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Melanie Autenrieb
Mrs. Hollenbach
English IJK
17 December 2010
Comparative Essay
The novella, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck is very similar to the movie,
The Green Mile, directed by Frank Darabont. In Of Mice and Men Lennie Small has many hopes
and dreams, but at the same time he is trapped. In The Green Mile John Coffey also has many
hopes and dreams, but is trapped inside of a jail cell waiting to die. Lennie and John are similar
characters because they are both trapped which makes it harder for them to achieve their goals.
The conflict in both the novella and movie is John and Lennie have hopes and dreams, but they
can’t reach all of the goals.
Lennie Small reaches some of the goals he wants to, but there are others that he is not
able to reach in his lifetime. Lennie loves petting soft things such as mice, dogs, silk, velvet, and
other people’s soft hair. One dream he is able to reach is getting a puppy he can pet every day
until he kills the puppy by slapping it. He is not able to reach the goal of keeping a mouse in his
pocket to pet during the journey from Weed to the new ranch. George takes away the mouse
because it is dead. Curley’s wife allows Lennie to pet her hair until he starts messing it up.
Lennie breaks Curley’s wife’s neck by shaking her, which kills her. Lennie is unable to reach his
goal of tending the rabbits on the ranch George, Candy, and him were going to buy. George
shoots Lennie in the head at the end of the novella because Curley is going after him for killing
his wife.
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When all the ranch workers leave after Carlson tells everyone Slim’s mutt has 5 puppies
George says, “I heard him, Lennie. I’ll ask him” (36). This quote shows that Lennie is going to
get one of his dreams achieved. George sees that Lennie is excited when he hears the news so he
responds by saying he will ask Slim if he can have one of the puppies. Lennie will achieve one of
his dreams if Slim gives him a puppy because Lennie loves touching soft things. George doesn’t
allow Lennie to have mice because when they bite him he squeezes the mouse’s head causing it
to die.
George is the first one to find Lennie when he runs away. When all the others arrive at
the brush George says, “Right in the back of the head” (107). This quote states where George
shot Lennie. George wants Lennie to die happy so he has to kill Lennie himself before Curley
finds him. Before George shoots Lennie he tells Lennie the ranch story again so he gets in a
happy mood, and he tells him that he isn’t mad at him and never was. This quote proves that
Lennie is unable to achieve one of his dreams. The dream that he didn’t achieve is to work on a
ranch with George and Candy. Lennie wants to tend the rabbits, but he is unable to now that
George shot him in the back of the head.
John Coffey also reaches some of his goals, but not all of the goals he wants to reach in
his lifetime. John is able to revive a dead mouse, save Hal’s wife, Melinda, from dying from a
brain tumor, and cure Officer Paul’s urinary tract infection. He is not able to reach one of his
goals which is to revive the 2 dead little girls in the beginning of the movie. John is able to be
free of all the world’s suffering when he dies.
When John Coffey arrives in the jail cell he says, “I couldn’t help it, boss. I tried to take it
back, but it was too late” (The Green Mile). This quote explains that he tries to help the 2 little
girls by using his magic to try and bring them back to life, but it was too late. This proves that
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John Coffey is unable to achieve his goal of trying to bring the 2 little girls back to life, which
shows that not every goal in a person’s life can be achieved no matter how hard one tries.
When John Coffey releases Del’s mouse, Mr. Jingles, he says, “I helped Del’s mouse
become a circus mouse” (The Green Mile). This quote states that John Coffey heals people and
animals with magic he has inside of him. The magic in John Coffey’s body was given to him to
help others’ illnesses and injuries heal quicker than usual, and bring people back to life who were
only dead for a while. John uses this magic to heal Officer Paul’s infection and cure Melinda’s
brain tumor that is inoperable.
Some hopes and dreams can be reached while others are unable to be reached. Even
though Lennie and John can’t reach all of their goals, they did not give up on their hopes and
dreams. Hopes and dreams give everyone a goal or goals in life to go after and try to achieve.
Lennie Small and John Coffey are unable to reach all of their goals because they are trapped.
Lennie has a child’s mind so he is trapped in a child’s world while his body is the size of a man.
John Coffey is in a jail cell so he is not able to achieve all the goals he can outside of the jail cell.
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Works Cited
The Green Mile. Dir. Frank Darabont. Perf.Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse,
and Bonnie Hunt. Castle Rock Entertainment, 1999. DVD.
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1965. Print.
“Memorable Quotes.” IMDb.com. IMDb.com, Inc. 2010. Web. 17 Dec. 2010.