Welcome back 11Y1a
STARTER: TOTAL RECALL
• Sum up what happened in
chapter 5 in six bullet
points.
• Consider characters, plot
and themes.
Task 1: Curley’s Wife – Final Description
• Look closely at the extract and
make links with the annotations
around the side of it.
Complete the task on the sheet.
Challenge: Explain the differences
between how Curley’s Wife is
seen here to how she is seen in
the rest of the novella.
What is Steinbeck's message? Is he
misogynistic?
Curley’s wife: The aftermath
Reactions to the Death
1. Explain Candy’s reaction to Curley’s wife once George has left. Do you feel the
same way towards her as a reader?
2. Describe the differing reactions of the other characters as they enter the barn.
Copy and complete this table to help you. Consider, for example, Curley’s
feelings towards his wife at this point.
Candy and the American
Dream
• Let’s look more closely at the reactions
of Candy to death of Curley’s Wife.
• Identify the main things he says and
does.
• Choose two or three things and explain
how they tie in with the theme of
dreams and Steinbeck’s portrayal of
itinerant workers at this time?
Chapter 6 – The End …
You all think you know the end but how it ends is somewhat
surprising.
We will now read the end.
As we read, complete your doodle pad.
Of Mice and Men is a tragedy…
• Why do you think ‘Of Mice and Men’ has been called a tragic
story?
• What could be the cause of all the tragedy?
• What could happen at the end of the story?
Tragedy
Triangle!
How does the tragedy
reach a climax?
Who are the tragic characters?
What is a ‘tragedy’ in literature?
Chapter 6 is just like chapter 1 …
•We revisit the pool where we first met George and Lennie in Chapter 1. This gives us
a sense of having come full circle.
•It is late afternoon, as at the start of the book. Day is drawing to a close which
heralds the end of the novel and foreshadows a further tragic death still to come. A
water snake, perhaps the same one mentioned in the opening chapter, swims in the
pool –but this time it is stabbed by a heron. If this is a symbolic Garden of Eden, it has
now been visited by death.
•Whereas in Chapter 1 both George and Lennie arrived on the scene this time it is
only Lennie that enters. In contrast with how he has been presented so far, ‘he came
silently as a creeping beer moves’ showing that he can be stealthy (secretive).
•After killing Curley’s wife, Lennie arrives at the pool, remember that this is where he
is supposed to meet George if anything goes wrong.
•In his confusion and distress Lennie talks to imaginary characters (first Aunt Clara and
then a giant rabbit) who are reprimanding him for what he has done.
1. Why do you think Steinbeck chose to include Lennie’s hallucinations?
2. p.99 When he says “I di’n’t forget, you bet, God damn. Hide in the brush an’ wait
for George.” what is he doing? (Hint - does he mention Curley’s wife at all? What is
his main concern?
3. p.99 Then he says “George gonna give me hell.” How does his emotion switch here
and what to?
4. p.99 Then a figure of Aunt Clara appears; a split – off fragment of Lennie’s mind
(the part that feels guilty) –is her focus on how wrong it was to kill Curley’s wife?
Why? What is she focusing on?
5.P.100 The hallucinatory image of the gigantic rabbit also reprimands Lennie. Its
threats of the punishments that George will inflict on him and its taunting, coupled
with Lennie’s attempts to argue with it – at first ‘belligerent’ (hostile, aggressive)
and then frantic, show what?
It is just at this point when Lennie seems on the verge of complete madness that
George appears, as if summoned by Lennie’s desperate cries.
Key words to
help you:
Confused
Angry
Reassuring
George
Distressed
Looking at language - zooming in
Let’s focus on this extract from page 100
And Lennie answered her, “I tried, Aunt Clara, ma’am. I tried
and tried. I couldn’ help it.”
“You never give a thought to George,” she went on in Lennie’s
voice. “He been doin’ nice things for you alla time. When he
got a piece of pie you always got half or more’n half. An’ if they
was any ketchup, why he’d give it all to you.”
“I know,” said Lennie miserably. “I tried, Aunt Clara, ma’am. I
tried and tried.”
How do the details in this passage add to
your understanding of Lennie?
And Lennie answered her, “I tried, Aunt Clara, ma’am. I tried and tried. I
couldn’ help it.”
“You never give a thought to George,” she went on in Lennie’s voice. “He
been doin’ nice things for you alla time. When he got a piece of pie you
always got half or more’n half. An’ if they was any ketchup, why he’d give it
all to you.”
“I know,” said Lennie miserably. “I tried, Aunt Clara, ma’am. I tried and tried.”
Annotate the extract trying to identify at least three techniques and their effect
Repetition of pronouns ‘he’ and ‘you’
imply that George has supported
Lennie. Lennie seems fully aware of this
which adds to his guilt when he realises
how much he has let George down
repetition of the verb ‘tried’ in past tense.
Perhaps on a subconscious level, Lennie
knows it’s too late?
And Lennie answered her, “I tried, Aunt Clara, ma’am. I tried and
tried. I couldn’ help it.”
“You never give a thought to George,” she went on in Lennie’s
voice. “He been doin’ nice things for you alla time. When he got a
piece of pie you always got half or more’n half. An’ if they was any
ketchup, why he’d give it all to you.”
The reprimands that
he repeats through
Aunt Clara suggests
that he has learnt
them off by heart as
well as the dream of
living of the fat of the
land
“I know,” said Lennie miserably. “I tried, Aunt Clara, ma’am. I tried
and tried.”
Short declaration. Suggests that Lennie is aware
enough of his actions to have a conscience that is
embodied in the image of Aunt Clara
Adverb highlights Lennie’s remorse and guilt, not at
killing Curley’s wife but of disappointing George
Part a: How do the details in this passage
add to your understanding of Lennie?
Point
Evidence
Technique
Explanation
Reader Response
15 minutes
of writing
End
Remember:
- Steinbeck’s intentions
- What has just happened and is
about to happen
- Try to make perceptive comments
Context
• How does Steinbeck use Lennie’s
experience to convey ideas about
America in the 1930s?
• Bullet point at least 2 points about
context linking to this question
• Extension - Try to find another
extract you can link this extract to
1. American Dream
2. Euthanasia - how society treats the old,
the weak and the vulnerable (The
death of Candy’s dog foreshadows the
death of Lennie and raises questions
about how society treats the old, the
weak and the vulnerable. This theme
provides opportunities for debates on
the morality of mercy killing. Is it right
to destroy the dog? Surely no one has
the right to take human life; therefore
is George wrong to kill Lennie?)
3. Robert Burns’ poem – ‘the best laid
plans of mice and men often go awry’
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Euthanasia - mercy killing (assisted suicide)
• How does this link to Of Mice and Men?
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Euthanasia - mercy killing (assisted suicide)
•How does this link to Of Mice and Men?
Of Mice and Men explores how society treats the old, the weak and the vulnerable.
The death of Candy’s dog foreshadows the death of Lennie and raises questions
about how society treats the old, the weak and the vulnerable. This theme provides
opportunities for debates on the morality of mercy killing. Is it right to destroy the
dog? Surely no one has the right to take human life; therefore is George wrong to
kill Lennie?
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Homework
Due - Wednesday
• How does Steinbeck use Lennie’s experience to convey ideas
about America in the 1930s?
• Write one paragraph answering this question focusing on one point
of context and linking to another extract
• Time yourself - 20 minutes of writing max
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