Pessimistic / Optimistic

Question 1

Loneliness as a pessimistic concept

Answer 1

• Within the novella, the theme of loneliness, which is naturally a very pessimistic concept, is also prevalent.
• This is shown by the lonely nature of all the marginalised characters: Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife.
• Crooks’ loneliness is especially evident, as he tells Lennie ‘A guy needs somebody- to be near him.’
• Steinbeck includes this loneliness to show the isolation caused by racism, misogyny, and other types of bigotry.

Question 2

Optimism through the dream

Answer 2

• every character has a dream, even if that dream is unattainable.
• This shows that no matter how terrible a person’s external situation is, their hope will always remain internally.
• Therefore, a sense of happiness and hope may be instilled into a reader.
• The main example of this would be Lennie, as he keeps his childlike sense of hope and excitement for the dream of the farm until the very end of his life
• his last words are ‘Le’s get that place now’ , often asking George to tell him about their shared dream.
• Although, at the end of the book, his sense of childlike wonder and joy is juxtaposed with his own death, making the theme of the novella rather more pessimistic.

Question 3

Predatory nature of human existence

Answer 3

• By showcasing the raw injustice and discrimination occurring at the ranch,
• like Curley’s wife’s threat to lynch Crooks by saying ‘I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny’
• Steinbeck represents the worst aspects of humankind: cruelty, vengefulness, and brutality.
• The image of humans that he has created shows them as bitter, malicious creatures, with nothing but the intent to harm others.
• These characters on the ranch illustrate the cutthroat nature of the wider American society at the time that the book was set.