Fractional Distillation is a term used in chemistry for
the separation of a mixture into its component parts or fractions, such as separating
chemicals by the boiling points. The separation of crude oil from other products, is an
example of fractional distillation as is the separation of liquid oxygen, liquid
nitrogen,and concentrated argon from air.
In John
Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, there exists a figurative fractional
distillation. First of all, the setting of the Great Depression separates men from their
families as they must become itinerant workers because their farms have dried up in the
Dust Bowl or because they have lost their jobs in some financial disaster. The "bindle
stiffs" who seek work in California's fertile soil are solitary seekers who vie for jobs
against other strangers.
At the ranch where George and
Lennie secure work, all these separated men are suspicious of the others. Even Slim,
with his calm "God-like eyes," asks George why he travels with Lennie. The others
conflict constantly with another, separating themselves fromeach encounter. For
instance, Whitson breaks the bond between Candy and his old dog; and, just as the men
seem to have established some peace in the bunkhouse, Curley's wife appears, causing
enough tension to severe any harmony. When Curley himself jealously appears, his
fractious nature causes him to attack Lennie and wreak havoc into any fraternity which
may have begun among the men. With the stable buck, Crooks, too, there is great
separation as he is racially segregated and forced to live in the barn with the
mules.
Indeed, it is this figurative "fractional
distillation" of the men that causes their aggressive and cruel behavior which, in turn,
leads to the destruction of Lennie and, with him, the end of the dream which has unified
Lennie, George, Candy, and even momentarily Crooks in a hopeful brotherhood as the
separate Whitson and Curley search for Lennie to kill him for accidentally
breaking Curley's wife's neck.
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