Of Mice and Men Essay Questions
On a separate paper, answer three of the following questions in a well- developed and wellsupported short essay answer. Use specific examples from both the book and your life
experience to support your answer.
Choose two questions from 1-8. Question number 9 is mandatory.
1. Discuss Curley’s wife as the lone female on the all-male ranch. Is she a sympathetic or an
unsympathetic character? Would you characterize Steinbeck's portrayal of her as fair, or do
you detect misogyny (hatred or dislike of women or girls) in his depiction?
2. Of Mice and Men has a controversial history. It has been repeatedly banned by school
boards. Why might this book have been banned? Is such an action justified
3. Discuss the book’s view of relationships between men.
4. Discuss George’s actions at the end of the story. How can we justify what he does to Lennie?
How can we condemn it? What was your personal response?
5. Steinbeck was going to name his story "Something That Happened." Instead, he named if Of
Mice and Men. Which title do you think is more appropriate to the novel as a whole?
Explain your answer.
6. After Candy has brought George to the barn to show him Curley’s wife, George leaves and Candy
cries. What is the true source of Candy’s sadness and why? Compare the killing of Curley’s wife to
the night Candy’s old dog was shot and killed by Carlson.
7. Death is the beginning and the culminating event in the chapter 5, but the killing of Curley’s wife is
regarded with a lack of emotion by the characters, even less than the killing of the puppy or the
shooting of Candy’s dog earlier in the book. Why do you think this is so? Why is the moral issue of
her murder, the question of right and wrong, never really an issue when Curley’s wife’s body is
discovered by the men?
8. Discuss Steinbeck’s use of stereotypes in Of Mice and Men. Do you believe that these
stereotypes are used as symbols?
9. What is your personal opinion of the book Of Mice and Men?