Base Theme

The base theme of a writing is the fundamental theme that the basis of many themes. According to John Steinbeck's journal, written in 1938, Steinbeck believes that there are only one base theme. It is the theme of understand others and through understanding others you would be kind to each other. He believes that no matter it's what kind of writing it is, as long as it is a honest writing, it would have the base theme of understanding the characters of the story and as the story end, characters will be kind to each other. In Of Mouse and Man, as we gradually understand more about the character, we are starting to condone their action because we feel that it is the right thing to do under their circumstances and background and it is easier to relate to their action. At the start, we doesn't condone George's action of taking the mouse away from Lennie because we feel that Lennie just wants something to per but George is just being mean. However, as we read on, we found out that Lennie used to kill mice when he squishes them too hard and it is pretty clear why George didn't want him to pet mice. Also, when Candy and his dog is first introduced, we would condone the thoughts of people wanting the dog dead because it's crippled, smelly, and blind. It is a useless dog that is a burden for Candy. However, as we understand more, we see that he had the dog since it was a pup and we can understand that he doesn't want to let go. Lastly, when George killed Lennie; if we didn't know the journeys of George and Lennie and how much trouble they've been in and how much George cared for Lennie, we would think that he is a jerk killing a friend that relied on him so much.