Base Theme

In 1938 John Steinbeck wrote in his journal, “In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other.” Comment on this quotation, as it relates to what you have read in Of Mice and Men so far. Take into consideration all that you have learned about literary elements.

 The theme of understanding each other and being kind to each other is no doubt very common in literature, and plays a greater role in religion. In Christianity, Jesus said that the one of the two most important laws of the Word was to "Love your neighbor as yourselves." This is hard for many Christians, in one sense because they feel a sense of moral or spiritual superiority compared to those who do not follow their religion, and as a result place themselves higher than others in society, and in another sense merely because they are human and cannot empathize easily. In some of the epistles, the authors discuss this. In 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul say to  "not take pride in one man over another" (I Cor. 3:6), since nothing makes them different from anyone else, and reminds the Corinthians that love for one another, no matter for someone of the same religion or not, is the most important trait one can have. In another book (I forget which) he basically says to live amongst the people and follow/learn their culture instead of regarding it with indignity. In the Gospels Jesus himself dined with the downcast of society, displaying his desire to want to understand others. In fact, Jesus himself came down and sacrificed himself as a human being, displaying his need to understand man.

In more modern times, Civil Rights activists, poets, and anti-imperialism Americans have also written pieces of literature promoting the need to understand one another.

As it related to Of Mice and Men, George cares for Lennie far too much than what seems natural. He acts as though he is fully responsible for his well-being and his future. While others may display prejudice against Lennie because of his limited mental capacity, George understands his situation and Lennie as a person so much that he (although he probably will refuse to admit it) has a brotherly love for Lennie.
In contrast, George cares little or less for the personality of Curly and cannot empathize (or can't even dream of empathizing) with him, and vice versa. As a result a conflict is imminent. In the same way, the boss's prejudice against the stable boy, a black man, also displays his lack of understanding and respect for the other.