Of Mice and Men Subject and Theme in Our World: North Korea

If we recap from the story Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie live in the time of The Great Depression. They have no home, no family, and no money. They are lonely and isolated from society and all they have to turn to is each other. They are stuck to work on a ranch in horrible conditions for only $50 a month which is basically nothing.

North Korean flag

An example of a group of people are a the citizens of North Korea. North Korea is run by a man named Kim-Jong Un. North Korea is a communist country which means everything is controlled by the government and everyone is told what to do by the government. No one has control over anything except the government. North Koreans do not have access to the general World Wide Web. They do have their own internet, however it is very limited to North Korean news, and local email. North Korean are not allowed out of the country and no one is allowed into the country without special permission. Even if they are allowed in the country, they are constantly supervised.

North Koreans do not know anything about the world. They cannot interact with the world and are constantly under command like they're in the army or something.

Map of electricity in North Korea compared to
surrounding countries

Here is a satellite night-time image of a view of the Korean Peninsula. In this picture, you can clearly see that South Korea has so much electricity compared to North Korea which has nothing.

The citizens of North Korea can be very much compared to the people in Of Mice and Men. Just like George and Lennie, everybody in North Korea is isolated from the world. They cannot go anywhere outside of North Korea just like how George and Lennie are stuck with working on ranches. The people of North Korea are always told what to do and are very strictly commanded by the government just like how George and Lennie are told what to do on the ranch. Also, in 2004, the average North Korean makes $47 a month very much similar to how George and Lennie make only $50 a month.



The people of North Korea can be easily related to the subject in Of Mice and Men of Alienation and Loneliness due to the reasons and information I have stated above. How are they related to the theme in Of Mice and Men? Simple. In case you forgot or haven't read my other posts, the theme in Of Mice and Men is that even the most loneliness and most isolated people from society have the biggest dreams. In North Korea, most likely, they do not like living the way they do. They are used to it, however they probably would not rather be treated in such a horrible way.

Population Pyramid of North Korea

North Korea is a country that clearly represents the subject and theme in Of Mice and Men. They have almost no electricity, no access to internet, have a corrupt government, and live in a communist society. They are treated like robots and are always told what to do and they probably do not like it. They also earn, on average, about the same wage per month as do the people in Of Mice and Men. They would rather live in a society where they can do whatever they want and have access to good resources.

Thanks for reading,

~ Ramez Fares

Sources:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Korean_peninsula_at_night.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea                                                                                                                                                                               

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Flag_of_North_Korea.svg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Pyramide_Cor%C3%A9e_du_Nord.PNG

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin, 1937. Print.