User:WikiCar03/Of Mice and Men (1992 film)

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Themes

Through the story of George and Lennie and their pursuit of a place to call home Steinbeck highlights that sometimes as stated by Charlotte Cook Hadella in her Of Mice and Men: A Kinship of Powerlessness "real life is more complex than “life” as depicted in realistic art." this is shown in George and Lennie's pursuit of the American dream, which to them meant purchasing their own farm so they would finally have a place to call their own. What follows is a tragic tale of how life can be more unpredictable and tragic than any film or novel ever devised.

Historical Context

The Great Depression was a period within the 1930s that reflected a great growth between the wealth-gap in America, Steinbeck worked as a laborer during the 1920's which exposed him tio the lives of many migrant workers and their stories off harship, many of his early works reflect these experiences such as stated by Charlotte Cook Hadella in her Of Mice and Men: A Kinship of Powerlessness "One of his earliest published stories, “Fingers of Cloud” (1924), takes place in the bunkhouse of a Filipino work gang. Tortilla Flat (1935), his first commercial success, details the lives of the paisanos, people of Spanish-Mexican descent who lived in the hills above Monterey. Juan Chicoy, a Mexican Indian, is the central character in The Wayward Bus (1947). Given the multiracial configuration of the California labor force in the early decades of the twentieth century, we may conclude that in Of Mice and Men, where the laborers are white Americans, Steinbeck did not intend to draw an accurate sociohistorical picture. Still, the subsistence-level economy, the tensions between workers and owners, and the social marginality of the migrant workers in the novella ring true to the historical details of the actual setting."

Differences between the Film and Book

While the film and book tell the same story there are some creative liberties taken within the film, such as the scene that depicts Lennie killing the puppy. In the book Lennie feels remorse for what he had done, while in the film he simply paces around while holding the puppy. This shows how the book depicts Lennie in a much more sympathetic fashion compared to the film. Another difference between the film and the book is the important scene depicting George shooting Lennie, within the movie George shoots Lennie very quickly with little to no hesitation. In the book George hesitates to shoot Lennie which shows how he is depicted as a more sympathetic character within the book. Another difference is the depiction of the character of Curley's wife, in the book she is depicted as flirtatious and cruel and when she dies she is painted as less of a victim than in the movie where she is depicted as more bland/bored and therefore painted as more of a victim.