Prompts #2

2006. Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole.

The country setting in Of Mice and Men plays an essential role in the story.  The country is used to represent a place of primitivism, ignorance, and most important loneliness.  

The country is set up as a simple setting that most people can picture easily.  George and Lenny, the two main characters, live a very simple and primitive lifestyle working on different ranches trying to make a living.  John Steinbeck uses this simple rural setting to help convey the theme of the improbability of the American Dream.  By working on farms for most of their lives, the classic American Dream of owning property of their own seems very realistic and less forced upon their readers.  If the story had taken place in the suburbs, the basic desire to own your own property would seem less relevant.  

The country setting also a place of ignorance in Of Mice and Men.  Lenny who has mental disabilities is a very strong and productive worker.  George has to constantly protect Lenny and tell him to keep silent to not reveal is ignorance.  The country setting helps create the general feeling that the society where George and Lenny live doesn't accept people like George.  The attitudes of the other characters especially Curley reflect ignorance and intolerance that seems somewhat reasonable for this setting.  Instead of this ignorance feeling out of place it seems to fit in with the normal perception of a country setting.

The loneliness of the country is also portrayed and has a major impact on the story.   Curley's wife instigates many of the problems on the farm primarily because she is lonely and doesn't have other women to talk to.  If she lived in the city or a setting where there are more people she likely wouldn't have spent so much time wandering around the farm talking to the farm hands.  This ends up leading to Lenny getting in trouble because Curley's wife talks to him and then angers him.  The loneliness of the characters in this country setting is one of the main catalysts for the problems the characters face.

The country not only exemplifies a primitive, ignorant, and lonely place in this novel, it also helps progress the plot with these themes.  Just by choosing a particular setting, the author establishes values of many of its characters and emphasizes the themes.