Of Mice and Men
Uploaded by short + black on Aug 01, 2007
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to today’s lecture which is related to the classic novel titled ‘Of Mice and Men.’ To begin, I would like to tell you all a little bit about the novel. ‘Of mice and men’ was written during the 1930’s throughout the depression era. During this period in America, millions of men traveled around looking for work in a bid to support themselves and many also traveled alone which meant that they were lonely. John Steinbeck wrote an exceptional novel which reflects the values, attitudes and beliefs of that period in time. Today’s lecture will look at these values, attitudes and beliefs, but will to a much greater extent look at issues relating to the past and present matters revolving around discrimination and normality. The reason that I chose to talk about these two issues was because, I believe that these matters were not only a major issue in the 1930’s but also in this time and age of 2007.
For those of you here today who are not familiar with the plot, I will briefly take you through it, so you have a better understanding about the characters and the setting of the novel. George and Lennie are drifters who are looking for work. These two men do not have many prized possessions and are left with only the clothes on their back. Both men, just like other drifters, have an American dream of finding their own place with a piece of land. There are many ways to describe George, but it can be said that he is responsible and protective. Lennie on the other hand can be described as child like who is care-free with not a worry in the world. Both of these men have distinctive physical features. While George is short, he is tough and independent; meanwhile Lennie is quiet the opposite, he is tall and resembles a giant. Lennie is a friendly giant who wouldn’t hurt anyone intentionally unless he was ordered to. He is vulnerable and naive, which is a set back as there are times when he has been taken advantage off. Lennie is intellectually disabled, although this is not possibly seen as he has decent physical appearances. The two men settle down on a ranch that Steinbeck has created in an attempt to show how marginalized characters were treated and regarded as due to their race,...