Download Of Mice and Men Overview: Of Mice and Men was written by John

Of Mice and Men
Overview:
Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck in 1937 and has become
of the most acclaimed and beloved works in American literature. It is a
story of thwarted dreams, companionship, and sacrifice that chronicles four
days in the life of George Milton and Lennie Small, California migrant
workers. The setting is a ranch during the Great Depression, near Soledad
(just south of Steinbeck's real-life hometown of Salinas.)
The novel takes its title from Robert Burns’ (1785) poem "To a Mouse, On
Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough." Burns writes, "The best laid
schemes o' mice an' men/ Gang aft agley" (The best-laid plans of mice and
men/ Go often awry.) Steinbeck’s novel parallels Burns’ poem, regarding
chance and tragic circumstances interfering with good intentions. Of Mice
and Men has often been censored for its use of offensive language and for
its ending.
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SPECIFICS:
The Setting: Salinas Valley, California; 1937, Great Depression
Recommended Grade Level: 7-12
Suggested Area of Study and Discussion: Similiar, current event issues
of unemployment, homelessness and poverty
Synopsis: California migrant workers George and Lennie arrive for work
on a ranch, haunted by past misadventures. Bound by a promise George
once made to care for mentally compromised Lennie, they are sustained by
their dream of one day buying their own place. Circumstances arise,
however, that tragically challenge that intention.
----------The Story
Two California migrant workers, George and Lennie, seek employment at a
ranch during the Great Depression. Lennie often carries mice to keep them
for pets but unintentionally ends up killing them. George complains that his
life would be easier without having to care for Lennie, but they share a
dream of owning own piece of land, where Lennie would be allowed to
“tend rabbits.”
George and Lennie report to the nearby ranch where they meet Boss,
Candy, Curley's Wife, Slim, and Curley. Curley is very possessive of his
attractive wife and George councils Lennie to stay away from her. George
confides in Slim about Lennie’s mental capacity and how they were both
forced to flee their last job because Lennie had tried to touch a woman's
dress and was subsequently accused of rape. Slim sees the child-like
nature of Lennie and agrees to give Lennie a newborn puppy to keep him
occupied. Ranch hands Carlson and Whit persuade helpless Candy to
allow his geriatric dog to be euthanized. The men leave the bunkhouse,
curious to see a fight between Curley and Slim, due to Curley's Wife's
flirtatious behavior. George and Lennie discuss their plans to buy land,
Candy overhears, and offers his life's savings if they will let him live there,
too. Curley returns to the bunkhouse still angry and finds an easy target in
Lennie, who unintentionally crushes Curley's hand in an altercation
between them.
The next evening, most of the men leave the ranch to visit a local brothel.
Lennie is left alone with Crooks, an African-American stable buck, and
Candy. George arrives back at the ranch early, having decided to save his
money for crop seed instead of spending it on drink. Curley's Wife appears
and attempts to make conversation with them, but is again rebuffed.
George is afraid that her presence will ruin their plans and threatens her.
The following afternoon, Lennie accidentally kills his puppy in the barn
while petting it and tries to hide it, afraid that George won’t allow him to
care for future rabbits. Curley's Wife witnesses the situation and consoles
him, while confessing that life with Curley has been a disappointment and
that she is leaving the ranch. While Lennie talks about rabbits, Curley’s
Wife talks about her dream of becoming a movie star. Lennie tells her that
he loves petting soft things, and she offers to let him feel her hair, but when
he grabs too tightly and won’t let go, she cries out. In his attempt to silence
Curley's Wife, he accidentally breaks her neck, killing her.
Lennie runs away and hides next to the Salinas River, a place previously
designated by George as a meeting place if there was any trouble. Candy
discovers Curley's Wife in the barn and alerts George, who enlists Slim’s
help so George is not suspected as an accomplice. As the ranch men are
apprised of the situation, they gather together a lynching party. George
slips away to join Lennie and repeats telling their story of the place they will
have together someday, complete with rabbits. As the lynching party
grows near, George acts to save his friend from that that terrible fate.
-----------The Characters
Lennie - A large, mentally compromised migrant worker who is dependent
upon George
George - A man who travels with and cares for Lennie
Candy - An elderly handyman who lost his hand in an accident
Curley's Wife - The only woman on the ranch, married to Curley
Crooks - An African-American stable buck, with an injured back
Curley - The Boss's jealous son who picks fights with larger men
Slim - A mule driver, who is content at the ranch
Boss - The man who runs the ranch
Carlson - A ranch hand
Whit - A ranch hand
-----------Glossary
Bed tick: the mattress made from a tick (cover) and its filling
Bindle-stiff: a hobo who carries clothes or bedding in a bundle
Booby hatch: mental institution
Buck: male animal; man
Bucker: those who move or load heavy objects
Flophouse: house of prostitution
Jack: money
Mule skinner: driver of a team of animals
Pants rabbit: head or body lice
Pillow pigeon: bedbug
Poke: bag, sack, or wallet
Took a powder: left hurriedly
------THEMES
The American Dream
George and Lennie's desire to have a piece of property that is all their own
and to "live off the fatta the lan'" is a recurring motif in the story (13).
George foreshadows that their dream may be destined to fail: "I think I
knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we'd never do her" (90). He
continues the fantasy, however, because Lennie "[...] usta like to hear
about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would" (90).
The American Dream had become largely unattainable during the Great
Depression, when once it had seemed that anyone could come to America,
work hard, and see a tangible gain. This failing, which he often linked to
rise of industry and the spread of capitalism, appears in several of
Steinbeck's works such as The Grapes of Wrath and The Winter of our
Discontent.
Treatment of Minorities
Multiple characters in the story are ostracized because of their status as
minorities. Crooks, a disabled African-American character, is used to
demonstrate racial discrimination. He asks Lennie: "S'pose you couldn't go
into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like
that?" (69). Mentally challenged Lennie is challenged by George to: "listen
[...] so we don't get in no trouble" (4) and to not talk at all so no one detects
his limited capacity, or they might not even be considered for hire. Candy
is a handicapped, older man was injured on the ranch previously, so he
greatly fears future unemployment. Curley's Wife is the the sole female
character and remains unnamed and without respectful regard in the story.
Friendship
Several characters articulate significance of the friendship between George
and Lennie. Boss: “Never seen one guy take so much trouble for another
guy…” (20); Slim: “Ain’t many guys travel around together…maybe
everybody in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” (29) George
tells Lennie that unlike all the other "guys" that work on ranches, together
they "got a future" because, as Lennie exuberantly parrots: "[…] I got you to
look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why" (13).
Loneliness
Despite living in such close proximity, the ranch hands talk about
unrelenting loneliness. George remarks: "Guys like us, that work on
ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world" (13). When talking with
Lennie, Crooks says, "I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick" (69).
Curley's Wife tells Lennie: "I get lonely [...] You can talk to people, but I
can't talk to nobody but Curley" (82).
----------IMAGERY
Hands
Steinbeck refers to hands in Of Mice and Men over 100 times. Students
who are studying the novel in addition to attending the play might find it
engaging to search for these references.
Names
Steinbeck selected the names of his characters very carefully. Students
may research the origin of the names, or ponder the lack of one for Curley's
Wife
---------CENSORSHIP
Even though Of Mice and Men is read by students all around the world, it is
banned in many school districts, including some in Minnesota.
----------Questions for discussion
1. Is it important to have dreams, even if they may not be fulfilled?
Consider Of Mice and Men and the American Dream in your answer.
2. Consider George’s choice to protect his friend at the very end of the
story; was it the right action?
3. Why is Crooks made to live separately from the rest of the men?
4. How do you feel about censorship and banning books?
Advanced questions for discussion
1. How is Candy treated by the other men? Is Candy given a choice about
how to deal with his aging dog’s decline? Why do the other men allow
Candy’s dog to be killed? What does this action tell you about the rules of
the bunkhouse?
2. Curley’s Wife is openly racist in the novel, but not in the play. Why do
you think this was changed?
3. Both Crooks and Curley’s wife are called names by the other
characters. List all of the derogatory terms the men use to refer to Curley’s
wife. Are these characters called names to their faces or behind their
backs? Does it matter if racism or sexism is overt or covert?
4. Can behavior described or words used in a novel affect the behavior of
its readers? Can the behavior of characters in a film affect the behavior of
the audience? Are the authors, actors or producers liable?
Writing Assignments
1. FDR’s policies continue to polarize public opinion even today. Interview
your parents, grandparents or others who lived through that era, and
discuss their viewpoints about FDR.
2. Interview someone in your family or community who lived through the
Great Depression and ask him/her to describe life during that time. Be
specific; ask about the prices of household items and compare them with
prices today; ask about transportation, technology, fashion and
entertainment.
Advanced writing assignments
1. Identify two incidents of foreshadowing in the novel and state how each
of these incidents helped to create suspense.
2. What kind of life would George lead without Lennie? Would George ever
get the place he has talked about? What would Lennie’s life been like
without George? Did George make the right choice at the end of the story?
3. In 1962, the Nobel Prize Committee honored Steinbeck by awarding him
its prize for literature, commending his efforts to expose the truths about
America, no matter how painful those truths. Write a list of “truths” you feel
Steinbeck exposes in Of Mice and Men.
---------History
Of Mice and Men is set in 1937, when one out of every four Americans was
jobless. This is a substantial rate of unemployment, even compared to the
economic downturn in 2009 during which one out of every ten Americans
was without employment. The current system of Social Security, although
instituted in 1935 along with Unemployment Insurance, did not include
farmers and many others until 1957 when the Disability Insurance program
was implemented. Disabled workers were then given some form of
financial support, but only for those over 50 years old.
The setting of Of Mice and Men in the Salinas Valley region of California
was hit particularly hard by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of jobless
men, many with families, who were driven westward to escape a lingering
drought in the Great Plains.
----------Biography
John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California in 1902. Although he briefly
attended Stanford University when he was 17, Steinbeck dropped out and
returned home. Having never gotten along well with his affluent family,
Steinbeck soon left for the open road. He wandered from job to job
scraping up enough money to pay his fellow “hoboes” for their stories,
which he saved on scraps of paper.
“Poet of the Dispossessed”
Steinbeck was able to find poetry in the human condition. When he was
still a young, struggling writer, Steinbeck worked as an itinerant laborer in
Salinas, California. Deeply moved by the hardship he encountered there,
Steinbeck later wrote a series of articles about the plight of the California
migrant workers for the San Francisco News. Many of his characters in Of
Mice and Men are taken directly from these experiences.
Experiment in Form
Originally conceived as a story for children, Of Mice and Men was
developed as an experiment in form, a cross between a novel and a play; a
novella that could be performed verbatim on stage. Writer and director
George S. Kaufman helped Steinbeck create the successful theatrical
version of Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck, who had by then moved on to
writing The Grapes of Wrath, never saw his play performed.
------------To a Mouse (1785) - Robert Burns
Wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie Sleekit: sleek
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickering brattle!
Wi…brattle: in sudden flight
I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee,
wad…laith: Would be loath
Wi’ murd’ring pattle!
Pattle: used to clean a plow
I’m truly sorry man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union,
An’ justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An’ fellow-mortal!
I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve; whiles: at times
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
maun: must
A daimen icker in a thrave
A...thrave: tiny grain
‘S a sma’ request:
‘Sma : small
I’ll get a blessin’ wi’ the lave,
lave: rest
An’ never miss’t!
Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
Its silly wa’s the win’s are strewin’!
silly wa’s: feeble walls
An naething, now, to big a new ane,
big: build ane: one
O’ foggage green!
foggage: rough grass
An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin’,
Bait snell an’ keen!
Baith: both snell: sharp
thou saw the fields laid bare and waste,
An’ weary winter comin’ fast,
An’ cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! The cruel coulter past
coulter: plow blade
Out thro’ thy cell.
That wee bit heap o’ leaves and stibble,
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou’s turned out, for a’ thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter’s sleety dribble,
An’ cranreuch cauld!
But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes o’ mice and men
Gang aft a-gley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief and pain,
hald: home
thole: withstand
cranreuch: frost cauld: cold
no thy lane: not alone
gang aft a-gley: go often awry
An’...nought: And leave us
nothing
For promised joy.
Still thou art blest, compar’d wi’me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But, och! I backward cast my e’e
On prospects drear!
An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!
--------Adapted from:
-The Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies
-www.parksquaretheatre.org: sparknotes
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