I have loved reading from a young age, and because of this I was exposed to complex literature very early in life. I remember the first time I read this novel, it was the first text that not only made me sad, but that had a haunting hold on me. The concept of murder of innocence for a greater good was something extremely hard to grasp in my mind. Especially in the eyes of a younger child, Lennie is very much a lovable and relatable character. Lennie thinks as a child but has the strength of a strong man and isn’t aware of his own capabilities. To any pet owner who has raised an animal, this is a familiar concept. A puppy has so much energy when it is small and doesn’t do too much damage because of their size, but as they grow, so does their physical strength and often they still think like a puppy and are unaware of their size. Big dogs will sit in a lap that is far too small, they are simply unable to comprehend their size and strength relative to the world surrounding them.

We see this parallel in Lennie’s character. Lennie never means harm to anything, but he simply doesn’t understand his physical strength. In this day and age, the people around him are unaware of the extent of supervision and care he needs. Lennie should not be left alone, but this was 1937 and there was minimal awareness of mental health problems in this time period, so the men handle Lennie’s situation the best way that they know how. Lennie likely would need to live in a facility supervised by doctors in order to survive in this world, but  George is simply unable to provide that level of care for him so he does the best that he can do. Although they are unable to fully understand Lennie’s mental disabilities, many characters in the story are able to see the light behind a questionable exterior. Slim tells George, “Guy don’t need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it just’ works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain’t hardly ever a nice fella.” (Steinbeck 46) Many different characters develop a fondness for Lennie’s kindness and innocence even though they can’t fully understand him.

Although George is far more hardened by life than Lennie, he seems to represent a different kind of innocence. The innocence of hope for a better life and a better world. George knows that it is extremely unlikely that Lennie will prosper in such a cold world, but he never loses the hope that he can save them both from it all. Until George is backed into a corner with no other option, he fights to protect Lennie from all the evils of life. When George kills Lennie, it is as if he is killing a part of himself. George is forced to destroy his own innocence in order to save his own place in the world. The situation reminds me of a quote I recently heard, “To exist is to survive unfair choices” This quote is pulled from a modern television show aired on Netflix, but it is discomforting to see how well it links the past to the present. This novel was written in 1987 and it decontructs the concept of black and white morality into a mucky puddle of grey. Of Mice and Men is so haunting because it offers a glimpse into the complexities one will face in the choice between right and wrong, and to exist truly will be to survive unfair choices.

The most depressing part of the story is the scene the reader is forced to imagine after the tale ends. Lennie was George’s only companion and his inspiration to find a better place for himself. Many times throughout the novel they mention what a blessing it is to find a companion in life and stick with them, such as when Slim remarks, “Ain’t many guys travel around together,” he mused. “I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” (Steinbeck 39) Now that Lennie is gone it is easy to imagine George slipping into a common life in which he works to spend all his wages in town and repeat the cycle until he dies. Lennie was the thing keeping him from a simple life, which he always imagined would be easier. It will be easier no doubt, but the reader can’t help but to imagine the suffocating loneliness he will face without Lennie. Not only loneliness, but the guilt of having to murder someone he loves in order to save himself.

George maintains a hard exterior throughout the novel but it is easy to see how he loves Lennie like family. Lennie’s innocence gets him killed and George loses his own in the process of it all. The moral seems to be that innocence can’t survive in a world such as this.

Fast forwarding to our current time period, is Steinbeck’s message still true? Can one maintain innocence if they are to survive in this world? Has the world changed since this was written? If yes, then how so? And if not, what is holding humans back from evolving?