Of Mice and Men idea sharing thread

This is my view on the beginning and end:

The beginning has the concept of nature and natural beauty in the form of landscapes and wildlife and that the idea that the end mirrors the start suggests not only the idea of a cyclic structure but also the concept that however discriminative or judgmental or how fate may treat a person everyone will end up being decomposed into the ground and taken back into nature, no matter who you are.

But you could look at the idea of the 'snake' towards the beginning the snake is roaming through the clear waters at the top of the food chain (in that context) looking for animals to feed off. However, at the end this snake is seen as vulnerable as it is being destroyed by the bird (you can look at this in many ways).

Either, you could suggest the predatory nature of human existence and the fact that there is a visible hierarchy in which the white, abled people are at the top and the disabled oppressed people are at the bottom (Lennie, Crooks, Curley's Wife, Candy).

These people will always be killed off due to society as seeing them as weak-all the discriminated characters have some sort of issue which means they will die shortly after the novella has actually ended or intact die in the novella. But yeah it's the idea that the weak ones will always die from those higher in the hierarchy.Or, you could suggest that Curley's wife is symbolic of the snake and a mixture of eve tempting those (Lennie) to take the fruit in which she pays by getting killed (or shunned from God aka original sin) and the snake within the book is symbolic of her death.

I really hope this helped!! Any interpretation is a valid one but that's how I see it

Hi everyone
I though it would be useful if people who study this book came together and posted some deep symbolism they came up with! Maybe we could focus on a different topic everyday? For example, today could be the bunkhouse- here are some ideas I have:
1. The walls are described as 'whitewashed' whilst the floor is covered with 'burlap straw'. Perhaps this mirrors the dullness of the life on the ranch compared to the vivid life in nature.
2. The light shines into the bunkhouse as a 'bar' on the walls/floor which could emphasise how the men on the ranch are trapped in an oppressive cycle- the bar is an image of prison bars.
3. Within the bunkhouse, the workers store their possessions in 'apple boxes'- both George and Crooks use liniment, something that soothes muscles whilst other workers carry medicine. This could reflect the pain such an oppressive life inflicts onto them since they treasure medicine as an important possession.

These are a few of my ideas and it would be great if you guys to share some so we can all mindmap some really good points before the exam! Please also suggest topics for following days!
Thanks

Could we do themes one day ? I never actually thought about the bunk house Good ideas, what's you exam board? Mine's WJEC

Yeah sure My exam board is AQA and they usually focus on a theme and a passage so it would be useful to do themes.

Wow! This is really good! I interpreted the heron potentially as Curley's wife as it creeps up silently on the snake, who I thought was Lennie, just how she creeps up silently on him while he deals with the puppy. However, I really like your interpretation and it's good to have different possibilities- and yours makes a lot of sense!

Great , is there any meaning behind why curley's wife doesn't have a name?

Great , is there any meaning behind why curley's wife doesn't have a name?

I though perhaps because she is called 'Curley's wife', it shows she is an object of Curley, rather than a free woman, like a trophy he uses to boast to other men on the ranch. Also, it is to show her insignificance to the workers, they don't care enough to ask about her name- to them she is a 'tramp'.

That's such an interesting idea! I'm with WJEC and i know they love to see alternative view points so offering that is a really high A* level tbh

I thought it was in relation to the segregation of women at the time 1930's america!

We were always told that it was a circle. They start out at the bottom and gradually things got better for them. They had a job, good people etc. But the peak is when Lenny kills Curly's wife. After that everything starts going down hill.

I can never understand The american dream 1930's

I can never understand The american dream 1930's

I can never understand The american dream 1930's

It's the belief that there is something better for the lonely ranch men, a place of 'alfalfa patches' and a warm stove as they are the 'loneliest men in the world'. However, it is a belief, not a reality. I've always seen Lennie has the bearer of the dream, his death symbolises the metaphorical death of the American Dream for George and Candy due to the discriminative works of society.

The way I see it is that due to the Wall Street Crash economic migrants were so poor and many lived in Hoovervilles (homeless settlements)-They created this idea of the American Dream as a form of propaganda to increase productivity and economic success making people have some form of hope in society and the economy by following their dreams!

The American dream is each persons personal policy of Autarky- self sufficiency. They want sustain themselves by working in their land. This is why George said they want to 'live of the fatta' the land'.

Interestingly, the domino theory has been fulfilled in the novella. After Curley began to pick on Lennie, this eventually led to their fight, which led to Curley breaking his hand, then Curleys wife came to Lennie to talk to because all other men are hostile to her yet Lennie's mental difficulty means he won't understand what's going on but will listen to her. This eventually led to her demise at the end of the novel which breaks the American dream. Autarky never being reached highlights the failure of the republican policy of self sufficiency and Laissez Faire when in fact, it is doing more harm than good as people aren't getting the help they need to live a better life in 1920s America.

Thanks for the help i kind off understand Thanks for the reply but when i get questions i flop like i don't understand anything ..