Ranch Boss

Next up is the ranch boss. The boss has a very small part in the novel, at the start where he allows George and Lennie to work on the ranch, despite being rather suspicious of them. This lack of importance is actually quite significant as it appears to be a complaint by Steinbeck against how the rich people (represented by the boss) do nothing to help those in a less fortunate position and, once they have their wealth, do nothing more to earn it and instead rely on the exploitation of those in a less fortunate position than themselves to do all of the hard work as the rich will not get their hands dirty. A prime example of this exploitation is present at the time at which the novel is set. The novel is set during the Great Depression in America, where the normal people cannot find work easily. As a result, the entrepreneurs exploited those that were struggling to find a job by making them work for a pitiful wage, such as the construction of the Hoover Dam, where the exploitation of the workers was obvious. Any worker that died was to be left there rather than buried as this would take up valuable construction time. The lorries carrying the construction materials were also ordered to reverse down the narrow, winding road to the site as turning around at the top was deemed to take 'too long'. As a result, the truck drivers developed the habit of reversing with the door open so that they could jump out to (relative) safety should the truck fall down the sheer slope at the edge of the road. This is a clear example of the exploitation of the workers by their rich bosses.

Curley

Next up is Curley. Curley is the Boss's son and so represents those who are set to inherit a lot of money and/or property. As a result, Curley is rather big-headed. Curley also represents the people who have immunity, as he cannot lose a fight. If Curley gets into a fight and wins, everybody calls him a hero as he is a rather small person. However, if he loses, he can get his dad, the Boss, to sack the person responsible. This would be a double-whammy for the person who gets in trouble, as they would not only get sacked and have a poor reputation, hindering their chances of getting further employment, but the novel is set during the great depression, so there would be no other jobs that they would be able to find. Curley is therefore the arrogant and aggressive worker on the ranch, and is unpopular as a result. This all stems from his soon-to-be-inherited wealth.

George

The next character representing part of American society in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is George. George represents the parental figures in society as he has to take care of the childish Lennie and keep him out of trouble as much as possible (unfortunately, this doesn't work out for him). George has to put up with Lennie's antics without getting overly angry or upsetting him in the same way that a parent has to keep their kids happy. It is also George that has to complete the mercy killing of Lennie at the very end of the book to ensure that he does not get lynched in the same way that a parent has to look after their children and ensure they do not suffer any pain.

Lennie

The next character that represents a section of American society in Of Mice and Men is Lennie. Lennie is the character that represents the innocent children of the era, as well as the more liberal people that did not accept the segregation against black people, such as Crooks in the story. Firstly, the childishness. The first incident of Lennie being childish is when he wants ketchup with his beans in the first chapter, fully knowing that the likelihood of George actually having ketchup for their beans was virtually nil. Even when he finds out that George does not have the requested ketchup, he still persists about how he "likes ketchup with my beans" in the same way that a child cannot take no for an answer. However, George does not get particularly angry with Lennie's persistence in the same way that adults very rarely get particularly angry with their children when they do something wrong, hence the innocence that Lennie has. Secondly, Lennie can see past skin colour and is mystified at the way Crooks is segregated against by the ranch's boss and Crooks' co-workers in the same way that many younger people are open to change, whereas the older members of society (represented by characters such as Candy) are more fixed in their ways.

Crooks

Right then, it's time for the first "proper" post to this blog. Armed with literally no blogging experience and a recently-found lost copy of Of Mice and Men, we can finally get things underway...

OK, so this first post is all about what the characters represent. The entire ranch is a cross-section of american society. If you want, it is like an orange. Each character represents a different segment of American society (or, in this case, a different segment of orange). 

Let's start with Crooks. Crooks represents the minorities in America and is treated accordingly, suffering with segregation that was accepted in the USA at the time of writing. The name "Crooks" also shows how the minorities were treated with distrust by their fellow Americans, hence his name. Crooks lives in a separate outbuilding to the rest of the ranch workers, again highlighting how the minorities were segregated against, as they had to use different seats on the bus, different taxis and even different toilets in the Pentagon! However, Crooks is also suspicious of the other ranch workers, as he keeps "a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905" and also says to Lennie that "I know my rights" when Lennie inadvertently walks straight into Crooks' room. This shows that Crooks expects trouble from the other workers on the ranch and therefore keeps a reference of his rights to use in his defence should such trouble arise.

You can read a digital copy of Of Mice and Men by clicking here

Introduction

OK, so with my first post underway, I can tell you some things that you may want to know. Firstly, I have got absolutely no idea what is going on as I have never blogged (is that even a word?) before, never read a blog, never wanted to make a blog and never wanted to read one either. So I have no idea on what sorts of things people say in these blogs (so just imagine what was going through my head in the English Language exam in year 10, where 1/3 of the marks were for a blog of all things. Damn). Of course, that isn't the only problem that I face, oh no. Secondly, as mentioned before, my identity has been stolen by perhaps the ninth-least trustworthy site I have ever encountered's inevitable hackers and malware. Thirdly, I appear to have misplaced my copy of Of Mice and Men. Fourthly, I have no idea how often I am supposed to make these things. I also have absolutely no idea how long they should be. Or what sort of things should be in them. This could end badly...