Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Chapter 3 Readers/Writers Notebook - Literary Analysis: Point of View using First Person
The point of view is the way that the narrator sees the events in the story. Of Mice and Men is written from an objective,
third-person point of view. The benefit of this choice is the reader is aware of everything that happens in the novel. The
drawback is that the reader cannot enter completely into the thoughts and emotions of any one character. Since the book
is really a play in novel form, we get to see the characters reveal themselves slowly through their dialogue . Only late in
the book do we begin to realize that some events have been foreshadowed, or hinted at, by earlier happenings. This is
the way that Steinbeck uses to allow us to observe the action from our own point of view and develop our own opinions
about the characters. Use this opportunity to explore the effects of using a first-person point of view from the story.
Use the first person (using I, me, my) to describe a scene from Chapters 1-3 through the eyes of any of the following
characters: George, Slim, Lennie, Carlson, Candy, Crooks, Curley or Curley's wife. Add feelings and ideas that are
consistent with the character's personality. Include the page number of the scene as reference for the passage you are
rewriting.
Suggestions: Choose the character that you feel you understand the best at this point. Your Bubble Map will also be
helpful to use for organizing your thoughts as you write. Use sufficient/enough details so that others know clearly which
scene or event you have chosen. Minimum length for this assignment is 10 sentences!
Do not use any of the inappropriate language Steinbeck used in the dialogue.