Of Mice And Men
The Novel And The Book
Plot
"Of Mice and Men" is a story about two men, George, and Lennie. Lennie has a mental disability which causes memory problems, a personality of a kind but strong child, and the attraction to shiny smooth objects, like explained in the story as a problem later. George isn't related to Lennie but feels obligated to protect and help him, and also doesn't have any mental handicap. And though Lennie has caused a lot of trouble for George because his disability causes accidents quite often, and employers are deterred by Lennie because of his intelligence, George keeps on supporting Lennie.
What was the important event that sparked the story?
In chapter five of the novel, Curly's wife confronts Lennie in the barn out of boredom. She talks to Lennie about soft objects, one of his problems he has with his disorder. She proceeds to put his hand on her hair, but he keeps on stroking it, when she asks him to stop multiple times, he freaks and latches on his hand. She proceeds to freak out and scream, But Lennie grabs her and tries to quiet her down, and accidentally snaps her neck with his immense strength. This led to Lennie fleeing, And then to Curly perusing him to shoot him down. George found Lennie in the safe area they set up before they went to work at the ranch, and then shot him quickly and cleanly so that he wouldn't have to feel pain if Curly shot him.
"She screamed then, and Lennie’s other hand closed over her mouth and nose. “Please don’t,” he begged. “Oh! Please don’t do that. George’ll be mad."
Of Mice and Men (10/10) Movie CLIP - George Shoots Lennie (1992) HD
My thoughts on the movie
Overall it was a great story to read, I much preferred the movie over the novel. Especially because i felt like the movie gave a much more detailed insight into the setting, Though the novel had some areas where i felt like it had some more detail into certain events that didn't happen the same in the movie. I think that the director of the movie wanted to keep the meaning of the story while portraying it in a shorter and more defined way. One example of this is towards the end of the novel, the author explains what happens after the shooting. In the novel slim sits down next to George and gently asks him how he managed to do it, and George replies "I just did it", and also explains that Lennie had Slims gun and that George was able to take it and shoot him with it, and then the two left for a drink together. The movie ended after the shooting showing a scene where George is in a Carradge or Car, and is thinking back about the two of them walking slowly off into the fields together. I wish the movie were to incorporate this somehow into their version of the story, perhaps by having them chat and then show the ending scene where George is sitting and thinking back about Lennie. Though i like how they keep it short and simple and still gave a strong meaningful ending, In a way i feel like the extra detail in the novel kind of made the two seem like they didn't care as much about Lennie's death.