OF MICE AND MEN

• Literary analysis of John Steinbeck’s novel by Joe Student, Jane Doe, Fred Smith, and Sam Project

• Period 1• October 15, 2002

• Author Information• Story Setting• George vs. Lennie• Story Summary• Character Feelings• Character Dreams/Goals• Personal Dreams/Goals• Theme List• Theme Poster• Book Review• Questions to Think About• Sources

AUTHOR INFORMATION• 1902-1968, Salinas, CA• Worked as a ranch hand

and a fruit picker as a youth

• Often wrote about good but poor and oppressed people trapped in an unfair world

• Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962

STORY SETTING• Places mentioned in

Of Mice and Men• The ranch in Of Mice

and Men

GEORGE VS. LENNIE

GEORGE GEORGE & LENNIE LENNIE

More intelligent Friends Less intelligent

Talks for both of them

Afraid of the past catching up with them

Tries to keep quiet

Shorter Migrant ranch hands Taller

Weaker Hard workers Stronger

Doesn’t like Curley’s wife

Dream of having their own place

Likes Curley’s wife

STORY SUMMARY

• George and Lennie are two migrant ranch hands who fled from Weed, California, to a ranch near Salinas, California. They had had to flee because Lennie had scared a girl there by holding on to her soft dress and not letting go. He had meant no harm, but he is not very intelligent and often does not realize his own strength.

• On the new ranch, Lennie and George are doing well at saving up money to fulfill a dream of theirs--buying a place of their own. Their dream is a month from fulfillment when they let Candy, an old man with one hand, join in their dream.

• Then Lennie accidentally kills the attention-starved wife of the boss’s son. The boss’s son, Curley, is a small man who hates big men and seizes on this opportunity to hunt Lennie down and kill him.

• George finds Lennie first and shoots him in the back of the head as he recites their dream one last time.

CHARACTER FEELINGS

GEORGE

FRUSTRATION When Lennie forgets things

ANGER When Lennie wanted ketchup

RELIEF When the boss hires them

LONELINESS When he has to keep traveling

FEAR When they’re chased out of Weed

HUMILIATION When Lennie starts talking

PRIDE When Lennie proves his strength

CHARACTER FEELINGSLENNIE

FRUSTRATION When can’t remember things

ANGER When Crooks says George might disappear

RELIEF When he’s told he’ll still get to tend rabbits

LONELINESS When George isn’t around

FEAR When he kills Curley’s wife

HUMILIATION When Curley laughs at him

PRIDE When he’s compared to a bull

CHARACTER FEELINGS

CURLEY

FRUSTRATION When he sees big men respected

ANGER When people laugh at him

RELIEF When Slim isn’t with his wife

LONELINESS When he can’t find his wife

FEAR When Lennie crushes his hand

HUMILIATION When he has to promise to say he hurt his hand in a machine

PRIDE When he wins a fight

CHARACTER FEELINGS

CURLEY’S WIFE

FRUSTRATION When no one will tell the truth about Curley’s hand

ANGER When no one will talk to her

RELIEF When Lennie talks to her

LONELINESS When everyone goes into town

FEAR When Lennie tries to stop her screaming

HUMILIATION When Curley tells her to shut up

PRIDE When talking about being an actress

CHARACTER FEELINGS

CANDY

FRUSTRATION When people pressure him to kill his dog

RELIEF When gets to be a part of George and Lennie’s plan

LONELINESS When everyone goes to the fields

FEAR When discovers Curley’s dead wife

HUMILIATION When thinks about his dog’s death

PRIDE When talking about his dog’s abilities

CHARACTER FEELINGS

CROOKS

FRUSTRATION When can’t fight the racism

ANGER When Lennie comes into “his” room

RELIEF When he starts enjoying Lennie

LONELINESS When he has no one to talk to

FEAR When Lennie gets angry at what he said about George

HUMILIATION When he’s not allowed to play cards

PRIDE When defends Lennie being in his room

CHARACTER DREAMS/GOALSCHARACTER DREAM/GOAL WHY IMPORTANT

LENNIE Tend rabbits Finds comfort in soft things

GEORGE Own a small farm Sick of traveling and not having a home or family

CURLEY Be respected/feared Has a complex about being small

CURLEY’S WIFE

Be an actress Bored, lonely, ignored, & unappreciated

CANDY Be in on George and Lennie’s dream

Feels old, useless, and unconnected to anything

CROOKS Be accepted Has faced a lot of racism

PERSONAL DREAMS/GOALS

DREAM #1: Lifelong health and happiness for my son

DREAM #2: To relax more

DREAM #3: To stay happy and healthy as I age

DREAM #4: To pay off my mortgage

THEME LIST• We need dreams or goals to survive life’s troubles.• Racism destroys its victims.• Control your anger and fears.• Accept yourself.• Know your strengths and weaknesses.• Follow your dreams.• Don’t judge against others just because of their

appearance or intelligence.• Life is a long struggle to fit in.• Elderly people and animals need and deserve our respect.• True friendship may demand hard decisions and actions.

• Racism: treating others unfairly because of a belief that their race is inferior.

Crooks, the only black person in Of Mice and Men, turned into a broken, bitter man because of the isolation and prejudice he had to bear because of his skin color. He became so bitter that even when Lennie offered him some companionship, Crooks rudely and angrily rejected him.

BOOK REVIEW

• Steinbeck in this novel manages to portray tough lives and tough decisions with compassion and even some humor. The migrant ranch hands that people the pages are vivid, lonely, hardworking, and heroic. As such, they cause the reader to reflect on a wide range of themes, including the importance and effects of true friendship, age, isolation, racism, intelligence, dreams/goals, self-knowledge, anger, and self-control. It is not at all surprising that this novel is so frequently assigned in English classes.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT1. Anais Nin writes, “Dreams are necessary to life.”

Agree or disagree with this statement with evidence from Of Mice and Men.

2. Discuss what each of the following pairs of friends gives to each other:

• Lennie and George• Candy and George• Slim and George

3. Curley’s wife suffers from acute loneliness. Analyze the depth of her loneliness, the factors leading to it, and the consequences of it.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT

4. Think of one character in the novel who makes either a good decision or a bad one. Identify the decision, why it was made, why it was good or bad, and the future consequences the decision maker will have to face.

5. Explain the significance of the title of Of Mice and Men.

SOURCES

• http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspz?refid=761570273

• http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/• http://www.steinbeck.org/Home.html• http://creativegettyimages.com• http://www.educeth.ch/english/readinglist/maps/

california.html• http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/mice/

micesg1.html