Essay/Term paper: Of mice and men

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

Of Mice and Men:  " The journey in between what you once were and who
you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place"(unknown).
Life is all about making choices. One is born, as his or her own person, and it
is up to her to decide who she wants to be and become.

" The journey in between what you once were and who you are now becoming is
where the dance of life really takes place"(unknown). Life is all about making
choices. One is born, as his or her own person, and it is up to her to decide
who she wants to be and become. In life, opportunities play their role. One can
choose what she wants to do with her life and how big of an impact their
decision can make. The choices and the paths one takes can change a person"s
life now and forever. In Of Mice and Men characters can change their identity,
but that does not mean they can change the basis of who they are. Decisions are
a big part of life; they will take you where one needs to go to succeed (not
succeed) in the real world. In John Steinbeck"s Of Mice and Men, many
important lessons are learned that can and will take us through life. For
example, people cannot simply just run away from problems. Also, when people try"s
to set unrealistic goals, they don"t experience success. Lennie can never
change and he will always be the same guy who is unable to control his own
strength. People who try to change their destiny often fail because they can"t
change their identity. In general, people are born with certain personality
traits, which stay with them for their entire lives.

Changing one"s identity doesn"t change their personality. Moving away and
starting a new life can be an attempt to change one"s identity. Starting over
can be for the better, but people stay the same more often than not. In the very
beginning of the novel, George and Lennie are in a bar. In the bar Lennie sees a
little girl with a bright, red dress. Lennie"s attracted to the color, and he
has a tendency to touch what he see"s. He therefore approached the girl and
starting feeling her dress. She tried to leave but Lennie anxiously got a quick
grabbing of the dress. This frightened the girl, which therefore lead to her
screaming and yelling rape. While all of this was going on Lennie was so scared
and confused that he just kept a tight grab on the girls dress. Lennie being
that who he is did not know any better, " Well, how the hell did she know you
jus" wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a
mouse. She yells and we got to hide in an irrigation ditch all day with guys
looking" for us, and we must sneak out in the dark and get outta the country."
pg24. The incident that occurred exemplifies Lennie"s behavior. Lennie is a
man of unlimited intelligence who seems unaware of its massive strength. After
all of this has happened, Lennie and George decide that the best thing would be
to change their identity and leave the town as soon as possible. As the novel
progresses Lennie"s change of identity does not change who he really is.
Towards the end of the book after Lennie had just killed a pup:

" God damn you, " he cried." Why do you have to get killed? You aren"t
so little as mice." He picked up the pup and hurled it from him. He turned his
back on it. He sat bent over his knees and he whispered; " Now I won"t get
to tend the rabbits. Now he wont let me." Pg88

Once again Lennie doesn"t comprehend the affect of his strength on lesser
beings. Lennie could never change. He will never understand his size and
strength in comparison with an average person or animal. It"s fatalistic, but
Lennie is who he is.

Another example of someone attempting to change her identity is Curley"s
wife. Curley"s wife feels she could have been someone else, someone different,
who would have been a better person then she is now. She thinks by marrying
someone she will not still be that same "tramp" that she is:

" I tell you I ian"t used to living" like this. I could made something"
of myself." She said darkly, "Maybe I will yet, " I lived right in
Salinas, " she said. " Come there when I was a kid. Well, a show came
through, and I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my
old" lady wound" let me " I don"t like Curley. He isn"t a nice fella.
And because she had confided in him, she moved closer to Lennie and sat beside
him. " Coulda been in the movies, an" had nice clothes- all them nice
clothes like they wear." Pg90

Here Curley"s wife thinks that if she would have been in that play or with
the guy she met at the movies that her life would be different. She will always
be the person she was born to be, a woman extremely out of touch with reality.
She seems nothing but a tramp that just goes from one man to the next thinking
each one will be something newer and better. Her identity may vary, but her
personality will always be the same. Curley"s wife vision of who she could
have been was all a fantasy. To dream is a wonderful thing. However, everyone
must learn how to deal with reality.

When setting unrealistic goals, one rarely experience success. In Of Mice and
Men, there are a lot of instances where people set unachievable goals. They feel
that once they attaine their goals their lives will change forever. There are
some goals that are just unrealistic. An example of this is when Crook tries to
defend Lennie:

Crook stood up from his bunk and faced her." I had enough, " he said
coldly. " You got no rights common" in a colored man"s room. You got no
rights messing around in here at all. Now you jus get out and get out quickly.
If you don"t, I am gonna tell the boss not to ever let you come in the barn no
more." She turned on him, " Listen, Nigger " she said." You know what I
can do to you if you open your trap? She closed on him, " You know what I
could do," "crook grew smaller." " Yes, ma" am" " Well you keep
your place them, Nigger. I couild get you strung up on a tree so easy, it ain"t
even funny." Pg63

Crooks try to change the culture of the day. Black people had no rights even
if a white person walked in their very own home. He thinks that he could
override Curley"s wife and get her in trouble. As sad as it appears that can
never happen. Back in those days, they were treated as less than human. By
Crooks trying to protect and defend Lennie, he only got himself into a lot of
trouble. What he did was a nice thought but was not well thought out. Another
member in this dream world is Candy. Candy also develops an unrealistic goal of
joining the dream.

" Candy sat on the edge of his bunk. He scratched the stump of his wrist
nervously. " I got hurt four years ago, " he said, "They"ll can me
pretty soon. Jus" as soon as I can"t swamp out no bunkhouses they"ll put
me on the country. Maybe if I give you guys my money, you"ll let me hoe in the
garden even after I am not that good at it. When they cant have me here I wish
somebody"s shoot me" pg88

Candy tries to join their dream. He thinks that by joining this dream and
leaving the farm that he will be able to take care of himself. But in reality
that becomes a long shot. When you try to change things that are just not made
to be it does not work out. Candy takes another tack to achieve an unrealistic
goal and attempts to buy his way in. What he does not understand is no amount of
money will help Lennie and George achieve their dream. Lennie and George seem to
be doomed from the beginning. Even if money could help them buy a farm, the
venture would ultimately fail due to the personality traits of George, Lennie,
and Candy.

In conclusion, people who often try to change their lives fail because they
can"t change who they are. In the novel, people set unrealistic goals that did
not allow them to experience success. Also, trying to change an identity will
never change a personality. Steinbeck tells us in the book, that a person can
never change what God has made him or her to be. Though Lennie, George, Curley"s
wife, Crook, and Candy have hopes and dreams; we are made to understand that
life is not that easy. The quote, " If wishes were horses, beggars would ride"(unknown),
simply states Steinbecks theme. There are so many things we would all like to
change, but not all of them are realistic.