Of Mice and Men (Novella)
By John Steinbeck
“The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry”
Poem by Robert Burns 1765
Setting:
Salinas, California 1930s (during the Depression)
List of Characters:
Lennie
-
Mentally disabled
Can’t control own strength
Likes to touch soft things
Kills small animals by
accident
Dream is to take care of
rabbits
“Live off the fatta the land”
George
- Caretaker, Patient
- Frustrated
- Understands Lennie’s
handicap and takes care of
him so no one takes
advantage of him
- Loves Lennie
- Decides to shoot him so no
one hurts him and he feels
no pain
- Doesn’t get dream without
Lennie
Candy
- Old, physically handicapped
(has no hand)
- Swamper (custodian)
- Carlson killed his old
Carlson
- Typical, selfish,
unempathetic migrant
worker.
- Kills Candy’s dog
- “What the hell you suppose
is eatin them two guys?”
- George uses his luger to kill
Lennie
The Boss
- Wears clothes to
differentiate himself from
workers
- Stern, but reasonable (fair)
boss
Aunt Clara
- Took care of Lennie until she
died
- Tried to give Lennie rubber
mice
-
sheepdog
Worries they will “can” him
Adds money to the dream
Told George that he regrets
not shooting his own dog
Curley
-
Pugnacious
Former Boxer with Napoleon
Complex
Doesn’t like guys who are
bigger than him
Gets into a fight with Lennie
and gets his hand crushed
Protects his ego by not telling
on Lennie and George and
getting them fired
Curley’s wife
- Only woman on ranch; lonely
- Naïve; ran away from home
because she thought her
mom was stealing her letters
from the man in Hollywood
- Ran away and married
Curley the same night she
met him
- Flirtatious and has a
reputation of being a tart
- Always “looking” for Curley
but can never find them
- Picks on Crooks
- “the whole country is fulla
mutts…you can get another
one easy”
Slim
-
“Prince of the Ranch”
Consoles George at the end
of the novelette “You hadda
George”
Whit
- Migrant worker who was
respected and good at his
job but got up and left.
- He represents the harshness
of ranch life because he was
only looking out for himself;
independent.
Crooks
- Didn’t grow up poor; came
from a chicken ranch
- Educated; likes to read
- Lonely
- Father teaches him about
racism by not letting him play
with white children
- Lives in the stable with the
animals
- Has a crooked back from
getting kicked by a horse
- “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t
got someone to talk to”
- Old; Been working on the
ranch for a while
- For a second he wanted “in”
on The Dream but then
realizes he can’t have what
he wants because he’s black
-
-
-
-
Understands peoples’
problems and is empathetic.
Jerkline skinner
Dresses like the men to show
he’s not better than them
even though he’s an
overseer
Needs to give his
“permission” to kill Candy’s
dog
Drowns four puppies
because he understands the
harsh ranch life and survival
of the fittest
Practical; does things without
biased feelings…he does
what he has to do for the
betterment of the ranch.
Themes:




Dreams
Friendship
Fate
Loneliness
(Note: Intended to be performed on a stage – no chapter #s)
Important Terms:
Migrant worker
Point of view
Traveling worker looking to do any odd
job possible.
3rd person
Protagonist + goal
Antagonist
Lennie and George to obtain their
American dream of owning a house
with chickens and bunnies.
Lennie’s disabilty
Irony
Suspense
-
Lennie is huge but his last name
is Small.
George had to kill his best
friend.
Foreshadowing
-
-
In Chapter 1 George tells Lennie
that “if he gets in trouble” to
meet back at the riverbed.
When Candy tells George that
he should have killed the dog
himself…George understands
that message and kills Lennie.
Flashback
-
-
-
-
George telling Slim about
Lennie’s incident with the girl in
the red dress in Weed. We
learned that when Lennie is
frightened he holds on tighter
and needs George to get him
out of sticky situation.
George tells Slim about the
moment he decided to take care
of Lennie and stop playing jokes
on him when he almost
drowned. We learned that
Lennie would not survive without
George.
Crooks came from a family that
owned a chicken ranch and now
he works for someone else and
lives in a stable.
Curly’s Wife wanted to be a
Hollywood Actress but ran away
and married Curly to get back at
her mom for stealing her letters.
Carlson’s luger is missing and the
lynch mob goes after Lennie. We are
not sure what is going to happen.
Parallel Structure
-
Candy and his dog
Candy and his dog and George
and Lennie
Conflicts
Man vs. Man:
1. George vs. Lennie over the
ketchup
2. Lennie vs. Curly in the fist fight
3. Crooks vs. Curly’s Wife in the
stable
4. George vs. Lennie when he has
to die.
Man vs. Self:
1. Lennie vs. His own disability
2. George deciding what to do
about Lennie
3. Candy vs. his age and physical
handicap
4. Crooks vs. his ethnicity
5. Candy’s Wife vs. her gender
Man vs. Society
1. Crooks vs. racism
2. Curly’s Wife vs. the ranch
3. Lennie’s disability vs. society
4. Candy’s age vs. the ranch
Man vs. Nature:
1. Candy vs. his age
2. Crooks vs. his age
3. Crooks vs. his ethnicity
Exposition
-
Lennie and George are on the
run
Lennie has a mental handicap
George is the caretaker
They were run out of Weed
They are heading to Soledad
and are migrant workers
It’s the 1930s
George is frustrated with Lennie
4. Curly’s Wife vs. her gender
5. Lennie vs. His disability
6. Candy’s Dog vs. his age
7. The 4 pups vs. their size
Parallel structure
-
Candy and his dog
George and Candy’s situation
about leaving a loved one.
Rising action
- George and Lennie meet the
boss
- George and Lennie meet Candy
- George and Lennie meet Curly
and his Wife
- George warns Lennie to stay
away from Curly and his wife
- George and Lennie meet Slim
- Slim drowns four puppies
- Slim gives the OK to kill Candy’s
Dog
- Candy offers money to join
Lennie and George’s dream
- Lennie kills mice and then a
puppy
Idioms
- Words that substitute for another
- “canned” = fired
- “stake” = Money
- “cathouse” = whorehouse
- “tart” = loose woman
Climax
Euthanasia
- When Lennie kills Curly’s Wife
- Assisted suicide
Falling action
Oxymoron
- Carlson’s luger is stolen (he
thinks Lennie took it).
- The men want to kill Lennie by
“shooting him in the guts”
- George finds Lennie in the brush
and talks to him about his
dream.
-
The resolution is George shoots
Lennie in the back of the head
so he doesn’t feel any pain.
Denouement (events after the
resolution)
- George is consoled by Slim
- Carlson and Curly don’t
understand why George is
upset.
- Carlson says “What’s eatin them
two guys?”
Underdog
- Lennie because he is the “weak
one” in society because of his
disability
Dreams
- Lennie wants to tend the rabbits
and “Live off the fatta the land”
- George wants a house of his
own and not to work for anyone
any more
- Crooks wants to be in a place
where he isn’t discriminated
- Candy wants to not have to
worry about his future
- Curly’s Wife wanted to become
a movie star
Themes- American Dream
- Friendship
- Loneliness
- Racism
- Survival of the Fittest
- A woman’s place in the world
Microcosm
Survival of the fittest
- A small scale representation of a
- Candy’s dog
larger idea
- The drowned pups
- The Ranch = Life in the 1930s
- “The weak ones”
- Hierarchy of society
- Lennie had to die
- Curly’s Wife had to die
Cyclic
- Full circle ending
- Began and ended in the same
setting
- Lennie and George were
discussing dream
- They were being chased in both
cases because Lennie got in
Symbol
- mice = Lennie’s strength/childlike innocence
- Rabbit = The American Dream
- Aunt Clara = Lennie’s
conscience
trouble