Of Mice and Men
From Lostpedia
Of Mice and Men is a Depression-era novel written by John Steinbeck, centering around two friends trying to save up enough money to start their own ranch and no longer be under the thumb and employees. George, the more business minded, also watches over Lennie, whose slow wit tends to affect their grand plans.
The book is critical of the American Dream, and all dreams in general, suggesting that they are, quite often, ultimately futile.
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In Lost
- Sawyer is seen reading the book while in prison. ("Every Man for Himself")
- He later references the book, and Ben quotes from it (see below). ("Every Man for Himself")
- Sawyer and Hurley are shown playing horseshoes in the Barracks. This game is played often by the characters in this book. ("The Other Woman")
In the Lost Experience
- Steinbeck, the writer of the novel, was one of the passwords to enter the real Retrieversoftruth.com website.
Other Similarities and Shared Themes
- One of the central themes in the novel, and in the show (especially pertaining to Sawyer) is isolation and finding a place to fit in in the world when you are different. Ben emphasizes this point across when he shows Sawyer they are on a smaller isolated island, talks about his suppressed emotions towards Kate, and then quotes the book: "A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. It don't make any difference who the guy is, so long as he's with you. I tell ya...I tell ya, a guy gets too lonely, and he gets sick."
- In the novel, the character Lenny has frequent dreams and visions of rabbits. The episode seems to reference this in Sawyer's psychological torture scene.
- The last line is "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?" suggesting that compassion is important, as two antagonists in the book speak these lines together. This is used to parallel the episode, where Sawyer (uncharacteristically) shows compassion in both the flashback and the present.
- In the novel, the characters play horse shoes, which is similarly seen in the episode The Other Woman. Hurley appears to beat Sawyer, in a way similar to how Crooks beat the rest of the characters in the novel.
Trivia
- John Steinbeck has written numerous novels, one of which is entitled 'The Pearl'.
- John Terry, who plays Christian Shephard, has the role of Slim in the film adaptation.
See also
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