...dream of owning their own land and livestock. George and Lennie work to achieve their dream by working successfully on a ranch in California until Lennie kills Curley’s wife accidentally. Sacrifice and friendship is exhibited when George kills Lennie at the end of the book. George gives Lennie a more peaceful death, but in return he has to live in isolation without his best friend. The previous statements are justification for, in fact George is right to have killed Lennie. Readers are prepared for the killing of Lennie by George when Candy decides to let Carlson shoot his dog. Candy later reveals his regret by stating, “‘I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.’”(61). If George left Lennie’s killing up to the other men that worked on the ranch, Lennie would have likely had a more gruesome death. If George had made decided not to take responsibility and shoot Lennie, he...
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...In the novel, “Of mice and men” Jhon Steinbeck makes explicit that Lennie’s strength is his worst enemy. Throughout the novel Lennie’s burliness gets him into various sorts of trouble as he is unable to control it. His physical strength, as well as his lack of dependence and common sense, are all major downfall’s which get Lennie in continuos trouble. Lennie’s physical muscularity and his lack of controlling it, is one of his biggest obstacles. In the novel there are various scenes where Lennie’s physical strength gets the best of him and he is unable to control it. On page 64 of the novel, Lennie is seen fighting with Curley where he breaks his hand from clenching it so hard. This is made evident when George shouts over to Lennie, “Leggo his hand, Lennie. Leggo. Slim, come help me while the guy got any hand left”. This quote shows that Lennie does not realize how powerful he is and that he does not know how to control his strength, without himself getting into trouble. Another example that re-emphasizes this, is when Lennie is in the barn with Curley’s wife. In the barn Lennie is seen roughly pulling Curley’s wife’s hair while she is screaming for help. This is...
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...about us.” (Steinbeck 14). In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck two men have a dream. George and Lennie believe they have a future. They believe that they are special, they are different from the other men on the ranch. George describes a dream farm, which I believe is his and Lennie’s American dream. The dream farm symbolizes the quote “The best laid schemes Of Mice and Men often go wrong and leave us nought but grief and pain for promised joy.” As you can see the dream farm plays a major role in the story. In the story Of Mice and Men the dream farm is a huge symbol of the American dream during the great depression. Off of prior knowledge I know that the American dream during the great depression was to own land. George and Lennie’s American dream is to own their own ranch. The dream farm shows their American dream compared to others on the ranch. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and the first thing you know they’re poundin their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.” (13) George...
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...trying to find a job because of Lennie’s wrongdoings. Withal, in the Bunkhouse, many conflicts arise as these migrant workers join the ranch. Steinbeck uses the lives of George and Lennie to demonstrate the...
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...CHAPTER FIVE QUESTIONS 1) How does Steinbeck use the setting in chapter 5 to create atmosphere and build tension. Find quotes from his descriptions of the barn and the events outside it. The way he create tensions is bye curlers wife saying that “imp doing no harm” the reason why this creates tension is because she tryst to bring lenis grad down so that he will talk to her and to use him to her advantage 2) Curley’s wife’s death is predictable. Which past events in the novel have suggested that it might happen? Yes because lennie previous mishap led him to grabbing a girls arm and not letting go because he was scared 3) What do we learn about Curley’s wife’s past and current life in this chapter? We learn that she has been offered jobs in the movies were as know her opportunities have ended and she is now stuck with the life of a farmer’s wife. Not being allowed to speak to another men and not allowed to go out. 4) How does Lennie’s reaction to the death of the pup and Curley’s wife show just how childlike he is? Because he was shouting at the bodies “why did you have to do that, now George is not going to let me tend to rabbits” the reason why this makes him childish is because he is talking to a dead body about how naughty they have been. 5) Why does Candy ‘lie down in the hay and cover his eyes’ at the end of the chapter? Find evidence for his feelings from earlier on in the chapter and note these quotations down. The reasons why...
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...Slim and Carlson were giving Curley a hard time about his wife's carelessness. Lennie is smiling during this event. Even though Lennie is thinking about the ranch, this is not the time nor place to be smiling. Curley says brutally, '"What the hell you laughin' at?'" (Steinbeck 62). In this quote Curley shows he is heated. He is also putting all of the blame for the situation with his wife on Lennie. This tends to be a theme throughout the book causing more trouble. After Curley confronts Lennie, he becomes very aggressive. "Curley was balanced and poised. He lashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right"(...
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...and |In this quote we can identify that Steinbeck is portraying Curley’s wife as an ostrich. Unable to fly, meaning CW can’t leave or escape the ranch. This represents that she is stuck and will never be able to leave. This goes back to portraying her as a lonely woman. It can also portray that she shows off and for that reason she is unable to leave because she no one would care in the outside world. | |Two |34 |‘For the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off’ |Obstacle, trap and as a distraction. |Connotations, imagery and descriptive language |Connotes that she is an evil character who cuts the hopes and dreams of innocent men such as Lennie and George. This is portraying the Curley’s wife is an evil character and warning us that George’s and Lennie’s dreams will always be cut off if she is in the way. | |Two |35 |‘But I have never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her’ |Whore and a trouble. |Connotations and imagery |In this quote Steinbeck shows what the ranch workers think of her. A girl who will get you in trouble due to her level in the hierarchy. | |Two |34 |‘Nobody can’t blame a person for looking’ |Flirty |Symbolism |In this quote it symbolises how the Curley’s wife is always pointing out the obvious. This is if someone like George is ignoring here he will look at here and then she will feel that she is getting attention. | |Two |35 |‘She was suddenly apprehensive’ |Scared |Symbolism Portrayal |In this quote we see how the Curley’s wife is presented...
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...brought trouble wherever he went, such as touching a little girl’s dress out of curiosity, causing him and George to be run out of weed, losing their jobs. He was also too dumb to understand the consequences of his actions, such as drinking water from a stagnant pool as demonstrated in this quote; “ ‘Lennie. You gonna be sick like you was last night’...’You drink some George. You take a good big drink.’ He smiled happily.” (Steinbeck, 3). Lennie was a danger to others, he killed many animals by accident, and then was only mildly concerned. He was “too stupid to know his own strength” (Steinbeck, 62), which caused serious issues, such as when he broke Curley’s hand. This resulted in Curley hating Lennie even more, and an illogical and emotional reaction to the death of his wife,...
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...conveys that selfish intentions cause loneliness as seen through friendship and desire. For example, In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie's friendship is rooted in selfish purposes. Steinbeck promotes this concept when George speaks to Lennie, “ Cause I want you to stay with me.”(Steinbeck 13). Indicating to the reader that while George had a “want” for Lennie to be his companion, there was no need for Lennie to stay with George other than...
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...George described this event, saying: “Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch ever’thing he likes [...] so he reaches out to feel this red dress [...] and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do” (Steinbeck 41). In this quote, there is repetition in the action of touching, which shows its importance. This repeated action shows how Lennie’s first instinct is to act in this manner. In our society, a major component of respect is how you touch people. You won’t normally go up and hug a random stranger. Rather than reaching out to people with words and conversation, Lennie immediately moves to physical reaching out, which would be a mistake in a world where impressions are everything. Then in the hours upon arriving at the ranch, Lennie has already made another drastic mistake when Curley began to attack him. “Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached out for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand” (Steinbeck 62). Curley is delineated in this quote with a simile of being like a fish, described as flopping about and struggling. Simply upon reading these words, the reader feels...
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...George and Lennie, dream of owning their own land. This land would allow them to support themselves, but more importantly, would help them to protect themselves from the harsh world around them. George and Lennie’s dream of owning their own land leads them on a journey which, unfortunately, causes them to realize the difficulty and almost impossibility of possessing it. Prior to the climax of the story, certain significant evens virtually cause the downfall of the dreams that most of the characters possess. The willingness and difficulty of fulfilling a dream is a key theme in the novel, shown not only by George and Lennie, but by most characters in this novel as well. To begin, George and Lennie are not the only ones desiring to acquire their own land land. Candy, the old swamper, also longs to abandon his old life and start anew one with land of his own. He decides to convince George and Lennie to allow him to accompany them on their journey. George says, "I gotta think about that. We was always gonna do it by ourselves." Candy interrupted him, "I'd make a will an' leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, 'cause I ain't got no relatives or nothing…" This...
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...Unfortunately, Lennie suffers from an unnamed mental illness, which warps his judgement on the austerity of his actions. Throughout the novel, Lennie fights with Curley and breaks his hand, accidentally kills mice, a puppy, and Curley’s wife. Lennie never intends to hurt anyone, and feels compunction after he causes trouble as shown in his monologue after he kills his puppy, “‘Why do you got to get killed?… Now maybe George ain't gonna let me tend no rabbits, if he fin’s out you got killed’” (Steinbeck 85). This quote displays Lennie’s inability to truly understand the extent of his actions, and presents Lennie’s intentions as not harmful. While Lennie causes accidental chaos, Slim possesses similar violent tendencies; however, unlike Lennie, he displays it intentionally. Slim’s dog gives birth, and to ensure no malnutrition he nonchalantly states, “‘Nine of ‘em. I drowned four of ‘em right off. She couldn't feed that many’” (Steinbeck 35). Like Lennie, his intentions were not malicious; however, he drowns these puppies without any emotion. His emotionlessness attributes itself to the ongoing desensitization occurring throughout the United...
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...happy. On the other hand, bad relations are created when people are sneaky and selfish, like Curley and his wife. They made bad decisions and are unsympathetic towards each other, which is the opposite of what a loving married couple should do. Being loyal and not putting yourself first is hard, especially as a ranch worker in the book Of Mice and Men. This book takes place in California during the Great Depression. Throughout the book, they show the many problems that workers in general have to face. They also portray the idea of the...
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...because of their age. In Crooks’s little shed Curly’s wife gets mad at him for telling her to leave. “Crooks seemed to grow smaller and he pressed himself against the wall. “Yes ma’am” “Well, you keep your place when nigger. I could get you strung up on so easy, it ain’t even funny.” This extract uses Curly’s speech by how Curly’s wife says “I could get you strung up on so easy, it ain’t even funny” tells us the reader how society was cruel and how people can be treated so badly because of their...
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...Howley and Bernstein illustrate the idea of Lester being a fish, this is first shown after Lester murders his wife when you see the poster that sais ‘what if you are right and they are wrong’. This is appearing as Lester is shown up until this point as a cowardly fish, with his wife threatening to leave him and even saying that she would have been better off without him. This leads him to crack in which you see him accidently kill his wife and call the mysterious man he met at the hospital, who then became Lester’s idol of sorts with him being Lester’s image of the perfect man, when this happens you can feel his change from cowardly to his sudden surge of uncontrollable anger, similarly to a shark. With Fargo always playing with the idea of the food chain, this shows the evolution of his character from goldfish to a shark, which illustrates the idea that Lester could only ever be one of two kinds of men, a dimwitted small man who was a failure in his partner's eyes, or a smart strong crazed murderer, both of these...
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