Book Review: Of Mice and Men Novella (Fiction)

Book details:

• *      Book title: Of Mice and Men
• *      The author: John Steinbeck
• *      Translator: Ariyantri E. Tarman
• *      Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama
• *      Publication Year: 2017
• *      Number of pages: 144 pages
• *      Language: Indonesia
• *      Published edition number: ISBN 978-602-03-3781-4

"I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why."

   John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

The quote above may illustrate the essence of the story that is presented in this book. After reading this book, it occurred in my mind, 'are we not allowed to have dreams?  Even just to dream we are not sure? ".

The tragic reality about the struggle for human life who strives to achieve dreams among so many limitations. A novella written by America's greatest poet, John Steinbeck, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. 

John Steinbeck (independent.co.uk)

The novella Of Mice and Men was first published in 1937. The setting of this novella is California during the United States economic depression. This novella is a depiction of working class life which tells about the friendship of two men named George Milton and Lennie Small.

George has a small body with a smart brain while Lennie is a big man but has mental retardation so that Lennie can't chose what is good and what is bad and even Lennie is unable to control his emotions. Not only that, Lenny has extraordinary physical strength, therefore Lennie often brings them both into trouble.

 The novella with a third person point of view tells the story of two human beings who complement each other's shortcomings and protect each other. They two have dreams that are very difficult to achieve it.

Covered by a farm setting and strong labor nuances, with other worker figures, namely Candy the worker who has a work accident and only gets a cleaning job, Crooks the negro who is exiled because of his different skin color. Then Slim the foreman, a typical worker who is quite above the other workers. Then there is the son of the owner of the farm, Curley, who is known for his arrogance and his seductive wife.

George, Lennie and their friends are people who can only work their whole life to survive, without any guarantee that their life will get better. Even to have dreams they don't dare because there are too many of them, the lower class people who have to live with the reality that dreams will still be dreams.

George and Lennie often wished they would have a house in the future, where they would be free, work for no one else and could do whatever they wanted without having to ask anyone's permission.  Lennie who loves gagging, he loved it when George told his that Lennie could raise rabbits and puppies when they had their own house later.

Through this novella, we will feel George's inner turmoil, between his empathy for Lennie because of mental retardation and also his troubles in taking care of Lennie. He must be willing to be able to resist his own desire to live the way he wants, but with Lennie he must give up on that.

In this novella John Steinbeck is also very outspoken in raising issues that occurred at that time. We can see this from the very thick social differences such as the views of black and white color, the social status of bosses and workers, even for people with physical and mental disabilities who are told very straightforwardly.

The story told in this novella is actually very simple, but the writer is able to bring the reader to feel the things experienced by the characters. The plot is designed so well that the story is light, but very meaningful. Not only with its good plot, but the characterization of the characters is built with great care.

The story from this novella has also been adapted into a movie and I have also watched the movie from the story of this novella. The ending of George and Lennie's story was so unexpected, and it is made me cry at the end. I can take many lessons from each character and story.

From this story we can get the message conveyed that a situation can force someone to do things unexpectedly. From the references I have read, this book is also included in the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, and I hereby dare to say that this book is highly recommended for those of you who like to read novels.

Read this novella and try to get into the imagination of each storyline in this novel and feel the sensation. One more thing, I suggest you don't forget to provide tissue before reading because the story from this novella really makes our hearts touched.  

Reference:
Wikipedia - John Steinbeck