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Of Mice and Men

Context
1. The Great Depression
  1. 1930s
  2. Wall street crash - 1929
    1. Known as 'Black Tuesday'
    2. Famine
  3. Most servere economic depression of the 20th Century
  4. 25% unemployed by 1933
  5. Hundreds of thousands homeless
  6. Crop prices fell by 60%
  7. Not turned around until WW2
2. The American Dream
  1. Own land
    1. Freedom
    2. Independence
    3. "'we're gonna have a little house and a couple acres an' a cow and some pigs and...'"
      1. Hope
        Opportunity for success
        "'Let's have different colour rabbits, George.'"
        "'Red and blue and green rabbits.'"
  2. Theme
  3. Not many got their dream
    1. Reality
3. Women
  1. Sexist society
    1. Misogyny
  2. Very little power
    1. Treated as the help
  3. Curley's wife rebelled and went around the ranch
  4. Property
    1. "Curley's Wife
      1. No rights
4. Racism
  1. "'They play cards in their, but I can't play because I'm black.'"
    1. Segragaton
      1. No power
  2. Discrimination
  3. Prejudice
5. Dust Bowl
  1. Drought and dust storms
  2. 1930-6
  3. Jobs lost due to agricultural damage
    1. Soil turned to dust
  4. Hundreds forced to leave their homes
  5. Known as ' dirty thirties'
6. John Steinbeck
  1. Wrote in 1937
  2. Based on his life
  3. Worked on a ranch and for a newspaper
7. Unemployment
  1. Health got worse
  2. Marriage and birth rate dropped
  3. Suicide rate increased
  4. Divorce rates rose
Characters
1. Crooks
  1. "a proud aloof man"
  2. "'You got no right to come in my room.'"
    1. Something that is his.
    2. Permanent work
  3. several pairs of shoes"
2. George Milton
  1. "small and quick"
  2. "You gonna be sick like you was last night'"
    1. Caring
  3. Sticks up for Lennie
    1. Lies for him
      1. "'He's my...cousin.'"
        Protective
    2. Protector
  4. "He pulled the trigger."
    1. Didn't want Lennie to suffer
3. Lennie Small
  1. Childlike
    1. "drags his feet"
    2. "'Come on, George. Tell me. Please, George. Like you done before.'"
      1. Hope
        "'Tend the rabbits.'"
        "'Well he's sick of you,' said the rabbit."
    3. "His face screwed tight with thought,"
      1. Has trouble remembering
        "'Hide in the brush'"
        Safety
  2. "a huge man, shapeless face"
    1. "slopping shoulders"
  3. "cuckoo"
    1. "dumb as hell"
      1. "he ain't crazy"
  4. "Lennie's paw"
    1. Animalistic imagery
  5. Takes orders
    1. "'I said get him.'" George yelled again.
      1. Hesitant to be violent
        "'I didn't wanta hurt him'"
  6. "'never done anything in meanness"
4. Slim
  1. "His hatchet face was ageless."
    1. "He might have been thirty-five or fifty."
  2. "the prince of the ranch"
    1. Royalty
      1. Rights
        Power
  3. "Jerkline-skinner"
    1. Team leader
      1. Powerful
        "'Don't need to wear no high-heeled boots'"
        Respected
    2. "'Hell of a nice fella'" - Candy
      1. Friendly
        Kind
        "'You can have a pup if you want to.'" To Lennie
        "'Candy, you can have any one of those pups you want.'"
5. Carlson
  1. Shoots Candy's dog
  2. Typical migrant ranch worker
  3. "'I'll get my luger.'"
  4. "'Why'n't you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs?'"
    1. Not afraid to speak up
6. Candy
  1. "'A guy on a ranch don't never listen nor he don't ask no questions.'"
    1. Talking from experience
      1. Advice
  2. "Candy lay still, staring at the ceiling."
    1. Loneliness without the dog
      1. "'Maybe it'd hurt him,'"
      2. "'I had 'I'm too long.'"
7. Curley's wife
  1. "'So that's what Curley picks for a wife.'" - George
    1. "'Jesus, what a tramp.'"
      1. "'a tart'"
        "a looloo"
    2. "'Nobody can blame a person for lookin''"
  2. Appearance
    1. "'purty'"
    2. "red ostrich feathers"
    3. "heavily made up"
      1. All dressed up with no where to go
    4. "Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages."
      1. Lots of spare time
      2. Perfectionist
        Out of place on a ranch
        Juxtaposes the life on a ranch and celebrity life
    5. "full, rouged lips"
      1. Hollywood
        'He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural.'"
  3. Loneliness
    1. "'I get lonely.'"
  4. "'They left all the weak ones here.'"
    1. Includes herself
8. Curley
  1. Aggressive
  2. "a thin young man"
  3. "high-heeled boots"
    1. Shorter
      1. Wearing them makes his feel important
        The boss's son
  4. "'glove's full of vaseline.'"
  5. "flopping like a fish"
    1. Helpless
    2. Juxtaposes his being the boss's son
Themes
1. Loneliness
  1. Migrant workers
  2. Changing job location
2. Dream
  1. Freedom
    1. Independence
    2. They make the rules
  2. Safety
  3. Hope
3. Violence
  1. Symbolism
  2. Between Lennie and Curley
    1. "'Get 'I'm, Lennie!'"
    2. "Curley was flopping like a fish on a line."
4. Innocence
  1. "'I didn't wanta hurt him.'"
    1. Not intentional
5. Prejudice
  1. Race
6. Friendship
  1. Hard to trust others
    1. Rarely travel together
  2. George and Lennie's bond.
7. Power
  1. Symbolism
    1. Gun
      1. Dog's death
      2. "Luger"
        Carlson
8. Death
  1. Candy's dog
  2. Mice
    1. Lennie's pup
      1. "'Why do you got to get killed?'"
      2. ""Now I won't get to tend the rabbits.'"
      3. Curley's Wife
        Lennie
        To stop him from suffering
        "He pulled the trigger." - George
        "Lennie's big fingers fell to stroking her hair."
    2. "'Gi'me that mouse!'"

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Of Mice and Men

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	Created by R H over 9 years ago