Of Mice and Men page references refer to the new Longman edition.
Page(s)
Chap. 1
19
What’s happening
First description of George and
Lennie
23
Dead mouse Lennie has been
petting
Trouble in Weed referred to
(see p. 67 for more detail)
George explodes at Lennie and
goes on about how easy it
would be without Lennie
24
28
(bottom)
& 29
31
31 & - 33
34
Chap. 2
38
George convincing L. he must
stay with him, also mention of
Aunt Clara
G telling L about their dream
G telling L to look at the area
they are camping in and that he
should return there if there is
any ‘trouble’
Bunk house description
39
Meeting Candy, he has no right
hand, old, works as a swamper
(cleaner)
41
42
Description of the boss
Boss dealing with their arrival
45
Candy and his dog
46
48 & 49,
50
53
Curley appears (the boss’s son)
candy gossips about Curley and
his wife
First intro. of Curley’s wife
54
L impressed by how pretty she
is
Description of Slim the jerk
line skinner (he steers the
teams of mules/horses)
Carlson, another worker
55
57
Significance
We get a picture of what they look like and
also how they react, George is careful and
checks things out, Lennie does things without
thinking (drinking the water.)
We are told from the start how Lennie loves
soft things, also his strength
We realise they had to leave in a hurry and that
L. caused trouble
We realise George’s frustration with Lennie at
times but also see that he feels guilty - if he
was on his own would it be so good?
5 lines from bottom on p.29
“His anger left him.....he looked ashamedly at
the flames.”
Shows George’s sense of responsibility and
then it leads on to their dream
First time we get the details of their dream,
what they have in contrast to other migrant
workers - each other
Foundation laid for what happens at the end L does get into trouble and returns to this spot.
This is where we will meet a lot of the men on
the ranch
Candy gossips and fills them in on other
characters on the ranch (e.g. the stable buck
p.40)
Shows how lonely he is
Boss cannot understand why G speaks for
Lennie - he is not used to seeing men travel
together like this - see his suspicions on p 43.
George lies a little about L in order to protect
him
Description of dog makes it clear how old the
dog is
Description, we see how he reacts to Lennie
We discover something about the men’s
attitudes and views if Curley’s wife
Description of her and how she reacts to the
men & how they react to her
George warns Lennie against Curley’s wife
Strong character, understands people, look at
his comment on page 57 re men travelling
together
Talks about Slim’s dog that has had puppies,
and he talks about Candy’s dog and the need to
59 & 60
Chap. 3
64
65 - 68
69
George says again he dislikes
Curley
Find out Slim has said that
Lennie can have one of his
dog’s puppies
George confides in Slim
70 -72
L brings the puppy into the
bunk house
Carlson on about Candy’s dog
74 - 76
Dog discussion again
77
Crooks (stable buck )- he
works with the horses, not
allowed to sit and talk in the
bunk house
Discussion on Curley’s wife
and then on to the ‘flop house’
in town
G & L talks about their dream
again without realising Candy
can hear them
Candy talking about his dog how he should have shot it
himself
Tension between Slim and
Curley - ends up with Curley
hitting Lennie and L. crushing
his hand
78 & 79
84 - 89
89
90 - 93
Chap. 4
98 - 99
100
101 - 106
Description of Crooks and his
room
Crooks explains how he gets
treated
Conversation between Crooks
and Lennie
107 - 109
Candy comes in and Crooks
hears about their plans
109 - 115
Curley’s wife comes in
115
George and the others are back
get rid of it.
Ends with the men having gone to eat - only
Candy’s dog left.
Seems as if G & L are settling in well and that
L is very happy about the puppy.
We get the history of why they are together
and also the details about what happened in
Weed - prepares us for what comes later and
shows Slim’s understanding
G tells L off and sends him to put the puppy
back - reminds us of L stroking soft things
We hear how the dog has been Candy’s friend
- he is not keen to have the dog put down
Dog shot - Candy feels he is outnumbered by
the others - clearly very sad and lonely
racist treatment of Crooks - reflects the reality
of the time - 1930s America during the
depression
Again shows attitude towards women at the
time and especially these working men’s
attitudes.
Suddenly, with Candy’s offer of joining them
and using his money the whole idea of a little
place of their own becomes a reality.
Parallel between Candy’s dog and Lennie
(George will end up shooting L himself and
not letting Curley do it)
L’s strength - Slim protects L & G by making
sure Curley won’t tell his dad what happened.
We are reminded of L’s ability to do damage!
Tells us a lot about his character and what he
is like - explains to us as readers what he is
like.
We get an insight into the way he gets treated
We see Crooks using his power over Lennie teasing him about George, also Crooks
realising you can talk to L and your comments
are safe with him as he won’t repeat them, he
gets insight into L and G’s friendship
The sudden excitement - Crooks keen to come
in as well, sees a way out of his current
existence
She uses the power she has as a white woman
to threaten Crooks - we learn quite a bit about
her and her attitude towards Curley here
Chapter ends with Crooks on his own again quite sad, it was an illusion that he could join
them and get out of his current situation
Chap 5
Sunday
120-121
Lennie in the barn - the puppy
is dead
prepares us for the fate of Curley’s wife
p 122 128
Conversation between Lennie
and Curley’s wife
129
Very powerful description,
almost as if time is standing
still
Candy finds the body -calls
George
George asks for time - Candy
to delay telling others for a few
minutes
We learn a lot about Curley’s wife - she tells
us a lot about herself. Description of L.’s panic
as she struggles.
Evocative use of language
130 - 131
130
133- 135
Chap. 6
140
reaction from others especially Curley and Slim
140 - 143
Note description of landscape same as start of novel.
George on his own in the brush
- where G had said he should
come to
143 - 146
George’s arrival, very calm
146 - 147
George shoots L. while talking
about their dream.
148 &
149
last scene - Slim realises what
G. has done.
The idea that George did not do it out of
‘meanness’
George clearly uses the time to go and get
Carlson’s gun - we figure this out later.
Candy’s anger at Curley’s wife as he realises
their dream is over.
Note how George moves slowly and “his feet
dragged heavily” p 135 Note sad description of
Candy left alone - compare with p. 60 when
his dog was left alone in the bunk house.
George going over things in his mind, seeing
his aunt Clara and then the rabbit - many
critics feel this rabbit is the weakest moment in
the book
Very moving sequence as they go over the
lines of what they have ‘I got you and we got
each other.....’ The irony is of course that this
cannot remain the same, G will end up
shooting L and they won’t have each other any
more
Unlike Candy George does what is the kindest
for L. by killing him - the ultimate in
friendship, what would L. have instead?
We have deep sympathy for G. - Slim
understands what has happened as he has
compassion and understanding, others not,
Carlson doesn’t understand what has happened
even.