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Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
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Notes & Analysis
Overview
John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men takes place in the 1930s during the Great Depression in California, south of Soledad. The novella is narrated from the third person omniscient perspective and focuses mainly upon the two principal characters George Milton and Lennie Small. The two aforementioned men travel across America, like so many men at that time, in search of any work that would financially compensate them. George and Lennie aspire not just to earn a wage, but to attain something far more important; their dream. Their dream, most simply stated, is to earn enough money to buy a piece of land and to live a self-sustaining existence that is devoid of power struggles, instability, humiliation, and so forth.
*My analysis will be italicized
**The questions you should answer will be highlighted in ORANGE
***The citations are culled from Penguin Books edition of this novella
Chapter 1
-The novella opens with Steinbeck vividly describing the natural habitat of Soledad. Wildlife, vegetation and a multitude of creatures are depicted as existing in a natural synchronicity. And from this synchronicity George Milton and Lennie Small emerge, not in contrast to their surroundings, but rather at home in them. Lennie's first action in the novel intends to conjure an animalistic association within the reader. He is described as flinging himself to the ground and drinking "from the surface of the green pool (...) with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse," (p.3). This is not intended as patronizing, but rather as indicative of his most defining traits; Lennie is unassuming, has no notion of how he might be perceived by others, he simply acts according to whim.
-On page 2 Steinbeck offers physical descriptions of both George and Lennie:
George: “small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin bony nose.”
Lennie: is very much George’s opposite because he is “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.”
George and Lennie share a complex dynamic, though it first surfaces as one fraught with conflict, frustration and resentment; George calls Lennie a “crazy bastard,” (p.4) due to his inability to remember basic details. Their interaction escalates (p.4-6) when George discovers that Lennie has been carrying around and caressing a dead mouse. Lennie becomes distraught when George takes the mouse carcass and discards it.
-The mood quickly shifts and becomes tender and loving when George gives Lennie instructions concerning their latest work assignment (p.6-7). Immediately after this bitterness ensues when George declares that his life is burdened and stifled by Lennie, “God, you’re a lot of trouble (…) I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl,” (p.7).
These seemingly benign events at the outset of the novella reveal that George is a tortured man. George finds himself consumed by resentment and frustration, yet he evidently cares immensely for Lennie. Because George is a loyal friend he cares for Lennie, yet it is this loyalty which has essentially ruined his life. George’s outburst on page 7 makes it evident that he holds Lennie entirely responsible for the instability in his life (caused by Lennie losing them countless jobs). He also attributes his inability to marry and settle to his burdensome devotion to caring for Lennie.
Ultimately it can be argued that George is most angry at himself; he is unable to abandon Lennie, but he also cannot make peace with the responsibility that he has taken on as his caregiver. Steinbeck seems to convey that Love and Loyalty are not sentiments to be romanticized; they are complex and difficult and demand much from those who offer it.
-The dead mouse is the source of another dispute between George and Lennie when Lennie retrieves it while searching for firewood. George has to threaten a physical attack before Lennie will release the carcass (p.8-9). Steinbeck goes to great lengths to depict this dead mouse, which seems inconsequential to the plot. However, it cannot be overlooked that this creature is the one referred to in the title of the novella.
What is the significance of the mouse carcass? Is it symbolic of something more substantial?
-In Of Mice and Men the dead mouse holds a lot of significance. First, it demonstrates the extent to which Lennie, while gentle, can also be dangerous despite a lack of intentionality. He is unaware of his brute nature, precisely because he is a kind and loving man on the whole. Therefore, the accidental killing of the mouse offers a foreshadowing of what is to come…
-The mouse also shows that the men, like mice, are unimportant and disposable. Like the mice, they just coexist in the ranch with no real future nor goal in sight.
-The title of the novel also suggests that there are 2 kinds of creatures in this world; Mice are weak creatures with no power, authority, freedom, etc. Whereas Men are the opposite; they have power, authority, and the ability to dominate their surroundings unfettered.
-Last the mouse demonstrates that people have the need to make meaningful connections with living creatures, especially when they are isolated. Lennie wanted something that would enable him to offer affection and love. The mouse provided that minor but essential comfort. Unfortunately, Lennie is just not capable of expressing his affection like a typical person and ends up accidentally killing or destroying everything he loves.
(http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-significance-dead-mouse-terms-what-might-tell-47319 Edited by C. Barnes)
-On page 11 George has an outburst and outlines all of the sacrifices he makes to be Lennie’s caregiver:
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Stability
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Financial Security/ Employment Security
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Freedom
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Normality: George cannot be a regular man with regard to friendships, romantic relationships
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Legal Trouble
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Fun
-Lennie’s response to the outburst demonstrates that he has some degree of intelligence because he knows how to manipulate George. He threatens to “go off in the hills,” and live alone in a cave (p. 12). George, impacted by the tactic and the pain he has inflicted upon Lennie, immediately retracts his statements.
-The central theme of the novel is revealed in the last pages of Chapter 1 (page 13-16) via Lennie and George’s dream. As the 2 men drift into sleep they recount their ambition to acquire a home and land that they would own. They would also aspire to occupy this land with creatures that will allow them to have a self-sustaining existence. This is the literal dream. Metaphorically George and Lennie truly aspire to attain:
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Freedom
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Self-Determination
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Self-Reliance
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Liberation from a society and values that they do not share
Lennie reluctantly reached into his pocket. [...] “I don’t know why I can’t keep it. It ain’t nobody’s mouse. I didn’t steal it. I found it lyin’ right beside the road.”
George’s hand remained outstretched imperiously. Slowly, like a terrier who doesn't want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again. George snapped his fingers sharply, and at the sound Lennie laid the mouse in his hand.
Chapter 2
-After arriving at the ranch the first conflict emerges. Curley, the boss’s son, is offended that George speaks for Lennie (p. 25-26). In this moment Steinbeck has set up a Man versus Man conflict. Now the reader will proceed in their reading with the anticipation of how this conflict will develop.
-Curley is depicted as “pretty handy” and a “lightweight” boxer (p.26). Steinbeck also intends for this boxing status to reflect Curley’s status as a man; as a man Curley is a lightweight, which is to say he lacks character, courage, integrity, strength. Curley is also depicted as insecure; as a little man he constantly picks fights with larger men to prove his worth or value as a man. On page 27 a perverse part of his character emerges as well; Curley makes it public knowledge that he fills a glove with Vaseline in order to keep his hand soft for the intimate moments he shares with his wife.
-Another source of conflict emerges when Curley’s wife enters the men’s bunkhouse. Despite being married and being surrounded entirely by unmarried men, she is described as having “rouged lips”, as being “heavily made up”, and so forth (p. 31) George characterizes Curley’s wife as “poison”, and “jail bait", and a “rat trap” (p.32) because she seems to intentionally create conflict by capturing the attention of the other men, despite being married. This is the source of yet another Man versus Man conflict.
Chapter 3
-George offers insight into his relationship with Lennie; He reveals to slim that he exploited and mocked Lennie until he almost killed him (p. 39-40). In the moment that he nearly killed Lennie, George discovered the full, unwavering, loyalty and love that Lennie had for him.
-What value does life have to the men on the ranch?
-What does the execution of Candy’s dog reveal about the men’s attitudes toward Candy himself?
-Was there a certain jealousy that motivated the execution of the dog?
-On page 62 Curley picks a fight with Lennie. Lennie allows Curley to attack him without retaliating until George gives him permission to fight back. At this moment the reader is offered a piercing glimpse into another facet of Lennie. Lennie is childlike, but there is a murderous rage that can be unleashed if aroused.
-The ranch workers all concur that Curley is at fault for the attack and force him not to tell his father the truth.
Chapter 4
-The main focus of this chapter is Crooks, the African-American ‘stable buck’. Crooks is forced to live in segregation from his white counterparts simply because he is black.
-This chapter does not necessarily advance the plot, but it offers piercing insight into several important factors that include;
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What it was like to be black in America at this time
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The true face of racism and segregation
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The importance of friendship and companionship
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The plausibility of dreams--- meaning whether or not dreams can come true
-The conversation between Crooks and Lennie is far more complex and sophisticated than might be initially apparent. Both men are part of what you might call the second or inferior class on the ranch; Crooks due to race, Lennie due to intellect.
-As the men converse Crooks is evidently exhilarated simply to interact with another human being, a rare occurrence in his life. However, Crooks also quickly realizes that for likely the first time in his life, this conversation offers him the opportunity to be superior to a white man, due to his superior intellect.
-Crooks seizes upon the unique opportunity and demands that Lennie consider the possibility that George might not return from his excursion into town with the other men. This of course triggers Lennie to panic. Lennie, however, demonstrates that perhaps Crooks’ sense of superiority is misguided because he aggressively approaches Crooks on the verge of attacking him, reminding Crooks of his physical superiority (p. 72).
-Lennie calms down after Crooks assures him that George is not hurt. However, his next point seems to be as much for Lennie’s benefit as it is for the reader’s. Once Lennie has experienced his brief moment of panic over the thought of losing George, Crooks explains, “Maybe you 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 bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black. [...] A guy needs somebody to be near him. [...] A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody,” (p. 73).
-This part of the conversation draws to a close with both men ultimately ending up on an equal level. Crooks essentially explains to Lennie that the momentary horror he experienced at the thought of being abandoned by George is the perpetual state of horror he lives in.
-Once Lennie and Candy recount their plans to buy land Crooks expresses an interest in joining them. The appeal for all men is equal; each of them craves freedom/ liberty (p. 76). Crooks expresses the intention to join them.
-Curley’s wife appears as the men are talking (p. 76-77). The men ask her to leave, but she resists and begins complaining about what an unpleasant man Curley is (p. 78).
-The tone of the scene shifts when Candy declares to Curley’s wife, “You ain’t wanted here,” (p. 79). Shortly after Crooks declares, “You ain’t got no rights comin’ in a colored man’s room [...]” (p. 80).
Curley’s wife replies in the most brutal manner possible, “Listen nigger...[y]ou know what I can do to you if you open your trap? [...] I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny,” (p. 80-81).
This moment shatters the dream for the men in general, but Crooks in particular. In general the guys have just been reminded that within the hierarchy of the world they are mice while she is of the Men. Curley’s wife may indeed be a woman, but she is still a white woman married to a rich white man. This confers power and authority to her that none of those men have. For Crooks this moment is significant because it shatters his hope and dreams; Lennie and Candy have a chance of making their dreams come true because they are white men. However, there is no chance that Crooks, a black man will ever see his dreams come true. This becomes particularly evident when Curley’s wife declares how easy it would be for her to have him murdered simply because she had the whim.
After she leaves Candy tells Crooks that she was wrong, but Crooks has already relinquished his dreams, “What she says is true,” (p. 82).
Chapter 5
-This chapter opens with Lennie in the barn distraught over the fact that he has accidentally killed his puppy (p. 84-86).
-Curley’s wife slips into the barn as Lennie grieves the puppy. Despite his initial objections, she soon starts to converse with Lennie (p. 86-87). Curley’s wife begins to explain that she is lonely, and despite the obvious differences between the two characters, certain similarities begin to emerge; both Lennie and Curley’s wife are not allowed to talk to anybody, both are lonely, both cause trouble where ever they go, etc.
-The two strike up a conversation that is rather intimate; both share their dreams. Lennie continues to yearn for land and rabbits. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, dreamed of being a celebrated actress in films (p. 88). She also confesses that she does not like her husband (p. 89). In Lennie, despite his obvious limitations, she has found someone to whom she can open up. Lennie yet again emerges as a nonjudgmental character that can be trusted; first it was Crooks, now Curley’s wife. The ranch rejects are drawn to Lennie, and perhaps the thematic link that unifies them is the fact that they all dream of achieving future ambitions that are all equally unattainable.
-Lennie and Curley’s wife begin to converse about their shared love for soft things prompting Curley’s wife’s invitation for Lennie to touch her soft hair (p. 90-91).
-Lennie begins to indelicately and unrelentingly stroke Curley’s wife’s hair, causing her to struggle and attempt to flee his intensifying grip. As the struggle continues, the narration ominously informs the reader that “her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck,” (p. 91).
* * *
A few words about Curley's wife
At the moment of her death it is worthwhile to assess the life of Curley’s wife. The first notable thing about this woman is that she has no name. It’s reasonable to infer that Steinbeck was attempting to use this character to serve as a commentary about the struggles of women. Curley’s wife was born with a name, a life, a personality, and all of the other things each individual is known to have. However, because she is a woman, all of those things cease to matter the moment she is married. In a patriarchal society (a society run and dominated by men) a woman relinquishes her identity and ostensibly becomes little more than an extension of or a possession of her husband. Thus, the reason that she does not have a name is because her name [in a patriarchal society] does not matter. She is defined solely based on the identity of her husband. With that in mind, consider how she is regarded by the characters in the novel; in short, Curley is universally hated and is viewed as a person who will cause trouble for anyone who crosses paths with him, this is precisely the case for his wife as well.
The ranch was her stage
Much is also made of the fact that Curley’s wife seems to seek and crave the attention of the ranch workers. She attires herself in revealing formal ware, heavy makeup and freshly styled hair, (etc.) and then prances around for all to see. Moments before her death Curley’s wife explained that she yearned to be an actress. Thus, linking the two previous points, it is evident that Curley’s wife has turned the ranch into her stage. Every day life is her performance and her audience is the ranch hands. She is a woman tormented by the fact that she was denied the dream for which she yearned so desperately. In short, perhaps it’s too simple to dismiss her a little more than a flirt.
Curley's wife & Crooks
Curley’s wife and Crooks are both characters that seem to have been depicted with largely symbolic intentions. Steinbeck designed them to serve as grand statements about gender and race, respectively. Curley’s wife is emblematic of all women who get eclipsed at the moment they link up with a man, etc. Crooks, on the other hand, is emblematic of black life at this time; the loneliness, the struggle, the vulnerability to the whims of a largely hateful white populace. In both cases it seems that Steinbeck was using these characters to trigger a reaction within the reader, perhaps to challenge the biases or entrenched views of the masses.
A woman unmourned
Ultimately Curley’s wife dies without a name and her life was seemingly of no consequence. This is demonstrated in particular when Curley learns of her death. Curley shows no signs of sadness or lamentation, he instead seems happy to now have a legitimate justification to seek murderous vengeance against Lennie. Her lifeless corpse is left alongside the dead puppy’s on the floor of the barn, equally forgotten and insignificant.
* * *
-Lennie flees for the previously agreed upon meeting place to wait for George (p. 91).
-Candy is the first to discover that Lennie has killed Curley’s wife (p. 93).
-George reacts with a swiftness that seems to imply he expected and had planned for the eventuality that Lennie would do something awful (p. 94).
-George says, “I think I knowed we’d never do her,” (p. 94). He’s referring to the fact that he always knew they’d never accomplish their goal of acquiring land, etc.
-Nobody cares that Curley’s wife is dead. Candy even scolds her corpse, “You God damn tramp [...] Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up,” (p. 95).
-Upon discovering her corpse, the rest of the men quickly assemble a lynch mob to hunt Lennie down (p. 96-98).
Chapter 6
-The novel comes full circle; Lennie literally ends up where he started, in the place where the reader first learns of his dreams. The heron that was fleetingly mentioned on page 2 now serves as an ominous figure that will foreshadow upcoming events. The heron is standing in wait for a clueless snake gliding through the water. With a simple gesture the heron plucks the snake out of the water and devours it whole (p. 99). This scene foreshadows Lennie’s fate. Beyond that, however, the scene is symbolic of George and Lennie’s journey; they were cluelessly travelling a path in pursuit of their dreams and had no idea that events would soon pluck their dreams away from them. One might also look at the heron as symbolizing George and the snake as symbolizing Lennie.
-There is a surreal sequence in which Lennie first hallucinates his Aunt Clara who scolds him for disappointing George (p. 100-101), followed by a talking rabbit who taunts him (p. 102). This scene speaks to the state of Lennie’s mental health; he fully believes that his hallucinations are real and engages in conversation with them.
-George arrives as Lennie is in mid conversation with the rabbit (p.102).
-In keeping with the plot coming full circle, George and Lennie again find themselves in the place where the novella began, once more recounting their dreams. This time, rather than being fueled by hope and optimism, the scene (for everyone but Lennie, who is delighted) is tense, morose, and anxious. Before George once more recounts the story of ‘living off the fat of the land’ and of the rabbits that they would one day have, he has Lennie remove his hat (p. 104). George has Lennie look off into the distance as the following scene is described (p. 106);
“We gonna get a little place,” George began. He reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson’s Luger; he snapped off the safety, and the hand and the gun lay on the ground behind Lennie’s back. He looked at the back of Lennie’s head, at the place where the spine and skull were joined.
[...]
George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again.
[...]
Lennie said, “I thought you was mad at me, George.”
“No,” said George. “No Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s the thing I want you to know.”
[...]
Lennie begged, “Le’s do it now. Le’s get that place now.”
“Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta.”
And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.
-This scene is complex because the two characters in it are experiencing such drastically opposed emotions simultaneously. George is distraught to the core of his being because he knows that he must murder his best friend. Lennie is overjoyed because George is not mad at him and he thinks their dream is about to come true.
-The novel ends with Carlson asking Curley, “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” in reference to observing that both Slim and George are distraught (p. 107). Carlson and Curley are so hardened and cut off from their emotions that they are puzzled over why a person would be distraught after murdering their best friend.
* * *
The meaning of the title
So what is the meaning of the novel’s title? In my view it contends that the world is comprised of two groups; mice and men. The mice are the weak and vulnerable, they are the poor, the workers, the struggling. With regard to actual character traits, they are sentimental, they have attachments and emotion, and so forth. Men, on the other hand, are the powerful, the wealthy, the unemotional people who are not encumbered by sentimentality or emotional ties. If we look at the characters, the mice would be Lennie, Curley’s wife, Candy, and Crooks. All of these characters lack power, they are vulnerable to the will and whims of men. The men are Curley and his father, Slim and George in the end. The men hold power, they decide people’s fate, etc. George starts off as a mouse, but the moment he kills Lennie, he becomes a man because he severed his one and only sentimental tie and had the power to end Lennie’s life.
Situational Ethics
Of Mice and Men is a prime example of situational ethics. Situational ethics is essentially the consideration of right and wrong in a given context, though the ethics of that context might not be something that people would hope to see universally applied. For example, we understand that at the end of the novella George had no choice but to kill Lennie. Lennie’s fate was solely a matter of whether he would die a slow and painful death or a quick and painless one. However, nobody would argue that in reality we should all take our moral cues from George and kill a friend any time they are in danger, no matter how severe.
Dreams
Steinbeck also appears to be using this novella to offer a commentary about dreams in general. If you begin reading with the question ‘can dreams and aspirations be achieved?’, the novella offers an answer. Dreams and aspirations can be achieved by the men of the world, but seem not to be in the cards for the mice. The one thing that is often overlooked, is that for a few moments at the beginning of the novella, George and Lennie actually achieved their dream without even realizing it. As they lay beneath the stars on a patch of land without a boss hollering at them, delightedly fantasizing about rabbits and a farmhouse, content to survive with the supplies at their fingertips, their dream was a reality. So perhaps an underlying message is take a moment to look around, because you might discover that your dreams have already been granted.
