''small and quick,dark
of face,with restless
eyes and sharp,strong
features.''This suggests
intelligence but 'restless
eyes'also suggests
unhappines.
shows moral
growth
throughout the
novel
symbolises the
itinerant farm
worker-traooed by
his job and haunted
by loneliness
Heroic-kills
Lennie bece as
he accepts
responsibility.
Candy
old and
weak
''Tall,stoop-shouldered
old man''.This
suggests
hopelessness as well
as age
Still able
to have
hopes
When he plans the
ranch he is ''grinning
with delight''Steinbeck
suggests that we
should not judge
people by appearances
but for who they are
inside
Lennie
animalistic
''dragging his ferr
a little,the way a
bear drags his
paws'
''looked wildly at the
brush line as though he
contemplated running
for his freedom''
'snorting
into the
water like a
horse'
Strong animals-he has
a physcial strength but also the low intelligence of an animal
he has an
animal instinct
childlike
He likes to stroke abd ''pet'
soft things.He delights in his
dream farm like a child with a
favourite toy:''Come on
George.Tell me.Please
George.Like you done before.''
Slim
respected
''there was gravity
in his manner.''
what he has to say has
power and importance,he has a natural authority
His hands are 'as delicate as
those of a temple dancer'-simile
Steinbeck presents him as evidence
that noble qualities can be founf in
the humble working man
practical
He drowns some of the puppies as the
mother 'couldn't feed that many''
He knows that life is hard
Curley
Curley's power
is huge and an
exmaple of social
injustice and
corruption of the
world the ranch
hands live and
work in
aggressive
''He's alla
time picking
scraps with
big guys''
He seems
set on
proving that
he is a big
man in all
but size .His
dream is to
become a
boxer.
selfish
and
disliked
"His wife says;Ï
don't like
Curley.'.This
indicates that
Curley only sees
the world
through his
eyes.His inability
to control or
understand his
wife leads to
Lennie's death.
Curley's
wife
flirtatious
''She
twitched
her body''
She wants to get attention because she
is trapped in a loveless marriage..She
has been forced to recognise that
sexuality is the only weapon she has;the
only thing that gets her noticed.
seen as a
'jail-bait' by the
ranch hands
In the 1930s if a married
woman looked with
interested at another
men,she was seen as a
'tart'.
becomes more
beautiful when
she is dead
'She was very
pretty and simple,
and her face was
sweet ad young.''
Key contexts andThemes
.Loneliness
The men on the ranch are like
orphans:''They got no family.''
It was unusual for the ranch workers to make
friends. "'Funny how you an' him string along
together.'':Slim's comment for George and
Lennie
Women
Men and women did not understand each
other. Curley's wife doesn't understand that his
wife needs company and ateention.He treats
her as a trophy rather than an individual.His
idea of 'being there' is covering his hand in
Vaseline
In the novella, the only acceptable
role is as the motherly old aunt or as
a prostitute who doesn't put pressure
on men.
Sexism
Prejudice
Candy
He suffers prejudice because of his age(''A
tall,stoop-shouldered,old man'' suggests
hopelessness) and disability(he is one-handed.)
Candy has lost his right hand on the ranch which is
why his job is permanent,which suggests that health
and safety standards at the time were poor.""I lost my
hand right here on this ranch.That's why they gave me
a job swampin'.'
Candy is not respected by others.No one tries to save his old and no
longer useful dog from execution.The shooting of his dog shows the
reader the cruelty of the world portrayed in the novella.Candy's dog
represents Candy himself.Just like his dog,, they will 'can' him form
his job when he becomes useless.
Crooks
.He has a room of his own because he is
a relatively pemranent skilled worker(he
is crippled) and because,being black,he is
not allowed in the bunk
house.(segregation:''They say I stink.'')
The boss is always giving Crooks ''hell'' because he is a
''nigger''(derogatory language was commonly used)
American society in the 1930s was very racist and
Steinbeck portrays the typical treatment of black people.
Crooks offer to work on the dream farm for free because
life on the farm would give him dignity
Crooks is even trated badly by characters who have little power because he has even
less power than they do.When Curley's wife threatens him with lyching(which was a
common treatment of black people at the time) Crooks 'had reduced himself to nothing'
The reminder of his lack of rights returns him to his lack of hope.Crooks is the first
character to realise that the dream is not possible because he is used to
disappointment:'You guys comin' in an' settin' made me forget.''
Lennie
Faces prejudice
due to his lower
cognitive ability
George has abused his
power over Lennie. One day
he told Lennie to jump into
the river and Lennie nearly
drowned.This stopped
George from playing jokes
on Lennie,
Crooks torments Lennie by
suggesting that George
might bo return and so
Lennie would be taken to
'the booby hatch' and tied up
like a dog
Curley's wife
Sexism
Curley's wife is not given a proper
name:the ranch hands never see her
as a real person with an identity of
her own,They see her as something
belonging to Curley.This shows that
men in the 1930s did not regard
women as individuals.
Called a ''tart'' and a
''bitch''.Carlson says she
should stay at home
''where she belongs''
The American Dream
The American dream meant
different things for different
people.
The ranch hands dream of
being the cowboy heroes
they read about in 'those
Western magazines ranch
men love to resd and scoff
at and secretely believe'
The ranch men take
pleasure in fanatasy that
enables them to escape
briefly form dull and
predictable lives
Hollywood contributed to the American
Dream.Film stars started to make lots of
money and many ordinary people just like
Curley's wife dreamed of becoming famous
and living a glamorous lifestyle.
When she was 15, a travelling show came to town and one
of the actors invited her to join them,but her mother said
she was too young. Then she 'met a guy, an' he was in
pitchers'.He promised to lauch her on a Hollywood career
and said he would write to her about it.She believes that
her mother stole the letter and to escape from her
control,she married Curley but ended up being controlled by
him. This was what life was like for poor and unedeucated
women in the 1930s.
Her ambitions come across as pathetic.Her
conviction that her mother stole the letter
gullibility.Her repeated mention of 'nice clothes'
highlights that she has no idea what acting
involves.The 'small grand gesture' that she makes
shows taht she has no idea hat acting
involves.steinbeck uses the word 'grand' ironically
Freedom,independence
ana owning one's land.
George and Lennie dream of living ''offa the fatta
the lan' ''The dream keeps them going during their
tough times. Geprge and Lennie are examples of
travelling farm workers(migrant workers)who took
temporary jobs and only took what they could
carry on their backs. ''a bunch of bindle stiffs''
Lennie is captivated by the part about
the rabbits.George says that the rabbits
on the dream farm would be "'Red and
blue and green rabbits.''This makes the
dream seem unreal.
When Candy offers money to invest in the
dream,George excitedly calculates that they could buy
the farm by the end of the month.His
excitementcontrasts with is usual pessimism: "I bet we
could swing her".He finally sees a way out of his
current existance.'' However,Curley and Lennie's fight
shatters the dream,showing that in real-life dreams
rarely come true.
In chapter 4 Crooks declares:''Nobody never gets to
heaven,and nobody gets no land.''(colloquial language and
double negatives) Crooks puts the dream into the context
of harsh reality. Moments after he offers to work for free
in the dream farm,the three dreamers are brought back to
reality by Curley's wife.By the end of the chapter,things
are brought back t normal(cyclical structure)This gives the
impression of the characters going round in circles.They
never achieve their dreams.
In Chapter 6 George's words are spoken
'monotonously' -he has finally accepted that dreams
don't come true. As Lennie dies,the dream also
dies.Steinbeck wanted to show the contrast between
the ideal of the American Dream and the reality of
widespread poverty and disappointment.This
pessimism reflects the mood of the American society
in the 1930s.
Style
Imagery
simile
Curley's wife ''flopped like a fish.'' This is similar to how Curley
is described when Lennie crushes his hand-''flopping like a fish
on a line''. Curley and his wife's dreams are both physically
crushed by Lennie.
metaphor
''Lennie
dabbled his
big paw in
the water''
personification
''The silence came into the room again. It
came out of the night and invaded the
room.'' The only time Steinbeck uses
obvious personification to create tension.
Language
derogatory
racist
language
sexist
language
The books was banned in many
Amrican states in the 1930s
because of its 'bad' language
matter-of-fact
''The bunk house was a long,rectangular
building.''-reflects the simplistic,minimalistic
nature of the ranch workers
colloquial
dialogue
Steinbeck uses words and
phrases that ranch hads would
have used in the
1930s-realismThe reality of
working man's speech is refected
Setting
Apart from the opening and closing sections,the story is set on the
ranch ,The bunk house which mirrors how
basic men's lvies were.
Structure
cyclical
Suggests taht the life of a migrant worker in the
1930s America was a cycle of working, and then
moving on to the next job: it was inescapable.
foreshadowing
Used to imply that fate is inevitable
the red dress of the giirl in
Weed-Curley's wife's red dress-danger
Violence is increasing in a deadly pattern
dead mice-.>crushed hand-.>dead puppy->dead girl
The title hints that it is all destined to go
wrong.Comes from the poem'to a Mouse''-'gang aft
agley''-often go wrong
a novel
written like a
play
Symbolism
light and
dark
mark a contrast between
the men's lives and the
outside world of
possibilities
As the novel progresses things seem to
get darker and darker-hope is fading
At the end of the book,the light
disappears completely:''The light climbed
on out of the valley.''With light fading
and Lennie dying,dream is also
unachiavable.Paradise is out of reach.
When Curley's wife first enters she
cuts of the ''rectangle of sunshune''
.Foreshadows the role that she plays in
ending the hopes and dreams nurtured
by George and Lennie
animals
Symbolic of the cruelty of life in the
1930s.When animals don't serve a purpose on
the ranch they're got rid of.The men are just
like animals labouring on the farm.The way
animals get treated in the novel(particalry
Candy's dog) reflects how American society at
the time treated the weak and vunerable.
religious
symbolism
Dream farm-heaven
Curley's wife ::snake
on the Garden of
Eden or devil
Slim-Godlike
Paradox
Lennie kills Curley
's wife and lots of
small animals but
is essentially
innocent.
Curley ' s wife is
decribed as a 'tart'
and causes her own
death but at the
same time is shown
to be 'innocent'
Description
Steinbeck describes nature
using decriprive language,
sibilance and long,flowing
sentences.This is contrasted
to the matter-of-fact
language,simple descriptions
and broken-up sentences
used to describe the bunk
house.This makes nature
more appealing than the
ranch.
Chapter 1-The description
of the pool is in the
present tense,hinting at a
paradise that is somehow
outside of time, always
present.
The detailed
snapshot of nature
tells us that many
other men have
have stopped thre
and could imply that
George and Lennie
are unimportant
figures in the world.
In section 6,,there are
differences in the way
the pool is described:the
heron kills the
snake-foreshadowing.Also
sugegsts that death
exists even in paradise.
.When Curley's
wife dies:'''..Lennie
had broken her
neck.''Makes the
event more
shocking because
it is described in
such a blunt way.
Adverbs
they reveal change in
mood(George speaking of
the dream)
Steinbeck also uses
adverbs to describe the
way characters behave
e.g."'Lennie looked timidly
over to him''
Names
Lennie's surname is
''Small'' which is ironic
because he is ''a huge
man''.But Lennie is small
in a way:his mind is
childlike
Geoge's surname is ''Milton''-a real
surname which makes his character
more realistic.
Curley-he's like his hair-tense and wound
up tight,like a spring
Slim-tall and elegant like his name
Crooks-a nickname because of his ''crooked
back''-insulting
Place Names
Soledad means solitude in Spanish
Weed is where George and Lennie have come
form as Lennie did a ''bad thing''.A weed is a
plant you don't want so the happening in
Weed spoils their new life
Whit likes to have fun on
Saturday night-his name
souns like 'wit'