OntheThemesinOfMiceandMen.doc

OntheThemesinOfMiceandMen 美国文学课程论文 姓名：张娜 学号:222011310011015 班级：11级05班iiiOn the Themes in Of Mice and Men摘要: 约翰.斯坦贝克是20世纪美国最知名的作家之一，他是1962年诺贝尔文学奖的得主，主要作品有《人鼠之间》，曾经获得普利兹奖的《愤怒的葡萄》,《伊甸园东》，和旅行记录《与查理一起旅行:寻找美国》斯坦贝克的作品多描写大萧条时期的平民阶级及一民工人的生活他的小说反映了他广泛的兴趣，比如海洋生物学，爵士乐，政治，哲学,历史和神话Lennie是一个身材高大但是心灵却如同儿童般幼稚的人他很喜欢抚摸柔软的东西，这个嗜好也为他招惹了不少的麻烦一开始被赶出Weed城，后来在路上无意地捏死一只只老鼠，在抚摸狗毛时将狗拍死尽管George经常说：“He ain't mean that”，但最终惨剧还是发生了，当Lennie误杀了农场主儿媳后，George为了让他免受折磨，而不得不将Lennie用枪打死.本文旨在分析这部小说的三个主题:美国梦、孤独、以及无助.这三个主题彼此之间有着联系。

小说的主人公同时具备着这三种特点,很好地体现出了这三个主题 关键词：主题 人鼠之间 美国梦 孤独 无助 Abstract: The American dream and loneliness and powerlessness are three main themes in Of Mice and Men which reflex many issues in a short but meaningful storyKey words： theme, of mice and men， American dream, loneliness， powerlessness CONTENS摘要: iAbstract： iiCONTENS iiiI. Introduction ivII. American dream vA. Lennie and George's dream vB. Curley’s wife’s dream vC. Candy’s dream viIII Nature of loneliness viiA Loneliness of men viiB. Loneliness of woman viiiIV。

Friendship ixV. Conclusion xWords cited xiBibliography xi I. Introduction John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962 for his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath However， his first success comes from a series of short novels， of which Of Mice and Men is the best. This novel tells a story about two men, George and Lennie, who were good friends and lived relying on each other， went through so much difficulty to achieve their dream of owning a piece of land but finally Lennie had to die because of his unintentional fault。

Because it is a short story, it is tightly held together. The whole novel contains very little narration. Instead, Steinbeck relies heavily on the words and actions of his characters II. American dreamThis book introduces Steinbeck’s personal interpretation of American dream. This novel was written in a time when the American economy was depressed and unemployment was very high Influenced by the capitalism system and the background， characters in this story all have their dreams But they are just disillusion. The society at that time means that their dream cannot achieve。

A Lennie and George’s dreamTheir dream is so clear and so understandable. They looked forward to their dream frequently. Their dream first appeared in the book when they talked under the tree the night before they got to the ranch Lennie always forgot things， so George told him: “Ok Someday, we are gonna get the jack together and we are gonna have a little house and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and.”“we will have a vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we will just say the hell with going to work, and we will build up a fire in the stove and set around it and listen to the rain coming down on the roof.”To be brief， their dream is to own a piece of land and lead a life for themselves. We can also say this is George’s dream， because Lennie’s dream is simply to pet rabbits and soft animals. But finally their dream ended with Lennie’s killing Curley’s wife and George’s killing Lennie。

To some extent, George would get a lad without Lennie, but still， it's not perfect, it’s not what they want initially. Their dream has brokenB. Curley’s wife’s dreamCurley's wife is the only woman in this short story， whose existence plays a important role in this novel， because that is she who causes Lennie’s die In the beginning， she appeared in Candy’s words: workers all thought she was a whore. Everyday she just looked for her husband and flirted with some workers Later， she noticed Lennie’s strong strength and tried to have a conversation, in which she was killed unintentionally by Lennie。

During the talk， she told her dream： “I lived right in Salinas, come there when I was a kid. Well, shows come through, and I met one of the actors He says I could go with that show Her dream is to be an actress She wants to be in the movies, and to have nice clothes and to sat in big hotels and has pitchers took of her. Of course it is a beautiful dream But in fact， she has already married Curley, who always keeps an eye on her， so her dream is hard to achieve Candy’s dreamOld Candy， the old cleaner， lost his hand right on that ranch.“You have seen what they done to my dog? They say he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else。

When they can me here I wished somebody would shoot me But they won't do anything like that. I won’t have place to go, and I can’t get more jobs. I'll have thirty dollars more coming， time you guys is ready to quit.”Candy is old, and what he wants is to have a peaceful place to go. He dreams to have a quiet and meaningful life, not just live for live. His old friend， the dog， is killed because of its useless。