Connecting Story Setting With Mood Character Or Themes

Your Name
Professor
Course
July 2, 2014
Connecting Story Setting With Mood Character Or Themes
In a short story, the setting refers to the time, location and the context within which the plot is laid down. Often, the main story takes place in one particular location although in some cases there could be more than one location. The setting is very critical to the overall success of the story as is creates the backdrop within which the story is relayed creating the imagery to give the audience the actual environment where the events unfold. For example, the story by John Steinbeck, entitled "Of Mice and Men" is set in the United States in California; the author brings the audience to the actual context by painting the gloom picture associated with the story’s time period. The scenery is unfolding during the Great Depression, when America was going through a dreadful economic down time (Harold 46). People lost jobs, their life savings, homes and businesses, despair was substantial and people earned their livings through tedious menial jobs. This is reflected in the themes explored and the way the plot is interwoven filling the reader with hope which stays only for a while and then the true nature of that time period is revealed as the hope is finally dashed.
John Steinbeck commences the story with the two main characters namely George and Lennie; they are camping besides a pool in Salinas River (John 2). This setting already depicts a picture of desolate people, the reader can almost infer into their misery. Camping by the pool already sends chills on ones spine, the cold and the insecurity from the beginning. In this case, the author wants to bring the reader to a point where he can identify with the gloominess and struggles associated with the great depression. The next day, George and Lennie take up residence in bunkhouse located in a close by ranch. In order to reduce the actual imagery of their surrounding Steinbeck paints a vivid picture of the thinly equipped facility and of the hot, grimy ranch on which the two main characters work (Charlotte 19). It is not a wonder that they drift from job to job since in that time period jobs were hard to come by. The two need each other for survival; Lennie happens to be gentle and slow but was a giant with physical strength so he relied on George for guidance and protection while he offered George companionship. The two have a dream of owning a farm one time and tend rabbits but their dreams are never actualized (Jackson 44).
The best laid plans between the two characters go awry, the audience feels sorry for the two characters. Although everybody would wish for them to achieve what they need this is impossible because they are living in difficult times. The author depicts the impossibilities created by the bad economic trends creating a gruesome mood that adds to the story tension. The two main characters are bullish that someday things are going to get better but this is...