Mice and Men by John

¶ … Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck and "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. Specifically it will compare and contrast the two works with particular emphasis on the main characters, George and Meursault, and the time period. Both of these books are set in relatively the same time period, but in very different places. "The Stranger" is set in Algiers, while "Of Mice and Men" is set in California in the 1930s during the Dust Bowl. The characters are extremely different, as well. Meursault is an extremely unappealing and unsympathetic character who seems to have little purpose or meaning in life, while George is a well-meaning man who is faced with a difficult, even heartbreaking decision. They both represent victims of a society that does not support them, however, and this is the commonality that binds them together.

Meursault is a difficult character to understand or even like, and he is emotionally cold or unfeeling. At the opening of the book, he says, "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know," (Camus 1) and that pretty much sums up his feelings (or lack of) about even the most important and life shattering events. This is clear in his reaction after the funeral, as well, when he thinks, "I pictured myself going straight to bed and sleeping twelve hours at a stretch" (Camus 22). Clearly, this is an emotionally distant and perverse man, whose only interests lie within himself. In contrast, George has a temper, which he often loses with the slow, dim-witted Lennie, but he is in his heart a good and decent man who knows his job is to protect Lennie as much as he possibly can. Thus, one man gains audience sympathy almost immediately because he tries to take care of Lennie, even telling him what water to drink, while the other loses it with the first sentence of the book, and this is a key difference between these characters.

There is another big difference between George and Meursault, and that is how they look at work. Meursault's employer offers him a promotion to Paris and he says, "I told him I was quite prepared to go; but really I didn't care much one way or the other" (Camus 52). George would give anything to have a successful job that would allow him and Lennie to reach their dream of owning a ranch someday. He tells Lennie, "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place.... With us it ain't like that. We got a future" (Steinbeck 15). The two men hope and pray they have a future they can share; while Meursault is so selfish and self-serving that he does not even care about his future or the opportunities that are offered to him.

It is interesting that people distrust George because of his kindness to Lennie, and they distrust Meursault for his lack of emotions, especially about his mother. During his trial, he is questioned about his relationship with his mother and his reason for putting her into an institution instead of caring for her himself. Camus writes, "Then he asked if the parting hadn't caused me distress. I explained that neither Mother or I expected much of one another - or for that matter, of anybody else" (Camus 109). Thus, the question is raised about his humanity at his trial, and the people find him very lacking in human skills and feelings. Coincidentally, people wonder about George, as well. The ranch foreman says, "Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know where your interest is" (Steinbeck 23). Sadly, Meursault is distrusted because he deserves it, but George is distrusted because people cannot believe another human being could be so kind or caring. It is a difference that is startling, but that sets the two men far apart in their motives and ideals. George, even though he is the simpler of the two characters, is the most sympathetic, kind, and good, while Meursault, even though he seems to have everything, is really empty, shallow, and alone.

There is another difference between the men that is hard to ignore. Of course, George is much kinder than Meursault, but he enjoys some other people, as well. He can hold his own with the other ranch hands, and he can carry on a meaningful conversation with the men in the bunkhouse, and stand up for his friend at the same time. Meursault is just as content to be alone as he is to be with anyone else, and he really does not care whether he has friends or not. He is basically a loner, and although George sometimes asserts he would be better off without Lennie, he is better with people than Meursault, and he does not continually shun them. This makes him seem more human than Meursault, who has very few human or endearing qualities at all.

Each of these characters has other people in their lives, whether they want them there or not, and how they deal with them says a lot about them as people. Meursault would just as soon be alone as carry on a relationship with a woman, any woman, and George thinks women are trouble, too. He tells Lennie, "You give me a good whore house any time" (Steinbeck 56), meaning that women can be too demanding and too much trouble. However, how they treat women is very different. George makes an effort to stay away from Curly's wife, but treats her with respect when he sees her. Meursault, on the other hand, treats Marie like an object, not a person, and it indicates how he looks on women and other people in general. They just do not matter to him, like nothing matters to him, which leaves him empty and bitter inside. George at least has the ability to care about another human being, and this gives him a soul and a personality that is easy to like. He is a good man in a bad situation, while Meursault is a bad man in a bad situation. Somehow the reader feels he deserves it, while they wish George could have saved the situation, some how.

The ultimate comparison between these two characters is they are both murderers, but for far different reasons. George murders Lennie to save him from a vengeful and hateful lynch mob and he does it reluctantly. He does it because it is the kindest thing to do in the situation. Meursault, in contrast, murders on a whim, and he does not really even know why he does it. He murders as coldly as he lives, which is the difference between the two characters. If there had been any other choice, George would have taken it, while Meursault does not even weigh the options or think about his actions. He reacts, while George thinks about his actions and the repercussions, too.

While the two characters are both murderers, these stories show how vast the difference between murders can be. Even the other ranch hands understand George's motivation. Slim tells him, "Never you mind. A guy got to sometimes" (Steinbeck 107). On the other hand, Meursault is mercilessly interrogated about the murder of the Arab, but he felt nothing when he shot him. He thinks to himself, "I knew I'd shattered the balance of the day, the spacious calm of this beach on which I had been happy, but I fired four shots more into the inert body, on which they left no visible trace" (Camus 76). Meursault feels no remorse over the killing, while George is clearly distraught after the shooting, and has to be helped to his feet. These are two very different men, and that is one reason George is sympathetic, and Meursault is not.

Ultimately, society has let both these characters down. In the Steinbeck novel, the Great Depression has created a time where men cannot make a living and have to take any type of job they can find, while in Camus' novel, society judges Meursault because of his cold and heartless actions, and gives up on him. They are both victims, but the reader feels sorry for George, who did the best he could, but shuns Meursault, who seems to get just what he deserved.