Ayshea Feliciano Feliciano 1

Ms. Wing

English P.5

10 February 2018

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Dialectical Journal #1 Chapter #1

“Where we goin’, George?”

The little man jerked down the brim of his hat and scowled over at Lennie. “So you

forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again , do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy bastard!”

“I forgot,” Lennie said softly. “I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, George.”

“O.K.--O.K. I’ll tell ya again. I ain’t got nothing to do. Might jus’ as well spen’ all my

time tellin’ you things and then you forget ‘em, and I tell you again.”

“Tried and Tried,” said Lennie, “but it didn’t do no good. I remember about the rabbits,

George.”

… “Why sure, George, I remember that… but… what’d we do then? I remember some

girls come by and you says… you say…” (4)

Type of Entry: Characterization

John Steinbeck draws Lennie as a less abled person, who can’t do much on his own, and

that's why George is there, to help and guide him. The dialogue between George and Lennie

shows how Lennie forgets things easily, and George is always there to remind him of what he

has forgotten. This reveals that Lennie upbringing was mainly spent with George because Lennie

needed him to keep him in line. There’s more revelation on Lennies education as well, “you
 Feliciano 2

says… you say… ,” he has hesitation and a speech problem, which shows he could’ve had little

to none education. The quote also shows his background, that he is a more unfortunate person. It

shows he has a mental illness, “I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did,” Lennie easily forgets

things, and is always fixated on the rabbits he is going to tend, which reveal symptoms of having

a mental problem.

Dialectical Journal #2 Chapter #3

“S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hunderd, an’fifty bucks an’ fifty bucls I’d

put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some…

“Look, if me an’ Lennie work a month an’ don’t spen’ nothng, we’ll have a hundred bucks.

That’d be four fifty. I bet we could swing her for that.” (59,60)

Type of Entry: Rhetorical Analysis, foreshadowing

John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing in the novel to foreshadow them living together on a

farm, just like they always dreamed of. George and Lennie were working for money to buy the

land, and with Candys extra help with the three hundred fifty dollars, “That’d be four fifty. I bet

we could swing her for that,” their dream is now becoming a reality. This foreshadows the future

because they are finally getting the money they need to buy the land. Candy also talks about the

future, “I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden,” he talks about what he could

and would be able to do on the farm. This is important for the authors purpose because he shows

how George and Lennie have to go through many obstacles to reach their ultimate goal of

owning their own land together. This foreshadowing reveals that they are able to get through just
 Feliciano 3

one of those goals, which was money.

Dialectical Journal #3 Chapter #4

“Well, I got a right to have a light. You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the

bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room.”

“Why ain’t you wanted?” Lennie asked.

“‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say

I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me.” (68)

Type of Entry: Characterization

Steinbeck incorporates the role of minorities and how they are treated within the quote. Crooks

talks about how his skin color affects his daily life, “They play cards in there, but I can’t play

because I’m black,” the others don’t allow him to play cards with them because of the color of

his skin. The quote reveals that due to his skin color he was seen as less of a person, and treated

differently. He was forced to sleep in another room, apart from all the other people, he went

through the times of segregation and it had changed his views on people. The quote also reveals

his upbringing, “They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me.” he was raised to think

that because someone says something rude about him, it is okay to say something rude back. He

was treated badly because of his skin color, and thinks it is okay to treat others.

Dialectical Journal #4 Chapter #4

“You ain’t wanted here. We told you you ain’t. An’ I tell ya, you got floozy idears about
 Feliciano 4

what us guys amounts to. You ain’t got sense enough in that chicken head to even see that we

ain’t stiffs. S’pose you get us canned. S’pose you do. You think we’ll hit the highway an’ look

for another lousy two-bit job like this. You don’t know that we got our own ranch to go to, an’

our own house… An’ we got fren’s, that’s what we got. Maybe there was a time when we was

scared of gettin’ canned, but we ain’t no more. We got our own lan’, and it’s ours, an’ we c’n go

to it.” (79)

Type of Entry: Rhetorical Analysis, Colloquial diction

In the quote, which is said by Candy gives off a lot of colloquial diction with the words

like, “floozy,” “idears,” “stiffs,” “S’pose,” “canned,” “fren’s,” “lan’,” “c’n.” The colloquial

diction is the words used that only people within their region would understand. Colloquial

phrases were also used, “You ain’t got sense enough in that chicken head to even see that we

ain’t stiffs,” not a lot of people would understand the true meaning of this, but people within

their certain region would be able to. This device helps the author achieve his purpose because it

sets the scene. It gives readers an idea of where the story is taking place, “Our own ranch to go

to…,” this infers that the colloquial diction belongs to a place in the country areas. The

colloquial diction helps John Steinbeck helps the readers understand the piece of writing, and

allowing readers into the authors world to give them a better understanding of the plot.

Dialectical Journal #5 Chapter #6

“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 a pie you always got half or more’n half. An’
 Feliciano 5

if they was any ketchup, why he’d give it all to you.” (101)

Type of Entry: Determining the Importance

John steinbeck includes this passage in the novel, and it also a very important. It is very

important because it builds more information on the already strong friendship George and Lennie

have acquire. This connects to other events in the story because in the quote Aunt Clara says, :

You never give a though to George,” which is seen to be true because Lennie does bad things

without thinking about the consequences of what will happen to him and especially George. This

connects to how Lennie was accused of rape because he wouldn’t let go of the girl in the red

dress. He did it, without thinking about George, but they were both forced to hide out, and run

away from weeds. It also connects to when Lennie killed Curleys wife, and doesn’t think about

what would happen to both of them, he just kills her. This is an important quote to help the

author further his overall point because it shows that within their friendship, George is always

there for Lennie, and always carrying him, and helping him no matter what happens, so they can

both reach their goal of living on a land together.

Dialectical Journal #6 Chapter #6

“And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the

back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He

pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred,

and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.” (106)

Type of Entry: Determining the Importance

 Feliciano 6

The passage reveals how George killed Lennie by shooting him in the back of Lennies

head. This was very significant to the story because George and Lennie were really good friends

who shared a dream of living on a farm together. They basically grew up together, and George

was always there for Lennie, and Lennie was always loyal towards George, no matter what. This

is connected to other events in the story, because the time Carlson said he would shoot Candy's’

old dog. Carlson wanted to kill the dog, “Right back of the head. He wouldn’t even quiver.”

(Steinbeck 45), this resembles how George shot Lennie, “He brought the muzzle of it close to the

back of Lennie’s head… and he lay without quivering,” which connect the two scenes together.

This is important because readers would never expect this ending, due to John Steinbecks

foreshadowing of them living on a farm together, and how he portrays the amazing friendship of

them both, and how they get through lots of obstacles together.

Dialectical Journal #7 Chapter #5

“Now Candy spoke his greatest fear. “You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we,

George? You an’ me can go there an’ live nice, can’t we George? Can’t we?” (94)

Type of Entry: Theme

This relates to the theme of the quarter, Man and his relationship with Nature. This

relates to the theme because John Steinbeck throughout the novel out the idea of living on the

“fatta of the lan,” and tending rabbits, and getting a happy ending for George and Lennie. After

Lennie kills Curleys wife, and runs off Candy wants to know if it was still possible if just him

and
George leave to live on the farm. Candy has a strong relationship with Nature and wants eagerly

Feliciano 7

to be able to live in a free land with George. The man relationship with Nature is that Candy

admires all the things in nature and nature in all. In the eagerness in his voice, “Can’t we,

George?,” being repeated three times shows his admiration and love for wanting to be in this

certain land and be with nature. John Steinbeck connects this passage with the theme by creating

a build up of being on the land together and taking care of nature, (hoeing the garden, and

tending the rabbits,) to not being able to but still having the ambition to do it.

Dialectical Journal #8 Chapter #1

“Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes,

with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear

drags his paws… His huge companion dropped his blankets and flung himself down and drank

from the surface of the green pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse.”

(2,3)

Type of Entry: Theme

John Steinbeck uses comparisons between Lennie’s way of walking to a bear, and the

way Lennie drinks water to the way a horse would. This shows the theme of a “Man and his

relationship with Nature,” because humans mimic the beauties of real nature, and what it holds.

The passage connects because Lennie represents how mankind and Natures relationship “work.”

It presents the ways of how mankind acts in place of Nature by mimic the works of Nature in
their own way. The way Lennie drags his feet like a bear, “drags his paws,” and how he drinks

water, “snorting into the water like a horse,” shows how nature and man are alike in many ways.

Feliciano 8

The quote by Steinbeck represents that the relationship between nature and man, is that man is

apart of nature, which is the world, and man tend to act upon it and dominate, but nature will

always dominate.