Of mice and men summary and analysis. Of Mice and Men Part 1 Summary & Analysis 2022-10-11
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"Of Mice and Men" is a novel written by John Steinbeck, published in 1937. The book is set during the Great Depression and follows the lives of two ranch hands, George and Lennie, as they travel from job to job in search of a better life.
The main characters, George and Lennie, are an unlikely pair. George is a small, wiry man who is practical and level-headed, while Lennie is a large, mentally disabled man who is childlike and naive. Despite their differences, the two men have a deep bond and rely on each other for companionship and support.
The story begins on a ranch in California, where George and Lennie have recently been hired as workers. They have a dream of one day owning their own piece of land, which they believe will allow them to live a life of independence and freedom. However, their plans are continually thwarted by the harsh realities of the world around them.
One of the main themes of the novel is the American Dream, which is the belief that through hard work and determination, anyone can achieve success and happiness. However, the characters in "Of Mice and Men" struggle to attain this dream due to various obstacles, including poverty, discrimination, and their own personal flaws.
Another prominent theme in the novel is loneliness. Many of the characters on the ranch are isolated and longing for human connection, but are unable to form meaningful relationships due to their own insecurities and the barriers that exist between them.
One of the most tragic characters in the novel is Candy, an old swamper who has lost his hand in an accident and is struggling to come to terms with his own mortality. Candy longs for a place in the world and sees George and Lennie's dream as a way to attain it. However, when Lennie accidentally kills Candy's dog, Candy is forced to confront the fact that his own dreams may never be realized.
The novel ends with the death of Lennie, who is accidentally shot by George after Lennie kills Curley's wife in a fit of panic. Lennie's death serves as a tragic reminder of the fragility of life and the limitations of the American Dream.
Overall, "Of Mice and Men" is a poignant and thought-provoking tale about the struggles of the working class and the search for meaning and connection in a harsh and unforgiving world. Its themes of loneliness, the American Dream, and the frailty of life continue to resonate with readers today.
Of Mice and Men: Full Book Analysis
At that, Crooks insists that Lennie, Candy, and George leave. Analysis Chapter 5 begins in the barn. Crooks expresses doubt that their plan will succeed, but he also offers to come live with the men and work for free in the event that their plan succeeds. Crooks is bitter and cynical, but nevertheless gets along well with Lennie, who doesn't share the other workers' racism. This passage shows how George always indulges Lennie in the end. When we first encounter Lennie and George, they've stepped off a bus near the California town of Soledad.
He asks if he should go away and leave George alone. Do you see where this is going? Candy sits alone with the knowledge that the plan to buy a farm has been destroyed. When Crooks demands that she leave his room, she threatens him, asking if he knows what she could do to him if he complains. George begs Curley not to shoot Lennie, but Curley replies that of course he will, because Lennie is armed. George reprimands Lennie for drinking the questionable water, reminding Lennie that he was sick from doing the same thing just the night before. Lennie and George The story centers around two characters: Lennie Small and George Milton.
George, surprisingly, is calm and forgiving, telling Lennie everything will be better when they have their own land, their own farm, and of course, all the rabbits they could ever want. Lennie insists that he is not responsible for killing the mouse, that he just wanted to pet it, but George loses his temper and throws it across the stream. Now, even a reasonable person would be furious with someone for killing his wife, so you can imagine Curley's reaction. First, it's sad because the puppy is dead of course, but it's also because Lennie feels bad about what he did. He realizes that their dream of buying a farm together is over, and George admits that perhaps he always knew it was impossible.
George understands why the men act this way, but his compassion for Lennie drives him to the riverbank. Her husband, Curley, is jealous and distrustful, and he frequently snaps at her. Though I remember sobbing at the end of the novel and asking my dad why he forced such a horrible book on me, in the years since, I've come to realize that Of Mice and Men is, at its core, a story of true friendship and a glowing example of Steinbeck's unique writing style. Because of his race, Crooks is disallowed from living in the barn with the other workers. Rather, he will continue to live the life of pain and solitude he already knows.
Money has no ultimate power in creating their dream. George sometimes complains about his care-taking role, but he is clearly committed to looking out for Lennie. It's worth noting that Curley's wife doesn't get a name in the story beyond 'Curley's wife. The locals assumed he assaulted her, and ran them out of town. The first, As they reach a clearing, Lennie stops to drink from the river, and George warns him not to drink too much or he will get sick, as he did the night before. He's lost one hand and seems to be concerned that his injury, combined with his advanced age, will soon render him useless on the ranch and is looking into other opportunities. Steinbeck begins the novella by placing his two main characters in the midst of a bustling wilderness whose appearance is deceivingly still and calm.
Lennie says that he used to know a woman who gave him mice to play with. George claims that he shot Lennie by accident, but Slim, understanding the depth of George's love for Lennie, realizes that he did it to spare Lennie the suffering that surely would have been his fate if Curley had found him alive. My dad introduced me to the book, excited to expose me to my first Steinbeck novel. George tells Lennie to hand over the dead mouse he collected from the brush. See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
The opening pages establish a sense of purity and perfection that the world, which will prove to be cruel and predatory, cannot sustain. Though never intentionally violent, we discover that Lennie is not aware of his own strength and has been known to accidentally kill little mice while stroking them in his pocket. George warns Lennie that they are going to work on a ranch, and that he must behave himself when they meet the boss. Though they earn a living working together on other people's farms, they share a dream of one day 'owning land together,' and I bet you won't be at all surprised at this point to know that Lennie hopes this farm of theirs will also include many rabbits. This familiar story cheers both of them up. George decides that they will stay in the clearing for the night, and as they prepare their bean supper, Lennie crosses the stream and recovers the mouse, only to have George find him out immediately and take the mouse away again.
In my initial reading, this was the first time the book made me cry. He forces George to join the party searching for Lennie. Lennie and George find work on a local ranch and quickly meet the various other workers on the land. So, what happens in this book that left 12-year-old me so scarred? We discover that the two had to flee their last gig up in Weed, California yes, that's a real place because Lennie, in his desire to touch a lady's soft dress, was accused of attempted rape. He is finally receiving the companionship he has previously been denied, if only for a short while. No longer will they be run out of towns like Weed or be subject to the demeaning and backbreaking will of others.
Of Mice and Men: Summary and Analysis of Steinbeck's Style
The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. He relies on George Milton, his lifelong friend and fellow migrant worker, for guidance and safety. George verges on running out of patience with Lennie, but ultimately finds himself compelled to let Lennie have his way out of pity, frustration, or both. However, his reasoning is never clearly explained. George and Lennie are the protagonists, and their friendship is unique in the world of the novella: almost every other character notes that they have never seen such a close partnership between two migrant laborers before.
Of Mice and Men Characters: Descriptions, Analysis
Lennie runs off into the brush and comes back with some firewood. He worries that because of the accident with the puppy, George may forbid him to have rabbits when they buy their farm. Lennie runs away to his and George's designated safe spot because when you're traveling with Lennie, you've got to have contingency plans , while Curley rounds up a lynch mob of men at the ranch to go after Lennie. Because George and Lennie are not particularly dynamic characters neither of them changes significantly during the course of the narrative , the impression the reader gets from these early pages persists throughout the novella. Curley's wife is less developed than other characters, and she seems to serve mostly to drive the plot forward and stir up conflict. Because of their experiences with others, both men are intrigued by the thought of breaking away from society and living off the land. True to the nature of tragedy, Steinbeck makes the vision of the farm so beautiful and the fraternal bond between George and Lennie so strong in order to place his protagonists at a considerable height from which to fall.
