Moral Experience in 'Of Mice and Men': Challenges and ...

Moral Experience in "Of Mice and Men": Challenges and Reflection Author(s): Richard E. Hart Source: The Steinbeck Review, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Fall 2004), pp. 31-44 Published by: Penn State University Press Stable URL: . Accessed: 13/11/2014 20:47 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@. .

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Moral

Experience

in

Of Mice

and Men :

Challenges

and Reflection

Richard E. Hart Bloomfield College

Does JohnSteinbecks Of Mice and Men contributeanythingto morality and thinkingabout morality?Does theobvious social messageand social consciousnessof theworktweakthemoral imaginationand invitecritical philosophicalreflectionS?ome scholarsand criticshave appreciatedwhat I call the"moraldimension"ofthebook,whileothershaveexpressedconsiderablylessregardforthataspect.Skepticsseemto havegatheredaround the perennialchargeof sentimentalityand moral simplicityP. erhapsthe most famousallegationof thatkindcame fromAlfredKazin in his definitivestudy,On Native Ground.sKazin sharplyattackedOf Mice and Men foritssterile"moralserenity"thatled to the"calculatedsentimentalityo"f thestory.1Edwin BerryBurgumechoed Kazin when he wrotethatSteinbeck "swungin his various novelsfromthe extremeof a deep and legitimate admirationforworkingpeople to thatin whichall values are paralyzedin theapathyof thesentimental."S2imilarlyJ, ohnS. Kennedystated thatSteinbeck"can be acutelysensitiveand truefora chapter,thenembarrassinglysentimentaal nd cheaplytrite."A3 resuchcharacterizationrseflectiveof what CharlotteCook Hadella calls "criticalelitism"orare they somehowon themark?4Ifaccurate,thenOfMice and Men would seem to be of littlerelevanceto seriousreflectionon moralityR. ather,itwould be scarcelymore than a popular littlebook/playforthe masseswho are absorbed by the sentimental.And as JacksonBenson has written,"'Sentimental'is the ultimatepejorativein modernliterarycriticismt, endingto disqualifyanythingso labeled fromfurtherseriousconsideration."5

The SteinbeckReviewV, olume1, Fall 2004

31

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32 * RichardE. Hart

Hadella astutelypointsout that"forfivedecades OfMice and Men survived chargesof animalism,sentimentalismm, elodrama,and tritesocial protest."6In the 1980s assessmentsbegan to change. JohnTimmerman praised Steinbeckfor"exploringtheenduringquestions of the natureof humanityo, f good and evil,of tragedyand triumph."7Many readersand criticshave surelybeen moved by the sense of social responsibilitythey findin OfMice and Men. Louis Owens contendedthatSteinbeck'svision ofAmerica"is an ideal ofcommitmentto humankindand to theenvironment,a holisticreverenceforlife.In thislight,OfMice and Men emerges as a skillfullyrendereddramatizationof the preceptsto which Steinbeck dedicatedhislife'swork."8Steinbeckand theEnvironmentIn: terdisciplinary Approacheswould seem to enhance and extendOwens s regardforSteinbeck as an earlyecologistwith a humanisticmoral sensibility.9Finally, Hadella observesthatSteinbecks"storiesthemselvesraise ethical questions,"whileMichael Meyerapplauds him forbeing"themoralconscience of theAmericanreadingpublic."10

What is to be made of such contradictoryviews when applied to the subject of moralityin Of Mice and Men? It cannot be simultaneouslya simple-mindedmoralitytale and a genuine provocationto the reader's thinkingand feelingI. propose an approachto thisnovelthatis bothconsistentwithSteinbeck'sphilosophy(loosely speaking),and which allows the textto addressa varietyof moral issues and questions. I distinguish herebetweenmoral philosophy(as traditionallyunderstood) and moral experience.ByexperienceI mean simplyundergoingthemoraldramaand tensionand conflictthatthecharactersin thestorywitnessand reflecting sensitivelyon thatexperience(theirsand ours).

Though I am a philosopherforwhom ethicsis a specialtyI, choose not to approach OfMice and Men as a moraltheoristc,onsideringitgenerally fruitlestso ponderwhetherSteinbeckrepresentasnd appliesa certaintype ofethicaltheory- is he a Kantiandeontologista, utilitarianin themanner of Benthamor Mill?Does he embrace"virtueethics"?Is he Aristotelianor PlatonistorMarxistinleaning,absolutistor relativistT?herecan be no reasonable or definitivaenswersto such questionsbecause Steinbeckwas not interestedin philosophicaltheorydivorcedfromlivedexperience.This is notto say,howevert, hathe was not interestedin moralityand raisingethical questionsin and throughhiswork.When a reporterfortheAssociated

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MoralExperienicneOfMiceandMen * 33

Pressaskedwhatis themajorfunctionofan authorintoday'ssocietyS, teinbeck replied,"Criticism,I should think"11He was, indeed,a social critic, and such functioningcan be highlyconducive to meaningfulthinking about moralityI.n a postscriptto a questionnairefora graduatestudentat Ohio Universityh,e commentedon hisphilosophy": Andas to thequestions as to whatI mean by- or whatmyphilosophyis- I haven'ttheleastidea. ... I don't like people to be hurtor hungryor unnecessarilysad. Is just about as simpleas that."1H2 is approachto moralityand philosophymaybe simple,but that does not necessarilymake it triteand sentimentalA. s Hadella points out, with Of Mice and Men and otherworks,Steinbeck "wished to challengehis audience's sense of values."13When a reporter askedwhathis lastnovel,The WinterofOur Disconten,twas about,forexample,Steinbeckrepliedin one word- "morals."1S4teinbeckwas interested in moralityand shed importantlighton itin mostofhis fictionT. he exact sortoflight- and whatwe do withit- is whatmostinterestms e here.

Thisfocuson experienceand thethinkingand feelingitengendersr,ather thanon philosophicaltheoryi,s motivatedinpartbywhatI takephilosophy "in"literatureto be. Literature(and otherartsas well) are uniquelypowerfulvehiclesforphilosophicalexploration.They do not,however,provide logicalargumentsforthisor thatpositionortheoryT. he writer'sfunctionis not to constructor defenda particularphilosophyor ideologyA. storyor a poem is not a seriesof propositionswoventogetherbytheforceof reason. A workof literatureshows,it exhibits,it offersmultipleand unique perspectivesnot alwaysavailableto reasonand argumentI.t causes thereader to undergotheexperienceofhow somethinglooks and feels.Ifhonestand wellconstructedi,thas thecapacitytopresentthe"truth"ofa situation(factuallyand emotionally)a,nd suchtruthfuelxperiencehasthepowertomake the readerthinkabout life,society,and theworld.AlbertCamus once remarkedthathisMythofSisyphuesssaysgavea theoreticaelxplanationofhis philosophyof theabsurdwhilehis novel,The Strange,renabled readersto witnessand to feelsuch ideas as livedthroughhumancharactersand situations.Both Jean-PaulSartreand AlbertCamus are excellentinterdisciplinaryexamplesoftheinterconnectednesosfphilosophyand literatureB.oth helpto explainand justifytheapproachto fictionI am takinghere.15

Of Mice and Men presentsdramaticsituationsand characterizations thatallow us to see and hear and feelethicaldilemmas and such social

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34 * RichardE. Hart

problemsas racism,sexism,and economic exploitationin an immediate, firsthandway.Such issuesaredramaticallycontextualizedso as to provoke readerreflectionO. ne cannotescape themoralburdensand provocations of the story.Steinbeck,of course,offersno resolutionsor sweepinganswers.Such is not his purpose or function.He means to agitate,to provoke,to anger,to cause doubt and raise a multitudeof questions.In the mannerof Socrates,thisis thefirsthoneststeptowardphilosophizing.

What I havesaid hereabout literatureis also consistentwithwhatmay loosely be called Steinbecks philosophical method,nonteleological"is" thinking.As Hadella observes,with Of Mice and Men "Steinbeckwas breakingnew ground philosophicallyas well as formallyin writinghis play-noveletteB.y 1936 he had become veryinterestedin non-teleological thinkingt,hescientificphilosophythatconcentrateson theconditionsof existenceratherthanon causes and effectosftheseconditions."1O6f prime importancehereare the"conditionsof existence,"what human existence in a particularsettingis reallylike fromthe inside.What do such conditionsfeellikewhen activelyexperienced?Hadella pointsfurtherto Steinbeck'sreluctanceto explaincauses and effect-s how existencegot to be a certainwayand whatitis leadingto.This approachlentitselfto a holistic, integratedvision of humanityand naturein whichall thingsare literally united.This pointofviewcarriesimportantimplicationsformoralitybecause it"acceptsthingsas theyare withoutassigningblame to individuals or situations."17

In Of Mice and Men Steinbeckbasicallyreportssomethingthathappened on a ranch(the originaltitlewas to be SomethingThatHappened). He does not takesides and does not engage in normativeethicalreasoning.He portraysratherthanjudges. Readers,or theaudience fortheplay, are leftto draw theirown conclusionsand to contemplatethe good and thebad,thecallous and theindifferenStt. einbeckknewthatreaderswould raisetheirown questionsand providetheirown explanations;he believed thathonestwritinghas as itsbasic themeunderstandinghumanityT. his refersto thecharacterscreatedbytheauthoras wellas theaudienceforthe storyH. umans feeland think.Thinkingand feelingtypicallyarerolledinto one.When theyencountera moralproblemeitherin lifeor in art,humans feelbadly.Theyare oftenconfusedand want to know whatcaused itand how itcould possiblybe remedied.It is our naturaldispositionto ask why

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