Of Mice and Men :: English Literature

With its appealing elements of naivet, humour and pathos Of Mice And Men is Steinbeck's tableau of the oppressed in post-depression US society. It has strong imagery, decisive action, authentic dialogue and cinematic tension. Would you say this novel is a classic and successful? Why? I will first explore whether I think "Of Mice and Men" is worthy of the reputation linked with a term, in my opinion, too widely used in the world of literature. The word I am referring to of course is "classic". The definition of a "classic" is a great and timeless book or work of art. Therefore I am going to temporarily re-phrase the title question for ease of comprehension and explanation to: "Would you say this novel is great, timeless and successful? Why?" This will enable me to deal with the true meaning of the term "classic" at the same time as formulating an opinion of whether Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" deserves this prestigious title. Firstly, is this novel great? Well, it certainly isn't great in magnitude, i.e. the size of the book is not that which we would associate with such a rated book. It only has six chapters and the story takes place in quite a short space of time. However, the definition of greatness in this instance does not mean "huge" or "vast" it means "wonderful" and "important". In my opinion the novel is great in this way. It displays affection, emotion, friendship and love, as well as loneliness, discrimination, prejudice and anger. These are all basic human qualities and liabilities, which makes the novel both wonderful and important in a way that few people will ever really understand. Even though I don't know what Steinbeck's inspiration and reason for writing this novel was I personally respect the way in which he sums up such important parts of life in six short chapters. These are the only reasons I found to justify why "Of Mice and Men" should be classed as "great", however there are countless reasons for this novel to be classed as "timeless". The moral issues and difficulties of the people in this book are still relevant in the world today and I feel that people all over the world will be able to empathise on a metaphorical level with George and Lennie's struggles in realising their dream. The first question to address when looking at "Of Mice and Men" as a timeless novel is: 'What are the predominant moral issues hidden in this novel, how are they relevant today and will they still be relevant in the future?' This is a difficult question to face with a novel such as this, as the author does not exaggerate exactly what the