Choices In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Do you ever feel helpless, like you do not have choice? Instead the choice was already made for you and you cannot do anything about it? In some situations you encounter a time where you do not have a choice, which can be in a positive or negative way. The choices you make now can affect the choices you make in the future. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, two characters Lennie and George, get a job on the ranch in Salinas Valley. Throughout the book, Lennie and George try to achieve their dream of owning their own ranch but meet difficult situations with the other workers. In Of Mice and Men, the characters encounter situations where they did not have a choice, but the choice was already made for them.
One example of a character …show more content…
Lennie is like a little kid, he needs someone to guide him, so he is always looking up to George. Which is the reason why George is always controlling and bossing him around. Lennie is handicapped so he can not be left alone or do things by himself, giving George an advantage to make him do whatever he wants. George and Lennie do everything together, but George is the one who always makes the decisions. So Lennie has no choice but to follow him because without George, Lennie would be getting himself into a lot of trouble and would probably get himself killed. George keeps Lennie in check to keep him from doing anything stupid. When George says, “ He can’t think of nothing to do himself, but he sure can take orders” (Of Mice and Men pg.39). George knows Lennie can not do anything by himself, which gives him a reason to boss him around. In this situation, George finds the jobs, while Lennie does the hardwork. It shows how George is like a father who gives Lennie orders, which does not give Lennie a choice but to obey him. Another example in the book is when Curley tried to fight Lennie. Lennie was scared of Curley at first, but George told him to fight back. Lennie obeyed him right away and broke Curley’s hand. Lennie did not have a choice in this scene, because he always listens to whatever George tells him. Lennie does not have much of a choice in his life since George is always the one to control what he …show more content…
Crooks is a African American slave worker on the ranch. The other workers on the ranch exclude him from everything they do. For example, when Crooks says, “ They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. “ (Of Mice and Men pg.68) It proves how all the workers on the ranch exclude Crooks from everything mainly because he is black. Because of this he does not get a say in what he wants, the workers already make that choice for him because of his race. Another example is when Crooks says darkly, "Guys don 't come into a colored man 's room very much." (Of Mice and Men pg.75) It shows how Crooks is isolated from everything because of his color. Crooks has a separate room and is very lonely because no one bothers talking to him. In this situation, Crooks not having a choice has a really negative affect on him because it made him become really depressed and bitter to everyone around him. Crooks does not have much say in his life because of his color. In the other hand, Crooks does have a choice to leave the ranch, but he has nowhere to go. Crooks is already old and has been at the ranch for quite a while, so there’s no point in him leaving. Instead he deals with the fact that he does not have much freedom. Crook’s situations shows greatly how the characters in the book sometimes do not have a choice in what they