"OF MICE AND MEN" is more than just the tragedy of Lennie.

Of Mice and Men is more than just the tragedy of Lennie. It has shown the sadness and suffering of individuals in a disinterested world.

The death of Lennie at the end of “Of Mice and Men” seems, at first, to be the most tragic event in the novel, especially for the people directly concerned, such as George and Lennie themselves. However, in actual fact, the novel is full of sad people suffering in a world where no one really cares about them.

The men who worked on the ranches, the itinerant workers were sad and lonely people. As George says ¡°Guys like us, who work on ranches, were the loneliest people in this world. They had no families and no homes. They moved from place to place to find work. Some had dreams of owning land, but only a few dreams came true. They tried to save up money, but spent every thing on Saturdays. They were back to nothing on Monday again. Most of the ranch hands were totally alone; they had no one to take care of them. George and Lennie were different. They got each other, and they took care to each other. Even though Lennie died, at least while he was alive, he had someone who cared about him.

For a while, Candy was not so lonely because he had his dog. He had his dog since it was a pup, they companied each other until Candy’s dog was killed. Candy was old and disabled, he know if he could not work anymore, he would be sacked. He would be put on the county on his own. For a while, he had hoped again. He could go with George and Lennie and live on their own farm, where there would be love and care. But when Curley’s wife died, his dream was gone. He knew he was going to face the fact, where as soon as he could not out no bunkhouse, he would be put on the county on his own. Candy was a sad and old man whose life was made more tragic by the death of his old dog and Curley’s wife.

Crooks too, he was another lonely person. Unlike Candy, he was lonely because he was the only black person on the ranch. He was separated from everyone else on the ranch. He was sad and lonely as you can tell from his words with Lennie. “Maybe you can see now. You got George”. You knew he was going to come back. Suppose you did not have anybody. Suppose you were black. How would you like that? During the 1930s, racism was great in America. A large amount of black guys like Crook was treated this way. They were isolated and sad. Crook was the butt of everyone’s anger and jokes. He did not dare to retaliate because he was black. He was a sad and lonely person in a world which does not care.

Crooks was isolated because of his colour. Curley’s wife was lonely because she was the only woman on the ranch. She was not only lonely, but she was also sad. Her reasons of her sadness were she hates Curly, whom she married to a fortnight ago. She hates Curley because of his jealousy and because she was not allowed to talk to other ranch hands. She had no one to talk to because she made a lot of troubles. Every one hated her. No one mourned when she died. People thought she was no good living. And “You god damn tramp,” says Candy. People did not like her, and she was sad and lonely. Curley’s wife constantly searches for people to talk to, but no one liked her.

George and Lennie were lucky compared to others. They had each other. Despite Lennie’s death, the real tragic figures were Crooks, Curley’s wife, Candy and other itinerant workers.

ARNOVIS PINEDA HERNANDEZ

7^thSEMESTER- B
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING PROGRAM

CORDOBA UNIVERSITY.