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In Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck makes it easy for you. Steinbeck tells you exactly what he wants you to see, and how he wants you to see. He helps you feel what he feels, think what he thinks. Of Mice and Men has its critics, who say Steinbeck’s story of George and Lennie is more about the author’s political agenda than it is about George and Lennie. But Of Mice and Men remains one of the enduring 20th Century American novels. Steinbeck makes it easy to see why.

Video Transcription:

There are lots of things to like about Of Mice and Men. It’s short. You know what’s going to happen, right from the beginning. And did I mention that it reads like a play? 60 seconds on why that’s pretty cool—and significant, too.

So if you watched Recap 9, you know that the way Steinbeck uses setting in Of Mice and Men is one of the things that makes it feel like a play.

Another thing? It’s divided up into three acts. Think of the first two chapters as the first act, the second two chapters as the second act, and so on.

Well, whoop-de-do for Steinbeck, you may be thinking. Glad he could write his novel-as-play or play-as-novel or whatever it is. But what’s in it for me, the reader?

How about this?

What’s the fun of live theatre? It’s less work for you the audience member, right? You don’t have to imagine what things look like. And in a way, a play invites participation. You’re a player in what’s going on.

That’s what I love about Of Mice and Men. The fact that it’s “staged” made me feel like I was standing in that bunkhouse, or that harness room, being invited to observe—even play a role in—what was going on.

But Of Mice and Men Steinbeck’s gift to theatre junkies …

It’s also a gift to lazy readers.

Because the other thing about Steinbeck’s staging is that it doesn’t leave much up to the imagination.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all those other authors did the work for you, too?