Euphoria vs Of Mice and Men: More Similar Than You Think?

After learning about Of Mice and Men in English Literature class at school, Euphoria Season 3 also aired. Of course, I was getting clips of the new season (more like every episode update) of it every day and that gave me the chance of seeing both works from a very different perspective. Some people might think that Euphoria is just a reflection of teenagers who are not “focused” in life, but there is a lot more to that, as it is a reflection of the impossibility of the American Dream, the need of proving one’s masculinity from men, and the reliance of women on others for the achievement of the American Dream.

First, we’re gonna dignify Curley’s wife by giving her a name, and I’m going for Laura. And just disclaimer, I am just sharing my personal takes on the two works, so not an expert in literature or TV shows, but just sharing my teenaged thoughts!

1. Nate’s Engagement Ring & Flower vs. Curley’s Hand

In Of Mice and Men, Curley, the ranch’s boss’ son, got his hand crushed in a fight where he fought against Lennie, a man who laughed at a memory, not him, when they were in the same room. Lennie has the mind of a five-year-old but the body of a giant and has immense strength. At first, Lennie was scared, so he didn’t fight back, but after a receiving George’s approval to protect himself and fight back, he crushed Curley’s hand in no time and held it in his giant paws. Curley’s preference for violence is also shown in multiple aspects, such as him always telling his wife about how he fights and also how he had an achievement in boxing. This action of Curley’s reflect how egoistic he is and how eager he is to show his power because he is fighting against a bigger man and to him, it is a win even if he lost—the big man is bigger than him, so obviously if he loses, it’s the bigger man taking advantage of his size, but if he won that is him showing that he is incredibly strong. This same type of egoistic mindset is also shown in Euphoria when Nate chose to spend 500,000 dollars on floral decorations and Cassie’s engagement ring over paying off his debt. Those decorations and the engagement ring shows how eager his is to tell the world that he possesses a wife and is able to obtain her. He even prioritized paying off his debt for showing off his love and possession for Cassie, reflecting that in his value system, he always has this possession-first take towards life. Both men have shown their will of displaying possession and masculinity, a sign that they still believe that their value and capabilities lie in their control and power over others.

2. Cassie & Laura’s Hollywood Dream

There was this clip I watched when scrolling one day and it was Cassie portrayed as a giant walking through Hollywood and showing her love and desire to be there one day. This is exactly Laura’s dream too—she wants to be a star and be famous herself. Cassie bets her chances on getting Nate’s attention and receiving his validation, while Laura relies on that man she met to write to her to make her dream come true. Both women rely on others to make them successful and able to achieve their dream. I think there is a reason for the overlap of their dreams both being in Hollywood, and no disrespect to all the other actors and people in Hollywood, but to those women, it was the quickest way to achieve autonomy in their desperate lives. Hollywood doesn’t need them to invest in qualifications or receive anything else other than beauty and an appealing appearance. In order to achieve this dream, the women married men who promised happiness and satisfaction in their lives, but provided nothing than an isolating, hollow, and toxic relationship. They are desperate to achieve their respective dreams, so they trusted anyone who promised them hope without second thought. This is also why Cassie fell for Maddy when she needed to isolate herself from Nate, as Maddy has helped another girl achieve success very quickly, so she trusted another person who brought her even more trouble at the end.

Both of the girls’ American Dream dies at the end of the story, as Maddy and Cassie loses Nate and Alamo, their only shots at success, and Laura dies after being killed by Lennie, accidentally when Lennie got scared and covered her mouth when she tried to scream. Their dreams died because they trusted the person that could give them the least hope too much.

3. Laura Not Allowed to Talk to Other Men vs. Alamo’s Human Trafficking

Okay, tell me if this is a bit of a stretch, but I do think that is shown implicitly in Euphoria. In Of Mice and Men, Laura says that she will get beaten or at least Curley will get mad if she talks to other men on the ranch, which again, is showing Curley’s dominance and his display of masculinity. In Euphoria, Alamo is a human trafficker, who also controls whether Maddy and Cassie will be successful. I watched this documentary on sex trafficking on YouTube the other day and it was those women telling their stories of being sex trafficked and being controlled by their pimps. I guess this was kind of like the control Laura got, as she is being controlled by the person who is going to decide her fate and Maddy and Cassy, along with all the other girls working for Alamo are also going to have their fate decided by him. The documentary highlighted how the girls in the sex industry were being controlled and how their every action is being overseen by their pimps so if they do anything other than work until their pimp is satisfied, they cannot stop. This to me, is an implicit but explicit part of Euphoria that perhaps is not a direct connection but shows how women are constantly being controlled and their futures all depend on others to be made.  

4. Maddy as the Role of George to Cassie

In Euphoria, Maddy is portrayed as this manager to Cassie, guiding her and teaching her through every step of her career. This mirrors George and Lennie relationship in Of Mice and Men, as George is portrayed as this parent to Lennie, who keeps making mistakes for what he does. Speaking of repeated mistakes, Lennie does make a lot of them, and most of them are repeated, we see them when he kills the mice, the puppy, and eventually Laura. Not only that, George also warns Lennie of not getting in trouble with Curley and Laura, but eventually Lennie gets in trouble with both of them. This is like Maddy and Cassie’s relationship, as they ended their friendship due to Nate dating Cassie, but then they are friends again, and Maddy also tells Cassie that this will not be the last time Cassie breaks up with Nate then gets back together again. This cycle of their relationship and their words to each other is a sign that even the one who is seen as intelligent or tactful cannot hide themselves from the times when they fail to allow things happen in their favor. The duos both have their only source of hope killed at the end of the story, with George shooting Lennie (as Lennie was being chased by the rest of the men from the ranch as he had accidentally killed Laura with his immense strength unknowingly and quickly ran away so George could rescue him like George had promised) and Maddy and Cassie losing Alamo and Nate.

5. Nate & Curley’s Violence

In Of Mice and Men, Curley’s preference of violence is shown all over the novella, as he threatens Laura with his potential violence if she breaks free from him or when he tries to use his violence to control others and show his power on the ranch. In Euphoria, we see Nate trying to choke Maddy when Maddy exuded her own personality and true thoughts towards the relationship when Nate has said hurtful words to her. Both of these men use their violence against their female partners to show their dominance in their relationship and as a way to threaten them to stop showing themselves as to the men, it is a threat to their power and control between them and their partner. The men has nothing more than violence within them—nothing more than showing how harmful they can be to a person’s life when the other person doesn’t obey. That is perhaps what toxic masculinity is like.  

6. Lexi and Slim

I would like to compare Lexi from Euphoria to Slim from Of Mice and Men as they are very similar in how they are being positioned in the stories. Lexi is more of a quiet character in Euphoria, not causing drama or anything, just being herself, and she observes people rather than participating in what is happening. This is similar to how Slim is portrayed as the “Prince of the ranch” and possessing “God-like eyes”, so naturally, he is seen as a man who has a distinctly contrasting character than the rest of the men. Those two characters don’t crave others’ attention or validation, they are just observing and providing insights to what they see. Those two characters both stand out very naturally as they are in the book, which is the reason why they are so distinct.  

Overall, those two works are similar in a lot of interesting ways, as they reflect the same problem in American society that lives from the 1930s until now, and the way that people are portrayed as and their relationships is what is the most thought-provoking. Let me know in the comments if you have any other thoughts on these two works or any other TV show and book! Stay tuned for next week!