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of mice and men setting essay

How would I answer the question "choose a novel in which setting in place and/or time is an important feature" relating to of mice and men? I'm really unsure what to write about

Reply 1

awashromans

Place is important because G&L are striving for the American dream, which is essentially to be free, have their own control. They of course end up on the ranch, planning their dream in detail and actually start to believe it can happen and the ranch probably seems like a kind of halfway house on the way to achieving their dream. In the end, after Lennie is killed, it's implied that George stays on the ranch because he has nowhere to go (and when candy gets angry at the corpse of curley's wife because candy realises the dream is over now) so the ranch ends up being the end of them and their dream, not the start. It's a secret prison.

If you want to put time in as well, OMAM is set over something like a week, if that, and their lives change completely. Add context as to how it very like this across the board for migrant workers, the constant change, the constant yet changing (almost mercurial) state of dreams and relationships.