Submitted by Goblin

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is the story of two men living in desperate times, but it’s also a story about the necessity of hope. Most characters in the book cling to some (often heartbreakingly pathetic) hope of a better life while they struggle through the brutal realities of the Great Depression.

The story focuses on George and Lennie, two migrant workers. Lennie is physically powerful but mentally sub-normal. George is a cynical but essentially kind-hearted man who looks out for Lennie. Their dream is to save up enough money to buy a small farm where they won’t have to work constantly in order to survive.

Lennie likes to stroke soft and pretty things, but he doesn’t control his abnormal strength well. At the beginning of the story, George forces Lennie to throw away the body of the pet mouse Lennie has accidentally killed. It turns out Lennie once killed a puppy in a similar fashion, and that the two men are looking for new employment because Lennie tried to stroke the dress of a girl who thought he was trying to molest her.

They find work, and with it, renewed hope that they may finally raise the money needed to buy their farm. Then Lennie tries to stroke the hair of the wife of the boss’ son and accidentally snaps her neck when she panics.

Why was this book challenged more than all but five others between 1990 and 2000? Because George saves Lennie from being lynched the only way he can. George has Lennie visualize the farm they’re going to buy, and the soft rabbits Lennie will be allowed to take care of there, and then, while Lennie is distracted by the dream, George shoots him in the back of the skull. It’s a hard ending, but one that makes perfect sense within the story.

The novella is brilliantly written. It’s a potent and sensitive depiction of how desperation and hope interact. To ban it is to delete a great work of art for the crime of being too powerful.

What harm do we come to by reading about a character’s painful choice? What harm are we likely to do? The book makes us think about suffering and what makes life bearable. We will only be finer citizens for having done so.