Of Mice and Men
Written By: John Steinbeck Project By : Marty Kline
Novel Summary
Significant Quote from the Novel
Character Developement
George Milton
George's personality often reflects both anger and understanding. Of the two men, he is the one who thinks things through and considers how their goals can be reached. Once Candy makes the stake possible, George comes up with the details: where they will get the ranch, how long they must work to pay for it, and how they will have to keep a low profile in order to work for the next month. George also foresees possible complications and gives Lennie advice about what he must do in order to help their future. While George can be very rational and thoughtful, he also gets frustrated and angry with Lennie because the big man cannot control his strength or actions. George repeatedly gets angry, so much so that Lennie knows by heart what it means when George "gives him hell." But George's anger quickly fades when he remembers Lennie's innocence and his inability to remember or think clearly.
George, unlike other men, has a companion and friend in Lennie. Because of this, Lennie makes George feel special. They are different from all the other guys, and George realizes only too well that they have a special bond. At the ranch, George often plays solitaire, a game for one. Without Lennie, George would be a loner. Even though George gets frustrated by Lennie's mental weakness, he also feels compassion for his friend. Lennie offers George the opportunity to lay plans, give advice, and, in general, be in charge. Without Lennie, George would be just like the other hands, but with Lennie, George has a strong sense of responsibility. In the end, he even takes responsibility for Lennie's death. George also understands that Lennie does not have an adult's sense of guilt and does not understand death or murder beyond it being a "bad thing." George makes it possible for Lennie — sometimes — to understand at least partial consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, George does not realize how dangerous Lennie can be, and this lack of foresight adds to the downfall of their dream.
Lennie Small
Lennie's personality is like that of a child. He is innocent and mentally handicapped with no ability to understand abstract concepts like death. While he acts with great loyalty to George, he has no comprehension of the idea of "loyalty." For that reason, he often does not mean to do the things that get him into trouble, and once he does get into trouble, he has no conscience to define his actions in terms of guilt. Lennie only defines them in terms of consequences: "George is going to give me hell" or "George won't let me tend the rabbits." He is devoted to George like a dog is devoted to its master, and he tries to follow George's commands. There is a childlike wonder in Lennie that can be seen when he first sees the pool of water and slurps down huge gulps of water like a horse.
Lennie's greatest feeling of security comes from petting soft things. When the rest of the world gets complicated and scary, petting soft things helps Lennie feel safe. In petting dead mice, Lennie is doing something that makes him feel safe. Society as a whole would disapprove of what he is doing, but Lennie sees nothing wrong in his actions. When they have their farm, as George tells him at the end, Lennie will not need to be scared of bad things any more, and he can tend the rabbits and pet them. Lennie Small is huge and lumbering and, in many ways, the opposite of George Milton. Where George has sharp features and definite lines, Lennie is "shapeless." Often he is described in terms of animals. He lumbers like a bear and has the strength of a bear, but his actions are often described like those of a dog.
Candy
Candy and his dog parallel the relationship of George and Lennie. Like Candy's dog, Lennie depends on George to take care of him and show him what to do. Candy, like George, is different from the other ranch hands because he has his dog as a constant companion, someone devoted and loyal to him. When the unfeeling Carlson suggests that Candy's dog be put out of its misery, Candy abdicates the responsibility to Carlson. He tells George later that he should have shot his dog himself, foreshadowing George's decision to take responsibility for Lennie's death and "be his brother's keeper."
Candy also plays a significant role in the dream, providing the money needed to make the down payment. Because of Candy, the dream almost becomes real. Candy's down payment causes George to believe that, perhaps, the dream can be realized. But none of them count on the tragic meeting between Curley's wife and Lennie in the barn. Even then Candy still thinks he can have his safe haven, a place where no one will throw him out when he is too old. The dream is so strong in him that he pleads with George, to no avail, to have their farm despite Lennie's death. Candy is "a tall, stoop-shouldered old man … . He was dressed in blue jeans and carried a big push-broom in his left hand." His right hand is simply a stump because he lost his hand in a ranch accident. Now the owners of the ranch keep him on as long as he can "swamp" out or clean the bunkhouse. Candy gives Steinbeck an opportunity to discuss social discrimination based on age and handicaps. Candy represents what happens to everyone who gets old in American society: They are let go, canned, thrown out, used up. Candy's greatest fear is that once he is no longer able to help with the cleaning he will be "disposed of." Like his old dog, he has lived beyond his usefulness.
Theme Analysis
Author Biography and Picture and Contact information
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr., was born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California, to a father, John Ernst Steinbeck, who had settled in California shortly after the Civil War, and a mother, Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, who was a public schoolteacher. Steinbeck grew up in the beautiful, fertile Salinas Valley, and most of his memorable novels and short stories would be set in California. Situated between the Santa Lucia range and the Gabilan Mountains, this valley in west central California is bordered on the north by Monterey Bay and on the south by San Luis Obispo. During his early years, Steinbeck's mother read to him from books such as Treasure Island and Robin Hood. Young John grew up hearing the rhythms of the Bible and listening to the magical stories of the Round Table from Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. He would return again and again to those early influences for symbols and themes.
During these early years, John's home was comfortable, and his father often drove the boy and his two sisters around the valley where they saw the workers and field hands in their poor shacks. This early impression of the workers' lifestyles was added to later memories when Steinbeck spent time with these workers as an adult. As a youngster, he also explored the caves and swimming holes around Salinas and watched the changes of seasons. His abiding love of nature and his thoughts about man's relationship to his environment are present in most of his works.
In high school, Steinbeck did well in English and edited the school yearbook. He worked at various jobs and one in particular — as a ranch hand on some of the local ranches — later led him to images used inOf Mice and Men. Steinbeck graduated from high school and went on to Stanford University. Even though he remained at Stanford until 1925, he never graduated. While in college, he continued to write creatively, and he worked for a time on neighboring farms, especially Spreckels Sugar Ranch. The agricultural industry at this time relied on cheap, transient labor. It was during this time that Steinbeck met many of the types of people described with compassion in his later writing
Leaving Stanford, Steinbeck moved to New York and worked for five years at various jobs, writing and drifting. Eventually he returned to California, and his first book, Cup of Gold, appeared in 1929, two months before the stock market crash. This novel sold 1,500 copies, and its publication began a decade of recognition and material prosperity for Steinbeck.
In 1930, Steinbeck married Carol Henning whom he had met while working and writing at Lake Tahoe. He and Carol moved to Los Angeles, where Steinbeck continued his writing while Carol did a great deal of editing. Steinbeck also met marine biologist Ed Ricketts, who was a fascinating and talkative companion. Ricketts inspired the character for Doc in Cannery Row (1945) and many of Ricketts' views about biology influenced Steinbeck's literary themes. Ricketts later collaborated on the writing of The Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research, published in 1941.
During the decade of the 1930s — a time of national depression, bread lines, and bloody labor-management conflicts — Steinbeck knew a definitive cross-section of society and shared the problems and stresses of the times. In 1932, he received $400 dollars for the first of his California novels, The Pastures of Heaven. He followed this novel with To a God Unknown in 1933, but neither novel did well. During this difficult time, his mother suffered a stroke, adding to his discouragement. But also during this period, Steinbeck conceived the idea for The Red Pony and won the O. Henry Prize in 1934 for his story, "Murder." Two of Steinbeck's Pony stories were published in the North American Review, and he was beginning to enjoy some prominence. This was tempered in 1934, however, by the death of his mother.
Ironically, Steinbeck's breakthrough novel, Tortilla Flat, had garnered him five rejection slips by the time it was accepted in 1935 by New York publisher Pascal Covici. This book, about a group of California free spirits, called paisanos, has often been compared to the Arthurian stories because of the loyalty of its group of characters. The novel was an immediate popular success and won the Gold Medal of the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco as the year's best novel by a Californian. Just before its publication, however, Steinbeck's father died, missing the positive critical success of his son's writing. Steinbeck received $3,000 or $4,000 for the Hollywood film rights.
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