Bench Mark Essays :Beyond the Line

What are the characters from the book, Of Mice and Men, symbolic meanings? Explain.

Throughout the book the author, Steinbeck, gives the characters symbolic meanings to send a message to readers of this book. There are five characters I would like to address in this essay about this question. These four characters are Curley’s wife, Candy and the Dog, George, Curley, and Slim. I think they are important to the plot of the story and the message that the author delivers about the 1900’s.

Curley’s wife represent women during the 1920’s, which was when this book was written. She obviously is married to Curley, a guy who works on the ranch and has no job outside of the home. In the 1900’s women really had no career they were looked at as vulnerable and weak. They had to take care of the house like cook, clean, and tend to the needs of their husbands while trying to be a mother too. Men who were married to these women only flaunted them around and looked at them as trophies. Women were being compared to as objects not human beings. They had little to no legal rights or freedoms. And if a woman went out and got a job they were considered a floozy. They were degraded and people used harsh and derogatory language towards them. How can you be degrading to someone who wants to be independent and upgrade their lives with their own success? The authors purpose was to show you how women were treated, others people perspectives of them, and how they underestimated us.

As for Candy and the Dog, they represent senior citizens and old people. The author shows , not only in the 1900’s but even today, how other treat them harsh. Today senior citizens get robbed, killed, or hurt in various of ways. Some have no homes or can’t afford to pay for their medications. Instead of the younger generation trying to help we sit back and watch the people that have been of great help to us in the past suffer. In this book, the dog is harshly killed and is taken away from Candy. Just like that we also take the last of our grandparents hard earned money or possessions and once they are out of cash and of no use we “throw them away”. In our society the government treat seniors the same take their money and leave them out to dry once their old.

Another character who also has a symbolic meaning is Curley. He is the co-worker in the workforce that continually tries to show off or intimidate someone. Because he is the son of the Boss who owns the ranch, he thinks he can be snobby to people and get away with it. He abuses his authority like others in the workforce. He reminds me of the manager who you always have to deal with that has a smart mouth and no patience what so ever. He also could represent men during this time because of his misogynistic and chauvinistic attitude. He flashes his wife around and gives her orders like she’s his servant.

George is thrown into the working class category. He is very down to earth and fairly a good person. He represents the people in America who try to survive with low pay, minimum wage jobs. He tries to better himself by following after the American Dream of becoming rich and successful. Many people go out to work everyday trying to be a good citizen when the government and big Ceo’s, lawyers, and doctors make it hard for them to get a good paying job like Curly and the Boss. These type of people just take, take , and take. They just get rich off of the poor or working class. And not once do they give back because they are selfish.

On the other hand Slim represents African Americans during this time, which still had no rights. He was referred to as a “nigger” and a stable buck. It was hard for African Americans to find good jobs and some were lucky to even have a job. They always had the most laborious jobs of them all. They were also treated with cruel conditions and were never looked at with respect because they were the minorities in our country.

The author depicts the world of the 1920’s by give each character out the book a symbolic meaning to help you better understand the message he sends out. Curley’s wife shows how women had no careers and were degraded and underestimated. They were even flaunted around like trophies by their husbands and had no rights. And through the character Slim, he shows how African Americans were disrespected with being called a “nigger” and other cruelty. Steinbeck really does an awesome job of depicting peoples’ views of seniors. Candy’s dog was shot after all of the years he lived with that dog. And George who has to put up with Curley’s bull crap while trying to do his job to survive.