Of Mice And Men Archetypal Analysis

From the early 1900’s, society has strictly judged people by the way they look or where they come from. We still see this act of judgement re-occur in this day and age, unfortunately. In the novella Of Mice and Men, we clearly see the cruel conditions and situations that occurred during the Great Depression. This fantastic novella showcases the lives of two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who struggle to find a job and the stereotypical judgements of Lennie who is mentally disabled. In their journey, this novella introduces many other archetypes for the minorities of that time period, including women, colored people, and the elderly. John Steinbeck shows his expertise of crucial literary devices like allusion, archetype, and foreshadowing to show how humans will treat specific categories of people that have disabilities that in the end affect their hopes and dreams in life. Archetype, a very typical example of a certain person or thing. After reading Of Mice and Men, it is almost clear as day to see the archetypes of the Great Depression. First, there is George, …show more content…
From the moment George and Lennie were introduced to Curley’s wife, we could feel the tension rise. From just fleeing the last place they worked because of a run in with Lennie touching a woman, it’s an acceptable accusation that Curley’s wife will be directed to the conflict of the story. Another moment that predicted the end of the story was when Carlson shot Candy’s dog. Carlson said that the dog was aged and useless, that he wreaked of everything that smelt crummy and there is no point in keeping him around. It is safe to say this was a direct comparison to how useless everyone saw Lennie and we could infer that something similar that happened to Candy’s dog would happen to Lennie later on in the novella. Steinbeck made us see the treatment of elderly and mentally ill