and rootless existence is imposed on the itinerant workers that people Of Mice and Men.
When read mythologically, Of Mice and Men examines the nature of man’s fate in this fallen world. And, Steinbeck places particular emphasis on the question of whether man is destined (like Cain) to go his way alone as a solitary wanderer, or live in companionship with another? In doing so, Steinbeck effectively poses the same question Cain put to God: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”[10]
___
George and Lennie vs Cain and Abel
Parallels to the Cain-and-Abel story are evident throughout the tale of George and Lennie, providing Of Mice and Men’s mythic structure. Most people are only familiar with the general outline of the Cain and Able story. So, in order to see how it applies to Steinbeck’s novella, the details need to be filled in. Cain, Adam and Eve’s first-born son, was a “tiller of the ground,” and their second child, Abel, was a “keeper of sheep.”[11] The crux of the story is that Cain’s offering of “fruit of the ground” failed to find favor with God, while Abel’s livestock was well received.[12]
Rejected, jealous, and angry, Cain kills Abel. When God later inquires about Abel’s whereabouts, Cain replies in a biting and backhanded manner, “I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?”[13] Needless to say, God being God, He already knew what happened to Abel.
God, of course, punishes Cain for Abel’s murder. His choice of punishment seems to say “be careful what you wish for,” regarding Cain’s arrogant and sarcastic remark about not being his brother’s keeper. As if to facilitate the detachment he appears to wish for, God banishes Cain from His company, as well as the companionship of his parents (Adam and Eve). And, to seemingly drive the point home, God also curses Cain to wander the earth as a “vagabond” from that day forward.[14]
George and Lennie’s dream of owning a farm represents an aspiration to break the pattern of wandering and loneliness that defines this post-Fall exile, and return to the perfect Garden.[15] In this fallen world, where people drift past each another alone and infinitely lonely, George and Lennie have each other. Together, they embody humanity’s fundamental need for connectedness.[16] The following exchange between the two, about their dream and the significance of their relationship, paints an apt picture:
“With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit-in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.”
Lennie broke in. “But not us! An’ why? Because . . . . because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.” He laughed delightedly. “Go on now, George!”…
“O.K. Someday – we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and—
“An’ live off the fatta the lan’,” Lennie shouted. “An’ have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George.” [17]
…
Cain-esque Loneliness,
a Primary Theme.
George and Lennie’s friendship clearly stands in contrast to the Cain-esque loneliness that runs through Of Mice and Men. As such, their companionship draws attention to the desolation experienced by virtually all the significant characters that people this fallen world.
Lennie’s remarks in the opening segment of the work mirror the observations above made by Frederick C. Mills:
Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. They don’t belong no place… They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.[18]
And, George’s exchange with Slim speaks to the negative effects loneliness can have on people:
“After a long time they get mean. They get wantin’ to fight all the time.”
“Yeah, they get mean,” Slim agreed. “They get so they don’t want to talk to nobody.”[19]
Candy’s damaged hand leaves him unable to work alongside the other men on the ranch. So, when Carlson shoots his dog, Candy is deprived of any real form of companionship. His promise to make a will leaving his share of the farm to George and Lennie shows just how alone Candy is. His decision to do so is grounded in the fact that he has no one else to bequeath it to.
Crooks speaks to the loneliness engendered by racism, and not being wanted in the bunk house “‘cause I’m black.”[20] Being ostracized, of course, makes being the only person of color on the ranch cut even deeper. As Crooks tells Lennie, it’s not about being with someone you always agree with or even understand. “It’s just the talking. It’s just bein’ with another guy. That’s all.”[21]
Which brings us to Curley’s wife. Like Crooks, she yearns for acknowledgement, and essential recognition as a human being. It’s no accident that she doesn’t have a name. As Steinbeck points out in a letter to the actress playing Curley’s wife on stage, “Her craving for contact is immense.”[22] And she gets attention the only way she knows how.[23] Confiding in Lennie, she tells him, “I get lonely… You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?”[24]
___
Is Of Mice and Men
really that pessimistic?
With all that loneliness (not to mention the work’s conclusion), Of Mice and Men sounds like the dark, “depressing” work it was challenged for being… But is it, really?[25] I say “no, not at all.”
It’s true that, like all human beings, the characters are flawed. And, it doesn’t take long to figure out that George and Lennie’s dream of a farm (and proverbial New Eden) is never going to happen. However, as noted above, George and Lennie have what Candy, Crooks, Curley’s wife… and Cain long for — human connectedness.
Lennie sums it up perfectly, “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.”[26] And, as antithetical as it may seem, George shooting Lennie is actually looking out for him. Because this time Lennie’s mistake (accidentally killing Curley’s wife) is too grave for George to take care of the way he always has in the past. This time, a gang of ranch hands is scouring the woods for Lennie, and by all indications they plan to lynch him. And, they’re rapidly gaining ground.
As George steadies himself and puts the gun to the back of Lennie’s head, he recites the story of their dream farm. The tale never fails to sooth both George and his friend. Just as the vigilante horde can be heard “crashing” through the brush, George pulls the trigger.[27]
In doing so, he thwarts the vicious cruelty the mob would most certainly have visited upon Lennie. George provided Lennie with the only protection available. The fatal pistol shot effectively sends Lennie off to their dream farm forever – and metaphorically their New Eden, where “ever’body gonna be nice to you,” and there “ain’t gonna be no more trouble.”[28]
___
In Conclusion.
As mentioned above, Steinbeck’s novella revolves around the question Cain put to God: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”[29] The answer… emphatically in the affirmative.
When read in light of these mythic implications, Of Mice and Men gives rise to a deeper understanding of humanity’s fundamental need to be connected to each other. Steinbeck’s work points out the divisiveness, isolation, and devastation that results when we Other and revile our fellow man. We would do well to remember how it turned out for Cain when he behaved in such a manner – especially these days.
That’s my take on John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men – what’s yours?
Check out this Discussion Guide to get you started..
See our other reading of Steinbeck’s work:
It’s a Regular Greek Tragedy
#banned #John Steinbeck #published 1930s #social commentary #Cain and Abel
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Endnotes:
[1] Gannett, Lewis. “John Steinbeck: Novelist at Work.” The Atlantic Monthly. (December 1945), 59.
[2] Steinbeck, John. Stage. January, 1938.
[3] Harmon, William, and Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009), 456; Timmerman, John H. John Steinbeck’s Fiction: The Aesthetics of the Road Taken. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986), 8-9.
[4] Hadella, Charlotte Cook. Of Mice and Men: A Kinship of Powerlessness. (New York: Twayne Publishers/Simon and Schuster,1995), 3.
[5] Hadella, 34.
[6] Benson, Jackson J. “Environment as Meaning: John Steinbeck and the Great Central Valley.” Steinbeck Quarterly. Vol. 10, Issue 1 (Winter 1977), 12-13.
[7] Owens, Louis. John Steinbeck’s Re-vision of America. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1985), 101.
[8] This observation was made in a 1914 journal Mills kept while investigating working conditions in California’s Central Valley disguised as a migrant worker. Mills, Frederick C. Mills papers, AA; Woirol, Gregory R. “Men on the Road: Early Twentieth-Century Surveys of Itinerant Labor in California.” California History. Vol. 70, No. 2 (Summer 1991), 193.
[9] Mills, Frederick C. Mills papers, AA; Shillinglaw, Susan. “Introduction.” Of Mice and Men. (New York: Penguin, 1998), 10.
[10] Goldhurst, William. “Of ‘Mice and Men’: John Steinbeck’s Parable Of The curse Of Cain.” Western American Liiterature. Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer 1971), 126.
[11] Genesis 4:2. King James Bible.
[12] Genesis 4:3. King James Bible.
[13] Genesis 4:9. King James Bible.
[14] Genesis 4:12. King James Bible.
[15] Hadella, 46; Owens John Steinbeck’s Re-vision, 102.
[16] Owens, Louis. “Deadly Kids, Stinking Dogs, and Heroes: The Best Laid Plans in Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men.’” Western American Literature. Vol. 37, No. 3 (Fall 2002), 322.
[17] Steinbeck, John. “Of Mice and Men.” The Portable Steinbeck. Edited by Pascal Covici, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1981), 238-239.
[18] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 238.
[19] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 263.
[20] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 287.
[21] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 287.
[22] Steinbeck, John. Letter to Claire Luce (actress playing Curley’s wife about the backstory of her character), 1938. https://www.fullhurst.leicester.sch.uk/_site/data/files/users/CC5CD968868E4057F8E999F1FB603ACD.pdf
[23] Parini, Jay. “Of Bindlestiffs, Bad Times, Mice and Men.” New York Times. September 27, 1992.
[24] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 304.
[25] ALA. “Banned & Challenged Classics.” Banned & Challenged Books: A Website of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics
[26] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 238.
[27] Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 321.
[28] Hadella, 63; Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, 320.
[29] Goldhurst, William. “Of ‘Mice and Men’: John Steinbeck’s Parable Of The curse Of Cain.” Western American Literature. Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer 1971), 126.
Images:
1939 Movie Poster. Hal Roach Studios, Public domain via Wikipedia commons. Original image has been cropped.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Of_Mice_and_Men_poster.jpg
There are no Edens in Steinbeck’s Writing. Photo by KC Welch on Unsplash
https://unsplash.com/photos/HkxtJbSuBf0?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink
George and Lennie vs Cain and Abel. Rubens, Peter Paul. Cain Slaying Abel. (1608-1609) Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Source: Courtauld Institute of Art, London.
Cainesque Loneliness, a Primary Theme. Lange, Dorothea, photographer. On U.S. 101 near San Luis Obispo, California. Itinerant worker. Not the old “Bindle-Stiff” type. United States San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo County California, 1939. Feb. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017771237/
Is Of Mice and Men Really that Pessimistic? Lange, Dorothea, photographer. Toward Los Angeles, California. United States California, 1937. Mar. Photograph. Public Domain via Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017769825/.
FYI:
Share This Post, Choose a Platform!