Is Of Mice and Men a Perfect Modern Tragedy? This essay contains major spoilers from the book.

Is Of Mice and Men a Perfect Modern Tragedy (According to Aristotle)?

In ancient Greece, greatly emotional tragic plays with music and a chorus were often performed in front of large audiences during competitions. The texts of some of these tragedies, including works such as Oedipus the King and Antigone, survive to this day and have been studied in depth. Aristotle, a famous Ancient Greek philosopher, studied tragedy and defined it in a commonly referenced way. An American, more modern tragic work by John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, can be compared to Aristotle's ideas for a perfect tragedy. Of Mice and Men is largely a perfect modern tragedy emotionally and character-wise under Aristotle's rules. However, the book has a few important characteristics concerning the plot that make it differ slightly from Aristotle's ideas.

Aristotle described in his definition of the elements of tragedy exactly how a perfect tragedy should affect watchers/readers emotionally, and the mood caused by the events in Of Mice and Men matches his ideas very closely. In his definition of a perfect tragedy, the ancient Greek thinker writes that the tragedy must have “incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions." Pity and fear occur among readers of Of Mice and Men who are awaiting what will happen to Lennie at the end of the book. Lennie is a mentally impaired, but kind-hearted, man who has accidentally killed a woman. His friend George is conflicted on whether killing him is the right thing to do or not. Lennie states, referencing the farm that he and George want to eventually own together: “‘And I’ll get to tend the rabbits...An’ live on the fatta the lan’” (Steinbeck 105). Knowing that Lennie is still hopeful and happy and that he may be killed by George very soon leads to the reader pitying Lennie and fearing his death. The emotion felt by the reader can often be so intense that they become heavily invested in the book. A catharsis, or release of this intensity, occurs in Aristotle’s definition of tragedy and in Of Mice and Men. After George makes his decision and shoots Lennie, “Lennie jarred and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering” (Steinbeck 106). The catharsis that results as the ending of the book is revealed replaces the pity and fear felt by readers, and the tension that comes along with them, with intense feelings. These feelings are sadness due to Lennie’s death and sympathy towards him due to his overall good nature. The facts that Lennie acts like a child and seems very innocent throughout the book contribute to these feelings. The ending is even more tragic because although Lennie’s death is sad, Steinbeck paints it in a way that it can be seen as unavoidable. Lennie could not control his body throughout the entire book, and if he was not killed he would have likely been sent to a prison where he would have suffered greatly. The feelings of pity and fear and a catharsis of emotions resulting from the ending of the book make Of Mice and Men mirror Aristotle’s ideas about tragedy.

Aristotle’s ideas about a perfect tragedy were clear in stating that a character who is a tragic hero should experience a change of mind during a tragedy. This change should either be peripety, the change from being in one situation to being in the exact opposite situation, or discovery, which Aristotle describes as “a change from ignorance to knowledge." In Of Mice and Men, George definately goes through a change through discovery. He is aware at the beginning of the book that Lennie can harm other living beings accidentally, as Lennie has killed mice. However, he never thinks that Lennie will ever kill another human being. He actually thinks that a dog would be strong enough that Lennie would have no chance to kill it. He reassures Lennie after telling him to throw away a dead mouse that he had kept to stroke by promising: “First chance I get I’ll give you a pup” (Steinbeck 13). For most of the book, George hangs on to hope that Lennie will either be too weak to seriously harm a human, or he will be smart enough to stop himself. George has this mindset even though Lennie has touched a woman’s dress and was not able to let go. George’s worst fears are finally realized when he walks into the room where Curley’s wife lies dead. At first he doesn’t know who killed her, but eventually he states with regret: “‘I should of knew...I guess maybe way back in my head I did’” (Steinbeck 94). George’s realization that Lennie always had the ability to kill another human being is a discovery that is a crushing blow on him. It is almost as transformative of a moment as Oedipus realizing that he has killed his father and married his mother in Oedipus the King, as it also deals with the tragic hero’s closest companion and killing. George’s discovery of Lennie’s true strength is a characteristic of Of Mice and Men that shows how it can be described as a perfect modern tragedy.

In spite of the many ways that Of Mice and Men’s characteristics fit nicely into Aristotle’s definition of a perfect tragedy, the book is more complex in plot than any of the plays that Aristotle wrote his definition of a perfect tragedy about. The ancient Greek philosopher describes how the plot of a perfect tragedy should be simple and straightforward: “There must be Unity of Plot...Any events or episodes must be necessary to the main issue…" The fourth chapter of Of Mice and Men, however, does veer off the main plot concerning George and Lennie. It is from the perspective of the character Crooks, who is an African-American “stable buck” that works at the same ranch as the main two characters. The chapter includes Crooks’ backstory, his relationships with other characters, and racism that occurs towards him. Crooks states his frustration with the prejudice he faces: “‘They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me’” (Steinbeck 68). Including the thoughts of an African-American character that faces prejudice on the ranch does make Of Mice and Men more interesting when viewing the book from a historical outlook. However, it also makes the book veer away from the main action involving the kind-hearted, mentally impaired man and his close friend. Of Mice and Men would still have the same main plot points without the chapter focussing on Crooks, so it can be said that Crooks’ chapter makes the book less unified in plot and therefore less similar to Aristotle’s definition of a perfect tragedy.

There are a few important characteristics of the book, including the lack of total unity in plot, that prove otherwise, but overall the modern novella Of Mice and Men can be described as a perfect tragedy as defined by Aristotle. The mood the book creates in the reader and the change in mind that the tragic hero in the book goes through are proof for this statement. Pity and fear for Lennie and a catharsis of emotions are felt by readers when they hear of Lennie’s death, and these feelings fit Aristotle’s ideas about how a perfect tragedy’s mood should be. The discovery of Lennie’s tragic flaw, his strength, by George fits with Aristotle’s ideas about how the tragic hero should experience a change in mind. However, a chapter of the book that focusses on the experiences of the African-American character named Crooks makes the book turn partially away from Aristotle’s ideas about the unity of plot in a perfect tragedy. Of Mice and Men is an emotional modern tragic book that emulates emotional ancient Greek tragic plays of the time of Aristotle.