3。1 George’s material anxiety about land complex

The value system of ancient men was simply structured in terms of survival。 Among all the desirable conditions for an easy and secure life, land was absolutely the most essential one。 Almost all early cultures had such a concept of the land。 Land witnessed the process of birth, development and death。 So all ancestors imaged that in their paradises there is a piece of beautiful and beneficent land where they can get food harvest and ripe fruit and live in harmony with animals。 People’s reliance on land could give them a sense of security, especially when they were in a new environment that often threatened to bewilder and overwhelm them。 So we can clearly see land is not only all human ancestor’s basic survival material, but also their spiritual resource from which they can struggle for a better life and get enough sense of security。 In a word, it represents both physical and spiritual engagement。(Yang Li, 104)

In the novel, George desired to own a land that only belongs to himself。 In his view, as long as he got the land, he can do everything he wanted to do。 He thought of the land as treasure, security and freedom。 So no matter what difficult things he had met, and how hard environment he had be in, he did not care about at all。 When Curley looked downed on him on the first day he came to the farm and slowly became a taunt to Curley in the coming days。 He just did his work and only wanted to save enough money then leave the farm。 Besides, he also told Lennie not to screw around with Curley, just because of the land。论文网

As a kind of complex, the material anxiety can be regarded as a kind of land complex illustrated in this masterpiece。 The definition of land complex is that some people have a series of ideas or thoughts related to the land。 

George couldn’t wait to own the land belongs him, so when Candy said that he had a sum of money and wanted George to let him join his plan about the land purchases, George apart from anything else, he felt excited that his dream might be realized soon。 In his thought, he could live in freedom, not be treated coldly and did things he likes to do, as long as he bought the land。 He had a great longing for a bright future。

Obviously, if a person feels like that he suffers from land complex or material anxiety, he could show a tense association with the land, or he depends on the land very much。 George’s thinking is a example。 However, he may not know how deeply he was controlled by this kind of complex or to what extent the material anxiety has shaped his life。 On the other hand, he is not able to release from the dominance of the anxiety, let alone change his thoughts completely。

3。2 George’s and Lennie’s and Crooks’ spiritual anxiety about their identity

Identity is a kind of cognition and description of the subject itself, including many aspects such as cultural identity, national identity, gender identity and racial identity。 (GuanYong, 5)From the cultural point of view, in the process of inpidual identity, cultural institutions promote inpiduals to participate in the cultural activities so that inpiduals can realize their identity。 Self-identity emphasizes the psychological and physical experience of self。 Social identity emphasizes the social property。 Names, kinship and gender make up the fixed mechanism of identity。 (Jiang Lasheng, 2011: 140)

When George and Lennie came to the new farm on the first day, they clothed in ragged garments, and acted as yes-man to the manage。 What’s more, George also asked Lennie not to say any word to avoid the mistakes。 Though Curley ranted and raved against them, they did nothing but only to bear him。 We can obviously know that they defined themselves low-level workers, they did not have status to expound their truly ideas, they were not identified with the new farm yet。 They need to disguise themselves。 文献综述