Of+Mice+and+Men

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 ====== =// Of Mice and Men // by John Steinbeck =

Summary of Novel​
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 * Setting:** Of Mice and Men is set during the Great Depression in the 1930s in Salinas Valley, California. Most of the plot takes place on a barley ranch where migrant workers get jobs, but the novel begins and ends in a peaceful clearing by a lake at the base of the mountains.


 * Characters:**
 * The main characters are cousins George Milton and Lennie Small. George is a small, intelligent, and compassionate man who looks after Lennie, his large and strong but mentally challenged cousin. The two of them have been traveling around together working, but Lennie keeps getting them in trouble.
 * Curley is the antagonist. He's the son of the owner of the ranch where George and Lennie get jobs. He is a small man who has a hot temper and likes to pick on Lennie.
 * Curley's wife is lonely and is always hanging around talking and flirting with the ranch workers. She causes trouble because Curley is the jealous type.
 * Slim is the head ranch hand who has the respect of all the men.
 * Carlson is a ranch hand who has no compassion and who is always stirring up trouble.
 * Candy is an old ranch hand who lost one of his hands in a machine accident on the farm. He is an outcast who befriends George and Lennie.
 * Crooks is an African-American ranch hand who is segregated from the other men. He is another outcast on the ranch.


 * Plot Summary

The novel opens with George and Lennie camping out, waiting for the next morning to report to their new ranch job. Lennie has a dead mouse in his pocket, which died from Lennie petting it too hard. When George finds out he loses his temper and warns Lennie to watch himself on the ranch. Then they talk about their dream for the future, to save up and get a small place of their own, a place where Lennie can tend the rabbits.

George and Lennie arrive at the ranch the next day and meet the other men. They learn more about Curley and his wife and confide their dream to own their own place to Curley, who offers to chip in his savings if he can join them. They do agree to let him come in with them.

Candy has an old dog that is lame. The other men want to shoot it but Candy resists. It ends up getting shot. Later on, George gives Lennie a puppy.

On Saturday night George goes into town with the other men and leaves Lennie alone. Lennie ends up visiting with Crooks, and then Curley's wife comes in. The next day Lennie accidentally kills his puppy, and later he becomes panicked when Curley's wife starts to yell at him for petting her hair too hard, and he accidentally kills her, too. After that, he runs away. When George and the other men discover what happened, they all go on a manhunt for Lennie. George finds Lennie in the clearing where they camped out and shoots him. **

Literary Devices


 * Symbolism: George and Lennie's dream farm**

** Literary Criticism

Howard Levant argues in a chapter about //Of Mice and Men// that he wrote for his book //The Novels of John Steinbeck: A Critical Study// that because this novel is too simplistic and controlled in its design it "fails to come alive." Levant gives several examples of simplistic contrasts and opposites in the novel to support his point. For example, the peaceful dream ranch Lennie and George want contrasts sharply with the violent and tense ranch where they currently work. Another example he gives is of Curley, the husband and boss who can't control his wife or himself versus Slim, the calm ranch leader who commands those around him easily. Levant feels that the simplistic nature of these opposites "restrict the development of the novel." He also contends that the climax of the novel is oversimplified and that Lennie's character becomes nothing more than a point on which to hang moral issues the author wants to explore. Levant concludes that "//Of Mice and Men// remains a simple anecdote." **

My Personal Review



Author Biography

Bibliography