Crooks

In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the character named Crooks was
segregated from the other men because he is black. This caused him to be lonely. He
was forced to sleep in a separate bunk than the others. Trapped in solitude all night
long; he resorts to books as his only companion. Trying to portray himself as proud
and aloof by his own will, but inside is happy to be around the other men. Crooks
first tried to make Lennie leave his room but then he decided that Lennie would not
understand and that he actually wanted someone to talk with. During his conversation
with Lennie Crooks reveals his loneliness on the ranch. “I seen it over an’ over a guy
talkin’ to another guy and it don’t make no difference if he don’t hear or understand.”
Although he is talking to Lennie about George, he is actually speaking of his own life.
He needs someone, someone to talk with, a friend. After Lennie explains his dream to
Crooks, he says he would work free. Later he decides that he does not want to face
rejection. “I don’t wanna go to no place like that. I’d never wanna go to a place like
that”

Crooks is also a proud man, sometimes causing him to forget his lack of
authority of the ranch. Crooks grew up on a farm owned by his father where he was
respected as an equal to the white men. Now on this ranch on California he is
discriminated against and segregated. His pride is shown when he defends Lennie
against Curley’s wife, but when she lashed out at him, he knows he must back down
or face the consequences. Those consequences would probably be being lynched.
Inside he knows he is equal to every other man on the ranch, but if he expressed these
thoughts he would probably be forced out of the farm, or even worse possibly.
Crooks is a bright man. He knows his rights, but he also knows that being a black man
in California his rights didn’t mean anything if he made a mistake and crossed his
boundaries.

A third characteristic of Crooks is intelligence. Crooks, unlike the other men,

reads books. He grew up as a free man, an equal to the whites. While he is not a slave
on the ranch, he certainly was not treated fairly. His knowledge only adds to his
anger and loneliness that he feels because he knows what it could be like, he knows
that this is not right. By reading, Crooks occupies his time and gains knowledge, but
being with another human being on the ranch would be much more important to him
than any book he could ever read. When Lennie comes into his room, Crooks knows
exactly what to say to make Lennie upset. However, he was kind and stopped saying
that George would not return when he realized Lennie was genuinely upset.

1
Lennie's Guilt in Of Mice and Men

Lennie Small, the strong but dull-witted farm hand, experienced a psychotic
break-down near the end of Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. This episode was
brought on by a tremendous feeling of guilt. While Lennie's head was full of the
thoughts of the death of Curley's wife, his burden upon George, and his mental
relationship with his aunt Clara and the giant rabbit, a somewhat confusing portrayal
of Lennie's true guilt was shown.

Lennie feels guilty about the death of Curley's wife. He accidentally broke her
neck while trying to calm her down. He was scared that George would get mad at him
and not let him tend the rabbits. Lennie felt guilty because he knew he had done a
"bad thing." Whether or not it was an accident, Lennie had killed Curley's wife.
Lennie liked Curley's wife, though he was not permitted to associate with her. When
he killed her, it was as if he was losing a companion, leaving Lennie with a sad
feeling of loss. Lennie truly does feel guilty about her death, not only because it was a
"bad thing," but because he had lost a friend.

A few times throughout the story, especially near the end, Lennie realizes how
much of a burden he is on George. George had always taken care of Lennie. Even
when times were rough, George always made sure that Lennie was alright. Although
most of the bad events the had taken place were Lennie's fault, George protected
Lennie from people and things that might have caused him harm. George tells Lennie
that he could have a wonderful time without him. Lennie knows that this is true.
George could do many activities that he cannot do without having to watch out for
Lennie constantly. He could spend his money in cat houses and in pool parlors.
Lennie feels guilty because he thinks that he is holding George back from money and
women.

Lennie sees his aunt Clara and the giant rabbit during his psychotic episode. His
aunt Clara took care of Lennie when he was young. Lennie's brain remembers her as
an authority figure. For this reason, Lennie's brain chooses an image of her to place
guilt upon him. In their dream, Lennie tended the rabbits. Lennie's interpretation of
this great, fuzzy creature is an understandable object in which to relay his unaware
guilt. The rabbit, being one of the most important symbols of Lennie's life, is used to
show Lennie that his dream will not come true. This thought is a picture of his dream
turning on him. The thought of rabbits normally makes Lennie happy, but the guilt he
feels conquers him. The images of his aunt Clara and the rabbit are his way of
coming to an understanding of the guilt in which he is not consciously aware.

Lennie's mental break-down was brought on by a heavy feeling of guilt lingering

in his simple mind. His brain's simple thought process showed Lennie what he was
thinking in the unconscious part of his mind, mainly guilt. This dream was triggered
by the death of Curley's wife, along with the under-lying thought of George's life,
Lennie's aunt Clara, and tending rabbits.

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Loneliness

Loneliness is the central theme in the novel Of Mice and Men. Many of the
characters show signs of being lonely, some more than others.

Loneliness haunts Crooks deep inside. Crooks accepts things the way they are
though. Crooks does not talk to the other men and they do not talk to him. This
causes the greatest amount of loneliness in Crooks out of all the characters. Rejection
can cause most people to become crazy, as it did to Crooks. Other characters on the
ranch show signs of loneliness also. But what makes the others different is the fact
that Crooks does not have anyone to talk with, the others at least have one person to
talk to. Crook’s actions along with not having any friends show why he must be the
loneliest character.

Not having any friends is one of the reasons why Crooks is lonely. The other workers
on the ranch take place in fun activities, such as horseshoes and card games. Crooks
never gets invited to play. This resentment is due solely to the color of his skin. The
other characters all have someone to talk to. George and Lennie have each other,
Candy had both his dogs. The other workers are friends with one another. Curley’s
wife is also lonely, but still has Curley. The men sit in the bunk house, talk and have
fun on occasion. Meanwhile Crooks is in his shed all alone. Crooks tries to explain to
Lennie in the shed why he is lonely. “ A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t
make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you...I tell ya a guy gets too
lonely an’ he gets sick”. This is showing Lennie exactly how Crooks is feeling. Also,
it explains what Crooks has to deal with. He is trying to scare Lennie. Crooks is
forced to explain that he needs someone to talk to. The reader now becomes aware of
Crooks terrible loneliness

Readers can infer Crook’s loneliness by the way he acts. There are many signs
throughout the novel that support this. Because Crooks stays in the shed all day one
can detect a sense of loneliness. Since Crooks does not ever talk to anyone his social
life is all in books. Crooks reads very much to suppress his loneliness and to When
Lennie comes into the shed a conversation arises between the two. Crooks tries to get
Lennie to see what it is like to be lonely. “ S’pose George went into town tonight and
you never heard from him again. S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back.
What’ll you do then?...Le’s say he gets hurt or killed and he can’t come back”.
Crook’s face lighted with pleasure in his torture. This shows that Crooks is trying to
make Lennie feel lonely because he is lonely himself. Crooks is also trying to make
him feel the hurt that he feels everyday. By recognizing these actions taken by Crooks
anyone can tell he is a lonely guy.

Crook’s actions along with not having any friends show why Crooks must be the
loneliest character. After looking closely at these examples one can conclude Crooks
was the loneliest in the novel. The most significant point why Crooks was the
loneliest was that he had no friends. Everyone else on the ranch had someone to talk
to except Crooks. The readers come to sympathize with Crooks throughout the novel.
This is because most people know what it feels like to be lonely.

3
Relationship between George and Lennie

At first glance, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a tale of two best friends
traveling the countryside looking for work. This would seem like the norm for lower
class people trying to survive in the rat race of society. Yet, the story isn’t merely
George and Lennie’s search for jobs. Rather, it is about their all out quest for the
American Dream, the dream of owning their own stake of land and ending their
subservience to their bosses. In order for this to happen, however, George and Lennie
had to remain a team. They had to pool their resources as well as their manpower,
something their apparent mutual love for each other seemed to take care of. Yet, an
irrevocable rift between them sent the dream crashing down. This caused George’s
feelings of love and understanding to change from being existent to non-existent.

Since the passing of Lennie’s aunt, George felt an obligation to take care of Lennie as
well as to act as his guardian. George fulfilled this role with love and understanding.
We first see change in George’s attitude towards Lennie when they moved onto the
ranch, their place of work. George immediately feels that he is jeopardizing his
relationship with other men in order to defend Lennie’s actions. George is further
discouraged when he realizes, based on Lennie’s behavior that he can never be left
alone- even to go to the bathroom. Lennie can’t even be trusted not to kill puppies
while petting them. Lennie, in fact, goes so far as to kill the owner’s daughter-in-law.
By this point, George, a nice yet overly ambitious individual, could no longer control
this growing contempt towards his once beloved Lennie.

As George’s feelings changed, he started vocalizing his frustrations towards Lennie.

Before, George would plead with Lennie with words of love to run away. Now,
George actually suggests it. George relates to Lennie that he feels that he is “holding
me (George) back from the good life”, and that he could get his own little stake of
land if he freed himself of Lennie and his shortcomings. This is something the old
George would never dream of saying. George further alienates Lennie by scolding
him mercilessly after Lennie innocently told Crooks their future dreams. These
comments reflected George’s sentiments exactly. Lennie had become more of a
nuisance than George could even handle.

Once it becomes obvious that Lennie killed Curley’s wife, George knew what they
had to do. There was no place for a retarded man in George’s coarse, hard world.
George killed Lennie for both their own goods. Neither of them could handle the
constant fleeing that Lennie’s condition caused them to do. Lennie was too much of a
trouble for himself, and for that matter, George as well. George could not deal with
the responsibility of taking care of Lennie anymore. George’s loving feelings towards
Lennie changed drastically, so he killed him and them went on with his life.

George didn’t have to bother with Lennie; he could have abandoned him and gone on
his own way. But, he did not do that. He stayed with Lennie watching over him
almost like a parent to a child. Even though Lennie always got George in trouble,
George never stopped loving him and always stood by him. The friendship they
shared went beyond what was transparent. They each shared a dream and both knew
they meant the world to each other. For all their relationship shows for friendship and
loyalty, it also shows how sometimes you have to do things you never thought you

4
would do. When George is forced to shoot Lennie in the head, we would have never
thought he would do that. But, we can see that under the circumstances, George had
no other choice. He only had two choices. He would have let the other people get to
him first and watch them torture Lennie while he died a long horrible death. Or,
George would do it himself and get over it quickly where Lennie would not know
what hit him. This is also true in life. Many times, we are faced with tough choices
and even though they maybe the hardest we would have to go through, we know that
that is the only way there is. Suddenly, come to a realization that everything we
thought we were about can all change with a blink of the eye.

5
Naturalism

Naturalism is a literary style that displays action or thought that is derived exclusively
from natural desires and instincts. John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men contains
several instances of this element. Some of these are found when Lennie breaks
Curley's hand, when Lennie kills Curley's wife, and when George kills Lennie.

When Lennie breaks Curley's hand, Lennie's honesty is contrasted with Curley's
hotheadedness and arrogance. "Then Curley's rage exploded. . . . He crouched
cowering against the wall. 'You tol' me to, George,' he said miserably,". This scene
contributes to the novel the knowledge of the full extent of Lennie's honesty. The
reader is shown that Lennie doesn't want to hurt Curley even when Curley is hurting
him, and feels remorse when he is forced to go against his nature and inflict harm
upon Curley.

When Lennie kills Curley's wife, it becomes apparent that Lennie's honesty is too
stubbornly childlike for the good of himself or anyone else. "Lennie was in a
panic. . . . And then he whispered in fright, 'I done a bad thing. I done another bad
thing,'". This scene makes the reader aware that Lennie is too honest to fit easily into
society and not smart enough to understand how or why he must stifle his honesty.
This helps the reader to understand Lennie's strength and the childlike openness that
drives him. Being forced to stifle this honesty expedites his death.

When George kills Lennie, the reader sees that George is every bit as honest as
Lennie, but is smart enough to realize that such brutal honesty is impractical. He
would rather deceive and kill his friend than watch him die at the hands of a stranger.
"And George raised the gun and steadied it, . . . Slim's voice shouted, 'George. Where
you at, George?'”. George kills Lennie because it has now been proven that Lennie is
no good to himself or anyone else. This scene contributes to the knowledge of
George's honesty, but also shows that George must stifle the honesty of how he feels
about Lennie and get on with his own life.

Naturalism in this novel has the overall effect of making the conflict clearer and
showing more of a contrast between the opposing forces. The three events mentioned
have the overall effect of heightening the conflict and the contrast between Lennie's
frank honesty and brute strength with the other men's stifled honesty and false
courage. This courage appears to be lacking until the climax and final resolution
resulting in Lennie's death.

6
Friendship

The same gun is used in the same manner to kill two beings, a smelly, old dog and a
man named Lennie, in the novel “Of Mice And Men.” This story deals with love and
death while displaying an everyday scenario about friends and isolation. The symbols
in this book represent the basic elements of human love.

Some of the characters in this novel, such as Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife,
epitomize loneliness. Lennie, bearing his retardation, has trouble fitting in with the
current workers at the ranch. Even though all the ranch hands praise Lennie for his
hard work, they leave him out of nightly activities such as horseshoes. George,
Lennie’s traveling buddy, is smart and fits right in with all of the employees of the
ranch, adding to Lennie’s isolation. The black stable hand, Crooks, sleeps alone in a
tiny room in the stable and is disliked by everyone except for Lennie. Since he is
black, segregation is the ultimate reason why no one tries to like or befriend Crooks.
Lennie, who, as an innocent person, has no bigotry in him, visits Crooks one night
when everyone else is in town. Even thought Crooks does not show it, he enjoys
Lennie’s company, and it seems that he and Lennie form a small friendship that
would had developed more has the book been longer. Another soul not included with
the ranch clique, Curley’s wife, whose name is not mentioned in the book, is new to
the ranch as well. She married Curley just weeks before Lennie and George arrived.
The ranch hands do not accept this lonely soul into their social group because she is
new. However, the ranch hands also do not accept Curley’s wife because she
obviously is so lonely that the only way she can get attention is by flirting. The only
one who does not dismiss her when she flirts is Lennie who is obviously trying to
make a friend with another lonely person. These lonely individuals make this novel
into a very sad story of real life situations of when people really do not “fit in.”

The idea of obtaining a little farm with animals and crops raised by George and
Lennie, and later joined by Candy, an old man, shows how dreams may cause a man
to do anything to fulfill that dream. Lennie is the most enthusiastic and determined to
gain the small farm and the all-important things -- the rabbits. Lennie repeatedly
states that he wants to take care of the rabbits. One reason that Lennie wants the
rabbits is because he loves soft things, but he also wants to prove George that he will
not mess up by forgetting to feed them. George is halfhearted about the idea, but
fakes his enthusiasm just to satisfy Lennie. To get away from his nomadic way of
life, George supports the farm idea. From his intimations given in the book, George
ultimately is searching for a wife and to settle down and start a family. The only way
he thinks he can do that is via a small farm. Candy, an older man, wants the farm as a
nice place to await his coming death. Candy offers his life savings towards the
purchasing of the farm. Since he had a lot of money saved up, the story suggests that
Candy has been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time. Everyone has his
or her perfect dream, whether it is a house on the countryside, or a mansion in Beverly
Hills.

7
Many of the characters epitomize friendship in each of their different pairs or groups
of friends. The friendship between Lennie and George is the strongest in the book
and they both watch for each other in different ways. George obviously is the smarter
one of the two and handles everything that Lennie cannot comprehend, which is most
of the day-to-day events. George’s faithfulness to Lennie may be due to a huge
promise to Lennie’s aunt or he really loves Lennie enough to take really good care of
him. In return for George’s watchful eye, Lennie provides protection and security to
George. Lennie looks up to George, much like a younger brother would look up to a
big brother. The relationship between George and Slim, although not as developed as
the relationship between Lennie and George, is still important. When George first
arrives at the ranch, Slim instantly befriends him and advises him to keep an eye on
Lennie. Also when Lennie kills Curley’s wife, Slim comforts George and again
advises him to find Lennie before Curley catches him. This type of friendship
symbolizes a sort of father-son relationship, with the “parent” watching over the
“children,” or in this case, the new ranch hands. Lennie, George, and Candy together
demonstrate another small friendship that mainly falls out of pity for the old man
Candy. When Candy hears of George and Lennie’s idea to buy a small farm, he
jumps right into the planning and financing. This friendship is the kind that develops
over time due to common interests and convenience. There are many types of
relationships – strong and weak ones – but most result in the comfort and happiness of
the friends.

In summary, Of Mice and Men is a powerful story about human relationships that
uses Lennie to symbolize pure intent while using the others to demonstrate that many
have hidden reasons for their behavior. The murder of Lennie by his best friend in the
end and the killing of the dog give proof of the love that friends have for each other.
In this case, the love George had for Lennie was enough to put him out of his misery,
instead of being tortured and hanged by Curley. Pure trust and love in adult
relationships is an ideal that may be the sole domain of the child-like charm of a
retarded adult.

8
How are men presented

Of Mice and Men, a novel written by John Steinbeck, clearly develops three themes:
man’s desire to create and seek dreams, man’s desire for companionship, and man’s
responsibility to other members of society.

First, a person’s want to pursue their dreams is expressed through many of the
characters. The primary example of this would be George and Lennie’s attempting to
earn a stake and purchase a small farm. They had plans to “live off the fatta the lan’.”
Never again would the two have to work on cultivating another man’s crops. Lennie,
of course, would get to feed the rabbits. Another example of man’s need of having a
dream is Candy wishing to join in on George and Lennie’s dream of getting the farm.
Candy is willing to give up his life savings so he won’t have to worry about getting
thrown out after he becomes worthless. Curley’s wife also has created a dream for
herself. Before she married Curley she had the opportunity of being in the movies
and pictures. Now she wishes for that to happen once again. All of these people have
fantasies they wish to attain.

Secondly, the topic of man’s aspiration for companionship is indicated throughout

the story. Crooks has an immense hunger for genuine fellowship. Being black, he
was separated from the rest of the men, which made him lonely. Crooks said, “Sure
you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t
no good. A guy needs somebody- to be near him.” Curley’s wife is also in need of
having someone to spend time with. Sure she is married to Curley, but it’s an
intensely poor relationship. Every chance she gets she tries to talk to someone, but
for the most part is ignored because she is married. Unlike most guys that work on
ranches, George and Lennie have a friendship. The two spend roughly all their time
together. They show the companionship the others characters want.

Lastly, the subject of man’s dependability on his fellow man is shown in the novel.
Unlike the other themes, this one is mainly displayed through only two characters. Of
course I’m referring to Lennie and George. As they say so many times “I got you to
look after me, and you got me to look after you.” Lennie’s aunt used to take care of
him, but she passed away and George said he would look after him. Since he is
unintelligent, Lennie is greatly reliant on George for all the necessities such as: food,
shelter, and guidance.

Man’s need to produce and chase dreams, man’s craving for camaraderie, and
man’s responsibility to his fellow man are the main themes of the novel. They are
distinctly elaborated through numerous characters in the tale.

9
Loyalty

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a story which shows how weak the human
trait of loyalty can be if put through the test of time. It shows how people can turn on
their family, best friend, and even their life-long companions if they are presented
with the opportunity for advancement in life. This novel shows the reader the true
animalistic nature of all humans through the use of highly developed characters as
well a thoroughly developed story line.

George is not a strong man physically, but what he is lacking physically he makes up
for in his mentality. Although his abundance of mental strength does not become
apparent until later in the story, it is fairly obvious from the beginning that his
physical strength is lacking. Lennie, on the other hand, is physically “strong as a
bull”, according to George, but mentally is a weak as George is physically. Together,
as they travel from place to place looking for their chance at making their dream a
reality, they use each other’s strong points to help them complete the task. Without
one another the two characters would have absolutely no chance at success, for what
one is lacking the other has an ample amount of. George and Lennie are the perfect
example of how opposites attract.

The two of them have spent the majority of their adult lives together and know each
other better than they know anybody else in the entire world. They share their hard
times and the good, their victories and their defeats, but most importantly they share a
common dream. That dream is of having “a little house and a couple of acres an’ a
cow and some pigs an’ live off the fatta the lan’”, where Lennie can take care of the
rabbits just as George has been taking care of him over the years. This is Lennie’s
chance to pay George back for all of the kindness that he has had bestowed upon him
out of his true love and loyalty towards George.

When they arrive at the ranch where they will be working the first person that they
meet is an older gentleman named Candy. Candy has lived a long and hard life on the
ranch and has nothing to show for it. During his time on the ranch he has lost his
hand, grown old, and feels that he has become worthless. The name “Candy” is an
interesting one for this character though. When you think of candy you see children
eating it while running around in the yard having a good time without a care in the
world. This is the exact opposite of what the character in the novel is. The restless
demon of age has caught up with him and he is not able to move as fast as he once
did; even his dog is unable to ward off the negative effects of time.

Candy loves his dog with all of his heart; it has been his best friend for years and
according to Candy he has “Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him.”
Even though he cannot run as fast as in his prime or herd sheep like he did when he
was younger Candy loves him just the same. He appreciates all of the joy and loyalty
that his once great dog has brought to him during his life and is ready to let his friend
now live out the rest of his natural life. Unfortunately that is not the way that some of
the other people in the room see it. Carlson feels “This ol’ dog jus’ suffers hisself all

10
the time. If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head…
right there, why he’d never know what hit him”. Carlson even offers to give him a
new dog to replace the one that he is about to destroy. The way that Candy sees it is
that he is not hurting anyone and that there is no reason to have to end his life
prematurely.

Even though Candy loves his dog more than anything else in the world he chooses to
let someone shoot his dog in the back of the head. After all that they had been
through and all the years of loyal service that his supposed best friend had performed
for Candy, when pressured into a decision, he chose to defy his loyal companion and
make the decision on when he should die. This leads one to wonder why he made the
decision that he did. What drove Candy to defy the trust his loyal companion of
years? Candy knew that his pet had limited time left in his life, and after he passed,
who would Candy have to call a friend? He let Carlson kill his dog in hopes that the
other workers would then give him the friendship and loyalty that his dog had
provided him for years. If this happened, Candy would not have to spend the rest of
his life alone and desolate in his old age; he would then have friends and people who
he could talk to. He had been lacking this for years and wanted to obtain it
desperately, even if it meant betraying his oldest friend.

George and Lennie have the same relationship that Candy and his dog have shared for
so many years. They are as close to each other’s hearts as any two people can be in
life. George has given up his chance at a somewhat normal life to help Lennie live as
full of a life as he is mentally capable of doing. As the story progresses you see that
George starts to resent the fact that he is being held back by Lennie: “…crazy son-of-
a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time”. After George said this “His anger left
him suddenly.” When George blows up on Lennie he then remembers that although
he does a lot of Lennie, Lennie does a lot for him. Without each other both would be
lost in life and have nobody else to turn too. This all changes once the two characters
get their jobs on the ranch together. George fits in very well with all of the other
workers on the ranch and sees that for the first time in his life, he has a chance to live
a typical life. He becomes almost infatuated with the idea of being able to have
friends and not have to travel all over the place running from the trouble that Lennie
has got them into.

As time goes by on the ranch where the two characters are working, George starts to
become a little slack on looking out for Lennie. He knows that Lennie cannot take
care of himself and that it is hard for him to stay out of trouble, but he still leaves him
alone more than he has before. It seems that George’s priorities have been switched
around and that he is more concerned with having a good time with the guys than he
is about making sure that his life-long companion is safe and not getting himself into
trouble on the ranch. This is shown rather clearly when George goes into town and
leaves Lennie behind to do as he pleases. He is not worried about what kind of
trouble Lennie may get in to; all he is thinking about is having the chance to go out
with the guys and have a good time. This is something that he could not have done in
the past because he had to worry about Lennie and make sure that he was not going to
get into any trouble that would endanger himself or George. For some reason he does
not seem to worry about this when he makes the decision to leave. Is it because he is
happy that Lennie is not going to be around him this time and that he can go and do as
he pleases without having to have Lennie tag along and put George in an awkward

11
position with the rest of his fellow workers? It seems that this is exactly what he is
thinking when he totally disregards the idea that Lennie could make a mistake which
would lead to dire consequences.

Later in the story George once again puts his new found friends in front of the
obligation to take care of his best friend in the entire world. While George is outside
playing horseshoes with all of his coworkers from the ranch he lets Lennie wander
around and do as he wishes, which he knows can lead to trouble. While outside
having fun with the others he never even seems to worry about where his traveling
partner is or what he is doing. George is preoccupied with his other life, the one spent
away from Lennie and his responsibilities.

When George finds out that his neglecting to supervise Lennie has led to a tragedy he
never once blames himself. If he would have been watching Lennie and taking care of
him as he promised to do, none of this would have happened and nobody would be
dead. Now, due to George’s lack of loyalty to Lennie and his promise to take care of
him, Lennie is doomed to suffer the consequences of an action that could have been
prevented had he not been left alone.

George knows that the workers from the ranch will kill Lennie when they find him
and gives only a half-hearted effort to try to persuade them from pursuing this act of
destruction and murder. As the story closes, George, in a somewhat noble act of
kindness, makes the effort to find Lennie before any of the workers from the ranch
can. He has a choice to make after he finds Lennie: he can run away and hide as he
has done in the past, therefore insuring the safety of his onetime closest companion, or
he can take Lennie’s life himself. Due to his lack of loyalty to Lennie and his
selfishness he chooses to take Lennie’s life. It is significant to the story how George
decides to kill his friend. He does not even give Lennie a chance to get away from his
pursuers but instead he shoots him in the back of the head just like what had been
done to Candy’s dog.

After all of the loyalty and love that both of these creatures had given to their
respective “friends”, both of the superior creatures decide that they don’t need them
any more and choose to end the dominated creatures lives in a less than honorable
manner. When given the chance to gain something that he wanted, George chose to
alienate and kill his most loyal friend in the world in the same manner that dogs and
other less than human creatures are disposed of when they are no longer needed. This
display of George’s animalistic nature when presented the chance for advancement in
life shows that loyalty, when put to the test, is never as strong as the person’s desire to
achieve his own dreams.

Although Steinbeck is not trying to say that you can never trust the people that you
call your friends, he is saying to be careful of those who call you a friend but only
think of themselves while saying it. Even after spending the majority of his life
calling Lennie a friend, George still betrayed him for the chance to become who he
wanted to be. The animalistic nature of people tends to come out when they have the
chance to seize what they believe is rightfully ours. So don’t trust everyone who can
trust you because everyone has got an agenda in life that shows us where they want to
be. If you stand in the way of obtaining their goal they may be likely to step over you
to get to it. As George has showed us, the human trait of loyalty can become very

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weak if put through the test of time, so avoid trying to test it so that you may not end
up as Lennie did, being treated no better than an old man’s dog.

Parallels of loneliness

In Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" the characters struggle with loneliness and loss of
dreams. These themes are highlighted by the use of parallels that tie the novel
together. The relationship between Candy and his dog parallels that which exists
between George and Lennie. There are also parallels between the outcasts and Lennie
which emphasize the pain of loneliness. The opening scene mirrors the final scene.

The relationship between Candy and his dog parallels that which exists between
George and Lennie. To the men who live in the bunkhouse, Candy's dog is nothing
more than a "dragfooted sheep dog, gray of muzzle,...with pale, blind old eyes," but
Candy sees him as a companion. To George, Lennie is more than a "big guy" who
can't speak for himself. On the ranch Lennie is suspected to be of no value because of
his lack of intelligence, and Candy's dog is thought to be of no importance because he
has no teeth, can hardly see and can't eat. The dog is "no good to [Candy]" and he is
"no good to himself". After Lennie kills Curley's wife, he's no good to George or
himself. Carlson's luger, which is used to shoot Candy's dog in the back of the head,
is also used by George to shoot Lennie in the back of the head. Slim had said earlier
that he wished "somebody'd shoot [him] if [he] got old an' a cripple" and he also
acknowledges that George has to shoot Lennie, telling him that he "hadda". Both
Candy's dog and Lennie are killed out of love. Candy feels that his dog no longer
needs to suffer and George never wants Lennie to suffer for a crime he did not mean
to commit.

The parallels that exist between the outcasts and Lennie emphasize the harsh pain of
loneliness. Crooks tries to shut out another outcast, telling Lennie that "[he] ain't
wated in the bunkhouse and [Lennie] ain't wanted in [his] room". Curley's wife, an
outcast herself, sees Crooks, Lennie, and Candy as "a nigger an' a dum-dum and a
lousy ol' sheep", but she is not even wanted there with them. All the outcasts have
been left at the ranch while the other go into town. This further shows their
separation from all the ranch.

The opening scene of the book mirrors its final scene. In the beginning the pastoral
setting symbolizes the opportunity and hope that lie before George and Lennie, while
at the end of the story the calm setting is a reflection of a find of heaven. Lennie's
blissful ignorance is present both times. A heron and a periscope-like snake are there
in the beginning and the end. George speaks of his living off the fat of the land in
both instances to pacify Lennie. The rabbit motif is seen in the beginning and the end,
but its meaning has turned. In the opening Lennie wants to tend rabbits, and in the
end the giant rabbit crushes his dreams by telling him that he is not good enough. The
opening scene is an exact reflection of the closing scene, yet this time the dream has
been crushed.

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Dreams

Dreams are a train of thought or images passing through ones mind. Of mice and
men’s two main themes consist of dreams and pipe dreams. Dreams can lead to
problems, success, or neither. Dreams can also lead to new dreams as well. Some
individuals can carry out their dreams, others cannot. Dreams involve commitment
and one can never achieve it if you’re not dedicated in following through. This goes
with just about any goal or dream. Each individual character has different and
specific pipe dreams. These pipe dreams help to go more in depth in understanding
each individual character. The pipe dreams shape the characters’ behavior and affect
the way the character makes his/her decisions. Throughout the story, “Of Mice and
Men,” focus’ a lot on pipe dreams. The title of the book relates to Burns’ poem when
it states: “But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane In proving foresight may be vain: The best
laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft a –gley An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain
For promised joy” This also states that others encounter problems as well when they
look into the future and try to make plans. Others as well, find that their planning
might be futile and fruitless as time goes on.

George and Lennie both fit into the category of wanting to carry out their dreams and
be different than everyone else by taking care and looking out for one another.
Although, many of their individual pipe dreams followed a different view, but there
were still some in which they shared. George was the “base” of his and Lennie’s
friendship and loyalty. He was the “root” or “leader” so to speak. George would be
the one who would keep things going on properly and more in order, to an extent.
George had to be the “base” since Lennie was not strong enough. Proof of this is
when he stated: “If George don’t want me, I’ll go away. I’ll go away.” Lennie’s pipe
dreams were more selfish and related to himself rather than Georges. Lennie wished
for rabbits, and furry creatures to satisfy his urges. This showed his lack of control,
intelligence, and his liking towards soft things. George and Lennie did share their
goal about the farm and both wanting to succeed at it. They also knew that they
would be different from the others because they had each other to rely on. Their
dream of the farm in the future and the pipe dreams symbolized their security. Even
though problems arose between George and Lennie, George had to always be the
leader and this helped preserve both of their hope. Still, George’s loneliness doesn’t
really begin until the end.

Candy’s loneliness is similar to Georges loneliness at the end of the book because of
their relationship to their close companions is lost. Candy’s close companion is his
dog and Georges is Lennie. Both relationships involved loyalty and friendship.
Candy is extremely attached to his dog, the way Lennie was attached to George. A
part of Candy dies when his dog is put down. “Candy looked a long time at Slim to
try to find some reversal. And Slim gave him none. At last Candy said softly and
hopelessly, “Awright-take ‘im.” Candy’s dreams shifted in the story when his dog
dies and he suddenly becomes interested when George gives him the idea to come and
start a ranch with him and Lennie. It almost seemed as if Candy had no reason to go

14
on after his dog died. Having new dreams arise to him made him look ahead and kept
him more interested in life.

Curley’s wife had a similar form of loneliness as Candy’s when his dog was put
down. Curley’s wife didn’t feel as if she had anything to live for. She seemed to
have raised nothing but trouble and temptation between the men. Curley’s wife didn’t
lose all that much in the end because she had nothing ahead of her, nothing to look
forward to, and she was effected and suffering with her dreams and loneliness. “I get
lonely, she said. You can talk.” Even her marriage was admitted by the author as a
mistake. Curley, on the other hand, was the opposite and took his problems using
anger and frustration. “By Christ, he’s gotta talk when he’s spoke to. What the hell
are you settin’ us into it for?” Curley is more antagonistic and it seems he’s angry
when his own thoughts or dreams aren’t happening the way it wants it to. Basically,
he gets angry when he doesn’t get his way.

Crooks’ dreams on the other hand, are not selfish. He just wants to fit in with
everyone else. Crooks’ dreams are more involved in receiving self-respect, and
fairness from the rest. He’s different from everyone else on the ranch and because of
this, he is singled out and not treated the same due to his race and color. An example
of this is stated: “I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, you ain’t wanted in my room.”

The three main themes in the novel are similar in many different ways. All the
different dreams and pipe dreams of the characters reflected their behaviors and
decisions throughout the story. Dreams are similar to pipe dreams just by the fact that
the goals of a character reflect on his/her decisions and attitudes towards problems or
issues. George’s life was most changed by the end of the story because of the fact
that he is now finally starting to really be alone. It’s somewhat ironic. Throughout
the story, all the characters’ different types of loneliness’ is described with George
and Lennie being one of the prime examples. However, in the end, George is back at
square one, maybe even behind square one since Lennie is gone, and now he doesn’t
have a companion to take care of him, help him get through problems or anything.
George killing Lennie at the ending of the story was more proper because it at least
gave Lennie the decency to die with some peace, loyalty, happiness, reassurance, and
comfort rather than by the workers in which Lennie would have been scared,
confused, and killed with no dignity. In respect to Burns’ poem, mice are the
individuals that dream their dreams but men actually carry out their dreams

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Dreams

If you try hard you can achieve anything, That is what most people say and think it is
true. But that’s not the case all the time. Sometimes you can’t achieve everything you
work for. Achieving what you want, such as a goal or a dream mostly comes true to
the common hard worker. Yet there are some people left out into the cold. This relates
to The Novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. The characters, such as George,
Crooks and Curley’s Wife prove that not all dreams come true.

In the book Lennie killed George’s dream to having his own farm. The dream George
had was to have a farm of his own one day and live off the fat of the land. With this
Dream he allowed Lennie to help with the dream since he always has to do things
with him. Later into the book one of the men also working at the farm decided to join
to insure their possibility of getting the farm since George wouldn’t be able to do it by
himself. But as luck would have it nothing worked out the way it should have. Lennie,
being the not so smart person he is killed Curley’s Wife unintentionally by snapping
her neck. From this George knew that the dream would not be accomplished and had
no choice but to shoot Lennie. This is one perfect example of how not all dreams
come true.

Crooks had his dream shattered by Curley’s Wife to keep him from dreaming at all. In
Chapter 4 of the book Crooks found out about the dream that Lennie and Candy had
put together and thought about join them in the farm. At first he was skeptical about
the whole situation because he thought that Lennie was acting crazy. Being in the
time he was and the color of his skin he thought that there would be no hope for him.
But after talking to Lennie he began to think of how nice it would be if he had a farm
of his own since he wouldn’t ever be able to have it actually happen. While in this
state of mind where he thought that he could do anything, Curley’s Wife comes in to
give him some discriminating words. This brought Crooks back down to Earth and
allowed him to think realistically. Crooks soon realized to forget about dreaming
because he would never have a successful one anyway. This is a great example on
how a made dream can yet be achieved.

Curlye’s Wife’s Dream would never come true not leaving her with anything at the
end. She dreamed of being and actor and living in the big times. She was never able to
be successful through it. The directors said they would give her a role but never did.
With never being able to be an actress she saw Curley and decided to marry him since
she knew she wouldn’t be able to achieve her dream. From this she had to settle with
a husband she didn’t like leaving here with a very unhappy for the rest of her life. Not
having any of her dreams accomplished she thought it was over with her, no one
would talk to her or care about her. She was down to her last resort. From this she was
unfortunately killed by Lennie, having her neck snapped. This is a perfect example on
how dreams that are set don’t always happen.

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George, Crooks and Curley’s Wife, are three good examples of what happens to
dreams sometimes. This book deals greatly on dreams. With these three characters I
don’t see any one of them to be able to rebuild his or her dream. I don’t see George
being in charge of a farm with no one big to help him out. Crooks won’t ever be
respected to leave him with being an outcast for the rest of his life. Last is Curley’s
Wife, who is dead so that explains it right there. Dreams come true a lot, they even
come true every day. People achieve a lot, get metals and do extraordinary things. But
there are some people who don’t achieve much leaving them with nothing such as
bums. This is why I say; even the hard worker won’t achieve everything he or she has
hoped for.

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Mercy Killing

John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men In John Steinbeck's classic novella, Of Mice and Men, one
of the predominant themes that govern the story and characters in the book is friendship.
One of the ways in which friendship plays a large role is in the area of mercy killing, which
affects the main characters as well as the supporting ones. The two major mercy killings that
occur in the book are those of Carlson's killing of Candy's old dog, and of George's killing of
Lennie. In both of these examples, the killer kills the other out of mercy and love, not for the
usual motives of hatred, rage, anger, etc.

The killing of Candy's dog is an excellent example of mercy killing in the aforesaid novella.
Candy's dog was in terrible condition, and it could barely be said that the ratty old thing was
even alive. It stunk like a dozen skunks, was nearly blind, could barely hear, had arthritis that
was so bad, the old mutt couldn't sit down, had no quality of life, and probably had urinary
and bowel problems, a miserable condition that is almost assured in old dogs. This instance
of mercy killing, however, was more driven by peer pressure than the typical case of mercy
killing. When someone kills another loved one out of mercy, it is normally done to put the
afflicted one out of their misery, torment, anguish, distress, etc. The other ranch hands
thought that the dog reeked more than any of its other conditions, which was the only one
that they, too, could experience. Candy's dog loved its master, as the two had been working
together for a myriad number of years. After all of the time spent together, the two had
developed a strong bond for each other, and so the dog, in its old age, was constantly
following Candy around. Since Candy slept in the bunkhouse, along with the other ranch
hands, the dog stunk up the bunkhouse. For this reason, they could not stand it, nor did they
care too much about Candy. They decided to push Candy to put the dog out of his misery by
shooting him, not for the sake of the dog, but for themselves. Candy gives in, eventually, for
the sake of his dog, not the ranch hands. The killing of Candy's old dog ended his hard,
painful life and represents the grand finale of a relationship that made life worth living, as
well as providing hope. Later on, Candy feels remorseful over having let Carlson kill his dog,
and not himself. This mercy killing, as well as the end of a hope-giving relationship
foreshadows the death of Lennie, later on in the book

The other exceptional example of mercy killing in Of Mice and Men is that of the killing of
Lennie Small. Lennie had many problems, both physically and mentally, that hampered him
from being able to act and talk like normal people. Due to his mental issues, he neither
thought nor acted correctly. Coupling this with his massive size and strength, he truly didn't
know the limits of his own strength, and inadvertently killed many poor, helpless animals,
simply due to the fact that when they tried to bite him, he "smarted them on the heads."
While this may not be an issue with the normal populace, Lennie's ox-like strength crushed
the animals' heads, killing them. Due to his aforementioned conditions, he had made himself
and George lose many job opportunities, as well as get kicked out of many towns. While
many of these incidents were not his fault, but just a series of good-intentioned actions gone
horribly wrong, they still happened, leading to detrimental results. He was simply incapable
of acting independently; he had to have the instructions of someone else, preferably
George, to be able to just act around others. Even after getting instructions, he still messed
up constantly. By continuing this pattern of life, he was only going to cause more trouble and

18
inconveniences to himself and the people around him, only to cause much more grief and
pain.

The turning point in the story is when Lennie killed Curley's wife. While this was only another
accident, one that was the fault of Curley's wife herself, the men on the ranch, particularly
Curley, became enraged when they found out that the wife of their boss's son had been
killed, and became determined to give Lennie a slow, painful death. In order to prevent this
agony from befalling his dear friend, George took it upon himself to kill Lennie with a quick,
painless death by shooting him in the back of the head. This form of killing someone results
in a painless, instantaneous death, as by shooting in the back of the head as done by George
and Carlson, the spinal cord is obliterated, instantly killing the victim, so that they feel
nothing. George decided to kill Lennie at his very happiest, while he was thinking about their
plans for their piece of land. In doing so, George prevented Lennie from causing any harm to
anyone else, or himself. He also saved Lennie from any grief or pain from being executed or
shot by someone without sympathy, as well as having Lennie know of his death. One
moment, Lennie was bubbling over taking care of his rabbits, the next he was dead, blissfully
unaware of dying. This is the noblest motive for killing, and one that was highly justified by
George, as well as preferable for Lennie. "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, he lay
without quivering."

The theme of friendship through mercy killing in the novella Of Mice and Men is
overwhelmingly present. While George killing Lennie is a classic example of mercy killing in a
justified manner, Carlson killing Candy's dog is mercy killing, but not for the right reasons.
This novella is well rounded with the theme of friendship, and there is no problem finding an
example of it on almost any page one would choose to look on.

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Friendship

There is a wide variety of what some people would call a good friend. Some would say a
good friend is someone who will cover for them even though they know they are wrong.
Others would say that a friend is someone that has good connections to get them discounts
on what they want. However, my definition of a good friend is someone who doesn't laugh
when you tell them something serious, who listens and is considerate to what you are
feeling at that moment and tries to help in any way they can. A friend is also someone that
you can have fun with and accepts your flaws as well. I believe that George, a main character
from the novel "Of Mice and Men", was a good friend to Lennie, George's problem person. I
know many have reasons to state otherwise so let me share what I know and you can decide
for yourself.

An example that shows George's friend qualities is found in the very beginning where it talks
about why they left weed. When Lennie grabbed that girls dress, George tried to make him
let go and when they were being chased out of the town, he took charge and helped Lennie
get out of the town safe and took him with him to go to another job in another town. He
didn't just leave Lennie there to rot but cared about Lennie enough to bring him along and
made the decision to deal with Lennie's problems instead of just leave him with his childish
mind and probably do another thing wrong that would end him.

Another example to show his friendliness is pretty much the whole time when they got to
the farm and through before the incident to bring the end. At first when they went to meet
the boss, he was telling the boss about what Lennie could do and handed out compliments
about Lennie to other migrant workers as well. He was also telling people about Lennie's
disabilities so they can handle Lennie better so he can stay in his right mind and not go crazy
and do something he will regret or that will get them run off of the ranch as well.

My last example is in the final chapter when the incident happens with Lennie where he
snapped Curley's wife's neck and goes back to the brush where George told him to go if he
got into trouble. George did something that, I saw, was a friendly act. It was when he shot
Lennie and put an end to the hardships in each of their lives. I believe it was a friendly act on
his part because if he wouldn't have, then Curley or someone else would have shot him
anyways so he did it as a friend so he wouldn't feel any pain and was not aware of what was
about to happen. George also told him to picture the ranch that they were going to have so
that helped Lennie to die with a very happy memory.

All of these reasons, I think, are good enough to make you think otherwise about George
being a bad friend and think on both sides of the story. Many friends across the globe are
doing great things in people's lives. Many lives are saved just because they have a good
friend. If it weren't for friends, we wouldn't be as pleasant a people as we are now. Even

20
mentors, teachers, siblings, and special mentors can be considered good friends to some
people and they also have the power to change a person's life. Just think if everyone in this
world was a friend to at least one person in this world then there would be a lot more peace.
If we start to change ourselves and be more considerate of other people that we would
regularly just pass by in the hallway, the office, or even at home, then we will be on our way
to a brighter future.

Prejudice

This essay is firstly going to look at racial prejudice. There is much racial prejudice shown in
Of Mice And Men towards Crooks the black crippled stable buck. Crooks is more permanent
than the other ranch hands and has his own room off the stables with many more
possessions than them. This room is made out to be a privilege and also because it means he
is nearer to the horses but in fact it is really because the other ranch hands do not want him
in the bunk house with them. As a result of this prejudice Crooks has become bitter and very
lonely.

When Lennie comes to pet the puppies, not even realizing that Crooks' room is `out of
bounds', Crooks instantly becomes defensive and uncivil "I ain't wanted in the bunk room
and you ain't wanted in my room" but Lennie in his childish innocence is completely without
prejudice " Why ain't you wanted" he asks. Crooks retaliates to this with: "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" This line showing that Crooks desperately wants to join in, be accepted,
but because of his colour he can't and so he feels the only way he can make himself feel
better is to cut himself off further, it is a vicious circle.

When Crooks realizes that Lennie means no harm he invites him to " Come on in and set a
while" Lennie begins to talk about George and his dream, it makes Crooks reminisce to his
childhood which he looks on as a kind of paradise. "The white kids come to play at our place,
an' sometimes I went to play with them and some of them were pretty nice. My ol' man
didn't like that. I never knew till long later why he didn't like that. But I know now". Crooks'
didn't experience racism directly in his childhood, making his current situation even worse.

Crooks is fascinated by the strength of the friendship of Lennie and George, especially how
close they are. Crooks said, "Well, s'pose, jus' s'pose he don't come back. What'll you do
then?" Crooks asks these questions because he does not have any friends, and wouldn't
know how losing them unexpectedly would feel. He was curious and envious, about the
friendship of Lennie and George, noticing that Lennie is retarded, he takes advantage of this
situation to "torture" him mentally, to make him feel better and ease the pain of having
other reject him "Crooks' face lighted with pleasure at his torture" he also does this to ease
his jealousy towards the friendship Lennie has, but that he, Crooks, will probably never have.
He wants the people to feel the way that he does, completely alone.

Crooks goes on to talk about his loneliness " `A guy needs somebody-to be near him' He
whined:' A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is,
long's he's with you' he cried `I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick'" Crooks is
looking for sympathy, he is so incredibly lonely even to the point to saying that loneliness
can make you ill.

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George continues to talk about his dream. Crooks, having been on the ranch for quite a
while, has witnessed a lot of people with the same dream, he ridicules it "Nobody ever gets
to heaven, and nobody never gets no land" but when Candy comes in and backs up what
George has been saying he begins to believe in the dream "If you...guys want a hand to work
for nothing-just his keep, why I'd come and lend a hand" Crooks sees the dream as his
escape from what he is living in, somewhere like his childhood where his color wouldn't be
an issue.

There are different levels of racial prejudice exhibited throughout the book. Most of the
ranch hands don't like or socialize with Crooks but would not go out of their way to insult
him. Curley's wife on the other hand is rude without excuse. " `Listen, Nigger' , she said. `You
know what I can do to you if you open you trap'" She abuses her position and has no respect
for him at all, she doesn't even refer to him by his name, looking down on him with utter
contempt and disdain. It is attitudes like hers that have turned him into the bitter man he
has become "Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego-
nothing to arouse either like or dislike"

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Sexual prejudice

This essay is going to next look at sexual prejudice. Curley's wife is shown a lot of sexual the
novel. Living on a ranch where the large majority of the inhabitants are male she is very
lonely. George says "Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain't no place for a girl"

Perhaps to signify the fact she is insignificant, she is always referred to as `Curley's wife',
never given a name. She experiences sexual prejudice in that none of the ranch hands will
talk to her. This is partly because she can make up things about those she dislikes who will
subsequently get `the can' and also because she is a `looloo' with a very flirtatious nature.
"She got the eye goin' all the time on everybody. I bet she even gives the stable buck they
eye. I don't know what the hell she wants" says Whit. The ranch hands don't trust her or
understand her. George says "Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain't no place for a girl,
specially like her"

An old lover told her that she "coulda went with the shows, not jus one neither" He
promised her that he would write "Soon's he got back to Hollywood" but he never did and
so she married Curley. Because of this she's dissatisfied and feels she's been deprived by life.
In fact she doesn't even like Curley "He ain't a nice fella". Because she has nothing to do but
sit at home she goes out on the ranch under the pretence of looking for Curley. Some of the
sexual prejudice she experiences is her fault, she scares the ranch hands with her femininity
but she isn't really a tart, she just craves attention which she doesn't get from Curley.
Ignored by both the ranch hands and Curley she has ended up very lonely, the one thing she
most wanted to escape.

This essay is next going to look at social prejudice. Most of the characters experience social
prejudice at different levels throughout the course of the book.

Candy, the old swamper is prejudiced against because of his age and his disability. Because
of his hand he is unable to do a lot of the jobs that the other ranch hands do making him
instantly an outsider. Also because he thinks that he is old he puts himself in a state of mind
which handicaps him far more than his missing hand ever will. His life echoes that of his dog,
he was once "the best damn sheep-dog I ever seen" but now is next to useless, Candy's life
has gone somewhat the same way.

Curley experiences social prejudice because he is the bosses son. The other workers are
scared of him because of the position of power he holds over them. Because they can't
accept him he has become horrible "This guy Curley sounds like a son-of-a-bitch to me, I
don't like mean little guys". Curley is also very short, and therefore hates big men like
Lennie. He is a very insecure man but hides these insecurities by acting as if he isn't scared
by anything or anyone. He has cut himself off from people as much as they have cut
themselves off from him.

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Lennie is a victim of social prejudice in the fact that, being retarded, he can't socially interact
with the natural ease of George. He is left behind when the ranch hands go into town and he
is left out of card games purely because he can't play. Because he like others experiences
prejudice, and also because he is very easy to talk to in that they know he "won't go
blabbing'", Crooks and Curley's wife feel they can talk to him.

George and Lennie experience social prejudice in a sense that people can't accept the
unusual relationship they have with each other.
The novel is a microcosm, a cross-section of society at the time reflecting the kind of
prejudice around at the time. At the time of the novel blacks in America had no rights, they
were seen as nobodies. Because of this prejudice many of them, like Crooks "retired into the
terrible protective dignity of the negro". Women also had very few rights. There are many
different levels of prejudice exhibited in Of Mice And Men. Through these prejudices the
characters such as Crooks and Curley's wife have become intensely lonely but they are in
hopeless position which they can do nothing about. These prejudices can still be seen in the
world today.

24
Should OMAM be banned

The day was dark and dreary. Lennie and George, having a peaceful conversation by the
river. Birds were flying above the skies calling out a cry of sadness. George was telling a story
of a beautiful dream. The dream consisted of a dream that they would have some day:
rabbits and a farm and “living’ off the fatta the land”. Lennie smiled and looked at the
mountains listening and dreaming of that fantasy. He knew it was going to come true
someday. Then, all of a sudden, George pulls out a gun and shoots his best friend in the back
of the head. What kind of violence do schools want to teach their students? By just showing
the mere part of shooting a person, it also spreads the notion of doing the same action. After
this horrendous incident, the men took the short man out to drink beer. Is this a cause of
celebration? These contents should be protected from exposing to teenagers. Of Mice and
Men also shows overuse of offensive language and ethnic segregation. Therefore, Of Mice
and Men should be banned.

A part of this book dedicates a chapter to show the stereotypical situation in the 1930s.
Crooks is the main part of this chapter of the book and it shows how he reacts when a white
man comes into the room and other situations. This book may show some stereotypical
situation in the south as educational, but it may expose and offend a certain group of
people. Furthermore, when naïve read this book, they may not be capable of knowing how
to react to this book and call discriminating names to their fellow peers. School districts
need to realize that some, if not most of the students reading this would have their ethnic
background offended in some way.

Another part of the book shows the theme of friendship as a very positive idea. This includes
George and Lennie, who are the best of friends and come to work together on the ranch.
However, it doesn't end so happily when George ends up shooting and killing Lennie Even
though this book has some optimistic values of friendship, it also ends up destructive and
can give abnormal ideas to unexposed teens. These ideas can sometimes be harmful,
especially coming from a novel.

The degradation of woman sets the tone of inequality. Curley's wife symbolizes the dream of
equal rights for women. In the story, she is the loneliest person on the ranch. Because she
has no one to socialize with, she usually dresses provocatively or questions the whereabouts
of Curley to get some attention. Even then, the men on the ranch do not listen to her and
call her and call her a "tart" and "jail-bait" while also saying that she's always giving the
"eye". To top that, even Curley, her own husband, does not regard her and goes out to cat
houses or whore houses with the other men the ranch. While trying to speak to the men at
one time, Curley's wife exclaims, "Think I don't know where they all went? Even Curley. I
know where the y'all went" . She is telling the men that she knows that Curley goes to the
cathouses and leaves her behind. Furthermore, her dream of being an actress never gets
accomplished because she claims "her mother stole her letter" Myriads of young women in

25
the 1930s dream was to be a film star but it was often only a scam to take advantage of
young woman.

As the book progresses, violence becomes a typical activity among the characters. This
violence digs deep into the story and people end up hurting each other without receiving
consequences from their actions. For example, Lennie kills the puppy and Curley's wife and
then George kills Lennie. It seems like an interminable pattern of destructive murdering.
Furthermore, this book is prone to be violent as Curley starts hitting Lennie so hard that his
nose starts bleeding. This book was very clearly set in the 1930s because Curley beats up
people and was not being arrested for it. Moreover, when George kite Lennie, he does not
receive any punishment for his crime. Shooting a gun into a man, innocent or not is certainly
a crime. On the Of Mice and Men test, it actually describes Lennie as an innocent figure.
George killed Lennie on purpose but Lennie killed Curley's wife and the puppy because he
did not know any better. He has the intelligence of a six year old but the strength of an
extremely strong man. Would an actual six year old know any better than to commit a
heinous crime purposely?

Chapter four in this book is entirely dedicated to the racial segregation in, not only the
south, but in California as well. Crooks who is called the "Negro stable buck lives in a very
racially segregated area. When Lennie was about to approach the door, Crooks hesitates
before letting Lennie into the barn. He believes that it is immoral to let "white" person into a
black person's environment. The book was quoted, "Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt
to make friends. Crooks said sharply, 'You got no right to come into my room. This here's my
room. Nobody got any right in here but me... 'Cause I'm black’” . Furthermore, the book
shows how cruelly the blacks were treated when Curley's wife comes in to start a
conversation. Her presence is rejected and Curley tells her to leave. She yells, "You know
what I could do? ... Well keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung upon a tree so
easy it ain't even funny" . When she says this she means that she could accuse Curley of rape
and everyone would have to believe her because she's white, or in this case, the superior
race. Also, this book is filled with the unrespectable term for black people and woman
degradation. This includes myriads of readers who might get offended by their race or their
gender. Furthermore, Steinbeck actually used this chapter to give reader information and
expose a stereotypical situation.

There is a Turkish proverb that says, '"No matter how far you've gone on the wrong road
turn back." Even though this book was probably exposed to the whole world, this book is not
the adequate book to teach teens in a high school. The racism and violence involved into
educating from this book is unjust. How would peers feel if some of them get taunted
because or their race of gender? This form of stereotype can happen anywhere from the
rendering of this novel. Would teens want this to be happening to them? A quote from the
reads, “Got him, by god... Right in the back of the head... A guy got to sometimes... Come on,
George. Me an’ you’ll go an’ get a drink”. Think about this: What kind of example is
Steinbeck setting for readers around the world when the characters go drink alcohol after
George kills Lennie?

26
Of Mice and Men: Loyalty and Sacrifice

John Steinbeck was born in 1902, in California's Salinas Valley, a region that would
eventually serve as the setting for Of Mice and Men, as well as many of his other works. He
studied literature and writing at Stanford University. He then moved to New York City and
worked as a laborer and journalist for five years, until he completed his first novel in 1929,
Cup of Gold. With the publication of Tortilla Flat in 1935, Steinbeck achieved fame and
became a popular author. He wrote many novels about the California laboring class. Two of
his more famous novels included Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck got
the title for Of Mice and Men from a line of Robert Burns, a Scottish poet, “The best laid
schemes of mice and men often go awry." In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck includes the
theme of loyalty and sacrifice between friends. Steinbeck illustrates the loyalty and sacrifice
between friends through the friendship of Lennie and George.

The issue of loyalty is embodied in the character of George. He is an intelligent man who
could make a successful living for himself on his own. He chooses to stay beside his friend
Lennie. George can never get a steady job to fulfill his long-term goal of having his own farm.
The first job that Lennie and George have together goes well for a while. Eventually Lennie
ruins everything that is going good for them. Lennie sees a pretty dress that a girl is wearing.
Without thinking about what he is doing, he goes up and grabs the dress to feel the nice
fabric. This scares the girl and she tells the boss. Soon the whole town is after Lennie. This is
the perfect time for George to start a new life, without Lennie. However, because of his
loyalty to Lennie, he chooses to help Lennie escape from the
town. Lennie needs George to survive. It is this that propels George to make the sacrifice
that he does. After Lennie kills Curley’s wife, George knows that this is the end for Lennie.
No matter what, someone will eventually kill
Lennie. And if Lennie gets away this time, there will be another time, and eventually the
inevitable will happen. He truly loves Lennie, so he shoots Lennie painlessly in the back of
the head. Lennie dies with the happy thought of the dream of the farm they want to own
some day. George truly loves Lennie through thick and thin. He protects him, he guides him,
and ultimately saves him from misery. George has sacrificed a better life for himself in the
name of loyalty for a friend.

Steinbeck shows that the loyalty and sacrifice between friends will make people do
whatever they can for their friend. George showed an immense amount of loyalty and
sacrifice to his friend Lennie by staying with Lennie through thick and thin. George goes
through getting kicked out of place after place, and losing job after job for his friend Lennie.
Ultimately George gives the best gift to Lennie he can, the gift of peace. No matter what
happens, George stays with Lennie even if it means him sacrificing a better life to be with his
best friend.

27
The Solitaire Metaphor in Of Mice and Men

In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George Milton is shown many times playing the
game of Solitaire, a card game which requires only one man and a pack of playing cards. His
companion, Lennie Small is never asked to play cards or other games because George knows
emphatically that Lennie is incapable of such a mental task. Although Lennie and George are
companions, George has the idea of being "solitaire" to be no longer burdened by Lennie's
company. Solitaire, meaning alone, is a metaphor for the loneliness that many of the
characters feel in the novel. John Steinbeck shows in Of Mice and Men, that all human
beings are essentially alone.

"I ain't got no people. I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no
good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all
the time... 'Course Lennie's a God damn nuisance most of the time, but you get used to goin'
around with a guy an' you can't get rid of him" . George proclaims his view on loneliness to
give a reason for his connection with Lennie. This connection George has with Lennie makes
the two of them unique to the rest of the characters. Many of the men on the ranch have a
dream, but only Lennie and George have a chance of obtaining it. Essentially, John Steinbeck
wants to show that although George and Lennie have the advantage of being a team, they
will never accomplish it because all human beings are in essence, alone. Thus, George's
constant playing of the game of solitaire foreshadows his eventual decision to become a
solitary man.

John Steinbeck demonstrates loneliness of Crooks, the black handicap. He has a strong
difference from the rest of the crew, as he must live in a separate room from the rest of the
workers. He attempts to explain this to Lennie, "S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you
couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that?
S'pose you had to sit out here an' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark,
but then you got to read books. Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him.
A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's
with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick" . Nobody in the novel ever
feels any sort of empathy or even try to comprehend what Crooks is saying. This is
Steinbeck's mechanism for displaying isolation and solitariness.

Another character who feels loneliness because of discrimination is Candy. Not only is he
old, but he is also missing a hand. After his only truly prized possession is taken away from
him because of bad odor and old age, Candy himself feels worried that the crew will do away
with him. Candy feels very unaccompanied and useless. "I ought to of shot that dog myself,
George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog." . The connection between
Lennie and George and Candy and his dog is very similar. The same gun is used to break the
relationship in both scenarios and the same method is used as well. Steinbeck seems to be
saying that laborers are always going to be lonely and rootless.

Of Mice and Men has a very common theme that all men are ultimately lonely. Steinbeck's
characters; George, Crooks, and Candy all experience a sense of loneliness everyday in their

28
lives and although friends can be made, they will always conclusively have no one to be with.
So what is the source for the loneliness? Poverty is a great element. Crooks is the only one
with money and that is resulting the loss of his hand. Another is discrimination of age, sex, or
race. The final factor for the theme of loneliness in Steinbeck's writing is the lack of a true
home, which causes isolation and solitariness.

Foreshadowing

In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, foreshadowing is used a great deal
throughout the whole story. From the beginning to the end, it appears everywhere hinting
on what will happen in order to make the book more enjoyable. It was used to show that
Lennie will be getting into trouble with Curley's wife, the death of Lennie, and exactly how
he dies.

The moment that Curley's wife was introduced, an ill feeling overcomes the atmosphere
indicating that Lennie will be getting into a mess with her. George states in the very
beginning that he is always getting into mishaps, "You do bad things and I got to get you
out,". The situation in Weed involved a girl and Curley's wife just happened to be the only
girl on the ranch. Connecting ends with ends, there is a sense of insecurity between these
two people. Later on, there was an intimation that she was going to be killed by Lennie
because he killed the mouse and the puppy, leading to bigger deaths such as Curley's wife.

Foreshadowing plays a large role in indicating that Lennie isn't going to last long in this harsh
world. The beginning introduces this world in such a great way, raising your emotions with a
happy tone in a wonderful peaceful scene and then sends that scene plummeting over a cliff
into a dark unhappy environment. The strong characters in this environment attack the weak
and the weak attack the weaker. An example of the strong against the weak is when Carlson
compels Candy, "I'll put the old devil out of his misery right now," to let him shoot his dog.
An example of the weak attacking the weaker is when Crooks teases Lennie, "jus' s'pose he
don't come back," Lennie is the weakest because of his mental disability and his lack of
thinking for himself. He would either run away or be eliminated through death. Candy and
his dog mirror the image of George and Lennie. Candy being George and his dog being
Lennie. When the dog dies, it foreshadows his death because the dog represented him. The
contrast between the first chapter and the last also shows his death because the same scene
goes from the peaceful field to the violent death of the water snake. This deep change hints
on the upcoming tragedy, Lennie's demise.

The fact that the death of Candy's dog and the death of Lennie are identical reflects on the
way his murder was carried out. He was shot by in the back of the head the same way the
dog was. Candy told George, "I ought to of shot that dog myself" making him chose to kill
Lennie himself to save him from dying by the hands of a stranger. Doing it the way that
Carlson did it was for the best because, "He won't even feel it."

Steinbeck used the technique of foreshadowing to make the book Of Mice and Men more
than just merely a book. He made it a book where the reader can predict what will happen
before it happens through hints in the surrounding events. Curley's Wife's death was
foreshadowed by Lennie's reputation as a troublemaker, his own death was foreshadowed
through relationships between characters and the use of contrast, and the way he was killed
was shown through Candy's dog's death. Although Steinbeck cannot recreate a Shakespeare,
he has created his own "Steinbeck" style which no one else can recreate.

29
Effects of Lonliness

Loneliness affects everyone at one time or another. Loneliness changes the way a person
thinks and behaves. Seclusion can have various effects on a person. The person may become
bitter and suffer from denial of the friendships that he needs. Loneliness also can derive
from several places within an individual. He will isolate himself away from others because he
thinks they will hurt him, which may be true, but not in all cases. This situation is similar to
Crooks's situation in Of Mice and Men. Then there are those that are not sociably
compatible. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie's mental condition and Curley's Wife's actions make
them unable to be sociably compatible. They may be overtly vicious or even not popular in
society because of their condition. Being cruel to others or not being popular in society will
make other people not relate with them. Loneliness can change the way a person acts,
thinks or behaves in everyday relationships/situations. In John Steibeck's Of Mice and Men,
loneliness alters Crooks, Lennie, and Curley's wife in numerous ways of life.

Loneliness has made Crook's a very bitter and isolated individual. He is truly not able to leave
this situation because of his race. The other men at the ranch do not relate with Crooks
unless he is working because he is black. Other than when they are working, the other men
shut Crooks out off all of their activities except horseshoes. Crooks are very isolated and not
welcome in leisure activities. He has become bitter and known to lash out at people because
of the loneliness that he has. Crooks's emotions are displayed to the reader when he talks to
Lennie in his room about having no one to relate to and communicate with. He states:
"Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he's goin' to come back. S'pose you
didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy `cuase you
was black...A guy needs somebody--to be near him". In a way, everyone needs someone to
talk to, whether it is a friend, family member, or even a pet. This is a source of comfort and
wealth for the person. Crooks does not have any of these sources. Crooks has never been
treated well by any of his co-workers because he is black. This has affected Crooks greatly.
He has become bitter and has obtained a passionate animosity toward everyone. He has a
certain demeaner toward everyone due to the way he is treated because of his race. In
addition, Crooks also does not know how to relate and function normally anymore because
of how his loneliness has affected him. Crooks's animosity was exemplified when Lennie
comes into his room unannounced. He greets Lennie with: "Come on in and set a
while...'Long as you won't get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down." Crooks
has been lonely for so long that he expects people not to talk to him. When Lennie comes in
and does not have any intention of hurting him, he realizes it and he let's his guard down. It
may seem that he doesn't desire friendships or affection, but he no longer knows how to
deal with his loneliness. It has made him into another person, one that obtains a relentless
hostility toward anyone and everyone that gets close to him.

Curley's wife's loneliness has altered her demeanour towards others tremendously, making
her overtly insecure and excessively flirtatious. Curley's wife has become virtually another
person because of loneliness. The men on the ranch avoid her because of flirtatious
personality to keep out of trouble. No one understands her situation and how loneliness
affects her. Her insecurity is evident by the way she dresses and utilizes her make-up. She

30
uses her appearance to receive attention like when "[Curley's Wife] was standing there
looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails
were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton housedress
and red mules, on the steps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers". Curley's
Wife feels she must dress this way for people to acknowledge her and give her attention.
Her dressing-up is entirely unnecessary because they live on a farm and this is not the typical
clothing. The way she dresses/makes herself up proves her insecurity and her inability to feel
good about who she really is. Curley's Wife dresses inappropriately along with acting in
flirtatious ways. This is another attempt for the attention she believes she does not get. Her
coyness is obvious when she, ."..put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door
frame so that her body was thrown forward". Curley does not give his wife to love and
affection that she desires. This makes her seek it from other people. By not talking to anyone
and constantly worrying about what Curley will do, she has attained a slyness that does not
appeal to anyone on the ranch. Acting in flirtatious ways is the only way Curley's Wife thinks
she can deal with her loneliness.

Loneliness accounts for much of Lennie's inner conflicts, his dream for the farm, and the
desire for friendship/affection. His desire for friendship/affection makes him have a
obsession for soft objects. The relationships in Lennie's life do not provide him with a
sufficient amount of care and affection that Lennie needs. This leads him to desire soft items
such as a mouse, a puppy, a rabbit, or even a dress for a source of comfort. Wanting these
soft items is his effort to achieve companionship that he does not acquire from anyone else.
Lennie has become aware of his actions when he deals with the soft items. He takes certain
precautions and listens to whatever George or other people tell him so he will not lose the
opportunity to have such items as his puppy. Lennie shows his cautiousness towards George
when he states: "Give `um to me George. I'll take `um back. I didn't mean no harm, George.
Honest. I didn't. I jus' wanted to pet `um a little". Loneliness has made Lennie very cautious
towards others because he has to worry about getting in trouble. His ideas about the farm,
rabbits, mice, and puppies all derive from his obsession/need for a friendlier and more
interactive lifestyle. Lennie's lifestyle now does not permit him to obtain this specific way of
life with affability. His mental condition along his uncontrollable strength makes him unable
to achieve this sociability. He still is not aware of this. Lennie's feelings and emotions are
portrayed to the reader when he sees the rabbit and Aunt Clara. He says: "I tried Aunt Clara,
ma'am. I tried. I couldn't help it...I'll go right off in the hills an' I'll fin' a cave an' I'll live there
so I won't be no more trouble to George". Lennie was basically in denial of his own
loneliness. Loneliness has made Lennie want a better life for himself. This involves these soft
items and the dream for his/George's farm. He believes at the farm he will not have to deal
with all the problems that he has now. Lennie became unrealistic in many ways because of
both his condition and his loneliness. Lennie most likely would have never obtained the farm
or the soft items even if he wasn't killed, but his loneliness serves as motivation for these
goals.

Loneliness has tremendously affected the behavior and thoughts of Crooks, Lennie and
Curley's Wife. There are distinct changes in each person. Crooks has developed a bitter
personality, Curley's Wife has become excessively coy, and Lennie has obtained a desire for
soft items in addition to his desire for the farm. Simple relationships and unconditional care
could have prevented each one of these character's situations. Loneliness has affected each
person differently, but the source of why they changed is the same.

31
Trapped Characters

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey
a message of how the characters feel. A lot of the stereotypes and clichés are just common
beliefs of the times, but a few are situational. To quote a quite distinguished reader,
"Characters are ‘trapped’- either by what others think of them, or by their situation." A lot of
the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them will lead to
loneliness.

Crooks is a character who is mistreated in many ways because he is black. Crooks is the
stable buck of the barn. It’s not certain whether Crooks is his name, or his nickname, but we
know he got kicked in the back by a horse and had a crooked back ever since. Nevertheless
he gets yelled at by the boss every time something’s wrong. " ‘The boss gives him hell when
he’s mad. But the stable buck don’t give a damn about that,’ " says Candy. Crooks also isn’t
allowed in the bunk houses because people say he stinks. Crooks talks with Lennie in the
book, "Crooks laughed again. ‘A guy can talk to you an’ be sure you won’t go blabbin’.". This
most likely makes Crooks feel not wanted at all, Which roots to loneliness.

Lennie is not so much stereotyped, but rather trapped because of his size. Because Lennie is
so big, Curley thinks he has to prove something by beating up Lennie. Lennie gets on Curley’s
bad side when he didn’t do anything wrong. Lennie is then forced to fight. " ‘I don’t want no
trouble,’ he said plaintively. ‘Don’t let him sock me, George.’ " This is not an everyday
discrimination like racism. It’s one of those circumstantial incidents that was described in
quote in the introduction. This is an excellent example of how John Steinbeck uses
extraordinary circumstances to create appeal and realism to the reader. Curley’s wife is
probably the most loathed on the ranch. Because of the way she looks and acts, people think
she is easy, or a "tart". " ‘Jesus, what a tramp,’ he said. ‘So that’s what Curley picks for a
wife.’ " said George. She just wants someone to talk to. Guys on the ranch don’t like her
because they think she’ll get them in trouble. They make judgments without getting to know
her first. Curley, her husband, doesn’t trust her with the other ranch hands. She was just out
of place on that ranch, And because of that, must have been a real lonely person with lonely
feelings.

George is stereotyped in a mild, but serious way. People think that because of the way he
keeps Lennie out of trouble and travels with him, George is taking his pay from him. " ‘Say—
what you sellin’?’ ‘Huh?’ I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ his pay away from
him?’ " said the Boss in the beginning of the book. This is another unusual stereotype.
Because it seems like nothing, the reader doesn’t get it unless they think about it. It sounds
like no big deal at first, but to be called a liar and a cheat is a very heavy feeling to bear.

Stereotypes make up a lot of this novel. If someone took out the stereotypical statements,
the symbolism and "the dream", all they would have left would be page numbers.

32
The Deceitful George in Of Mice and Men

Steinbeck gives a lot of reasons for George to stay with Lennie, but his critics also have some
merit in their criticism that the story isn't believable. Steinbeck's critics suggest that
Steinbeck is "simply sentimental in this regard." There are some very compelling reasons
George would like to stay with Lennie... but being "sentimental," towards Lennie has nothing
to do with it.

George and Lennie's ultimate goal is to "get the jack together," buy a few acres of land they
can call their own, "an' live off the fatta the lan'." George talks in great depth about how
their dream house is going to have individual rooms, a kitchen with a fat iron stove, and an
orchard. But, George only recites this yarn when he wants to get Lennie calmed down.
Lennie has the mentality of an 8 year old, the memory of a senile 80 year old, and only
desires to tend rabbits. George fully understands that Lennie can easily be manipulated.
Even though the dream to have a piece of land is shared, George knows that by himself he
cannot amass a large enough "stake," to buy it himself." Just as the boss thought, George
was "takin' his pay away from him."

Throughout the story George recites a description of how easy his life could be if he didn't
have to keep up with Lennie. "God a'mighty," he could "get a job, an' work, an' no trouble."
At the end of the month, he could take his 50 bucks and go into town and buy whatever he
wanted. George says these things like he's only teasing, but in actuality he's dead serious.
George started building his alibi when he first arrived at the farm. He wanted to seem like he
deeply cared for Lennie, and that Lennie was an overall good person. George then
strengthened his alibi, and gave a glimpse of his true motives when he talked to George
about why he stopped making fun of Lennie. George said that he told Lennie to "jump in,"
and that Lennie did it and "he damn near drowned." To Slim, George's story would sound
like a confessional. The truth is George was probably upset at Lennie, and tried to kill him.

One day George was spinning his tall tale about the farm to Lennie, when Candy overheard
and offered to pitch in $350 dollars towards buying the piece of land. Candy also
commented that he would "make a will an' leave my share," to George and Lennie in case he
"kick off." Luck, was finally in Georges favor. With Candy's money, George would only have
to work a few short months to earn the rest of the money needed to pay for the piece of
land. Also, since Candy was an old man, he would die soon and George would be left with
the entire farm to himself. He could finally live out his dream of living in solitude, going into
town, "get a gallon of whiskey, and sit in a ball room and shoot pool or play cards." George
now had a motive, an alibi, and a chance to make his dream come true. The only problem
now was, Lennie. George like a cool calculating machine, waited patiently for Lennie to do
something stupid like he would inevitably do. When Lennie accidentally killed When George
caught up with Lennie, Lennie asked him to tell him how it "was gonna be." George looked
"business-like." He reached in Lennie's pocket, and deviously took out Lennie's gun. George
told Lennie to look across the river, and Lennie obeyed. George "pulled the trigger," and
"the crash of the shot rolled up the hills and down again."

33
Summary

Of Mice and Men (1937), written in the same genre as The Grapes of Wrath, that of a
story about migrant farm workers and their lives as a reflection on society, was the
book that thrust Steinbeck into the limelight as a national celebrity. He won many
awards and honors including being picked as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men
of the Year. Steinbeck's style is what earned this praise, that of a natural flow of
words which are simple in form but complex in their meaning. He painstakingly
describes each setting as the reader is introduced to it, showing not just the general
layout but an "insider's view" detailing the sensory perceptions evoked by the area
("A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank
and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the
yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool.") Feelings evoked by
Steinbeck's entrances are unable to be duplicated except by those who know the
subject matter personally, a trait that he possesses having grown up in an agricultural
valley in Salinas, California. His upbringing on the backdrop for many of his books
enables Steinbeck to go beyond the paper and print of a book and create life in his
characters. He expresses their joys and pains with such precision that the reader feels
as if the characters were personal acquaintances and not just fictitious. The following
is a brief synopsis of Of Mice and Men.

George, a small man with restless eyes and strongly defined features, is leading his
companion Lennie, a large, clumsy man with a shapeless face and wide sloping
shoulders, down a path to a pool of water. There they drink and camp before heading
to a ranch the next day to start work. George scolds Lennie for petting a dead mouse
and overall treats him as a parent would a child. George tells Lennie that if anything
bad happens while at the ranch to hide in the brush by the pond. The next morning,
they reach the ranch and have an "interview" with the boss who becomes suspicious
of Lennie for not answering any questions until George reassure him that although
Lennie is not bright, he is an excellent worker.

Curley, the boss's son and a small "handy" type of man, gives Lennie a hard time
which an old swamper explains is on account of Curley disliking those who were
bigger than he was. The swamper also said that Curley had just gotten married to a
"tart." George tells Lennie to stay away from Curley.

Curley's wife comes into the bunkhouse looking for Curley and Lennie thinks she is
"purty." George tells Lennie to stay away from her so they can "roll up a stake" and
buy their dream of their own land with crops of their own and rabbits.

George promises to ask Slim, the jerkline skinner, for one of his dog's puppies for
Lennie. Slim and George talk about Lennie while he pets his puppy in the barn.
Carlson, another ranch hand, convinces Candy, the swamper, that his old, half-blind

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dog should be shot to keep it from suffering. Carlson shoots it in the back of the head
with his Luger.

Curley comes looking for his wife and hurries to the barn when he finds out Slim is
there.

George tells Lennie about their dream again.

Candy hears it and offers to give his $350 to share in the dream. They plan on buying
ten acres in a month.

Candy thinks that he should have shot his dog himself.

Lennie is smiling about their dream and his rabbits when Curley and Slim come back
with Curley on the defensive ready to lash out. He picks a fight with Lennie for
smiling and beats on him until George tells Lennie to let him have it. Lennie mauls
Curley's hand.

Everyone but Lennie, Candy, and Crooks, the Negro stable buck, goes to Susy's for
prostitutes and whiskey. All three end up in Crooks' room with Crooks revealing his
loneliness and asking to be included in the dream.

Curley's wife stops by Crooks' room out of loneliness and finds she is unwanted there.
The next day, while everyone was playing horseshoes, Lennie lay in the barn with his
now dead puppy. (He killed it by smacking it for trying to bite him). He worries that
George won't let him tend the rabbits now. Curley's wife comes in out of loneliness
and lets Lennie touch her soft hair. When she worries about him mussing it, she gets
agitated and starts to yell. Lennie is scared by this and shakes her to make her stop,
breaking her neck in the process. He realizes this is a bad thing and goes to the brush
George told him to go to.

When Curley's wife's body is found by Candy, George steals Carlson's Luger and
goes to the brush. He shoots Lennie in the back of the head with it to avoid him
suffering at the hands of Curley and the others who wanted to lynch him.

The main theme of this novel is that "mean" people are not animals but are fragile,
lonely people whose cynicism, regret, and confrontational attitude are the results of
their rejection by the majority. Every character in this novel is depicted on a scale of
"meanness." This assessment is detailed as a recurring motif throughout the novel.
"Meanness" directly correlates to loneliness or being an outcast and vice versa. The
following descriptions of Crooks and Curley's wife are examples of this connection.

Crooks does his job well and "can pitch shoes" better than the others, but he is
isolated from any friendship by his race. Being black, Crooks is forced to live in a
small room off of the barn and is not allowed in the bunkhouse. Thus he keeps to
himself and is perceived by the others to be "aloof." He is so conditioned to his
constant solitude that when Lennie tries to "set down with him" he rejects his
unconditional friendship at first with harsh words and a "mean" attitude, scaring the
simple-minded Lennie by suggesting that George might never come back. Eventually

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his "meanness" crumbles when he realizes Lennie's uncorrupted views are sincere,
revealing a lonely man who only wants someone to talk to.

Curley's wife is regarded by the men as a tart who is only a harbinger of trouble since
she is married to Curley, the boss's son and a very "handy" man. Due to this, she is
put off whenever attempting a conversation with anyone and is seemingly always
looking for Curley or companionship of any form throughout the book. She is "mean"
to Crooks and Candy, a black man and an old swamper, pointing out their inequities,
but when Crooks reverses the situation on to her, she plays the "race card" and
reminds him that she "could get [him] strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny."
She is the most pathetic character of this novel. Not only is she nameless, but she is
stuck in a loveless marriage, isolated from all her former dreams of being in
"pitchers," and is so lonely that she must seek a relationship with Lennie, a man she
thinks is "nuts" and would normally be below her standards. Her death at Lennie's
hands is ironic because it actually improves her well-being, allowing "the meanness
and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention" to all leave her,
making her "face sweet and young."

On the other hand, Lennie, a simple childlike man of enormous strength, is known by
all as a guy who's not mean at all. He kills everything he loves (the mouse, the puppy,
Curley's wife) yet is never thought to be mean. But without George's constant mantra
emphasizing that Lennie is not mean, Lennie would have been sent to the "booby
hatch" where they would "tie [him] up with a collar, like a dog." Thus, to not be
considered "mean," Lennie relies on his relationship with George to verify his
"innocence."

But ironically, George has to kill Lennie and consequentially their relationship in
order to maintain Lennie's "innocence." This pervading theme of "meanness" being a
fragile shell of loneliness signifies Steinbeck's sympathy for the outcasts of society,
relating their demeanor to be a product of their environment and no fault to
themselves.

The title is also significant for it symbolizes the circular pattern of the novel. The
"mice" of the novel, or the things Lennie loves to pet (the mouse, puppy, and Curley's
wife), are killed by being loved too much, while the men of the novel, George and
Lennie, have their relationship and thus their lives destroyed by the "mice."

Overall, Of Mice and Men, is a masterpiece of American literature. Its simplicity of

style in its free flowing dialogue veils the complicated nature of the story, with its
statement on society's judgements. This book is a significant piece of American
literature in that it reveals the basic truth that man needs companionship; without it he
loses himself in a cloud of contempt, rejection, and loneliness. I loved reading this
book. I was enticed by its abundance of analogous characters and was constantly
thinking up new ways to interpret them. For me, this is the fun part of reading and it is
what made this book great in my mind. Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is not so much a
novel of two men and their friendship as it is a strong statement that society's
judgements of people are subject to the position that the majority shares. Thus only
those who know the judged well, their friends, can make such judgements for
otherwise we would all be thrown in the "booby hatch" and be "collared, like . . .

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dog[s]." Each one of us has irregularities, but if judged solely on those differences,
without explanation of them, we would all be guilty.

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