John Steinbeck - Of Mice And Men

 Title:
Of Mice And Men

Author:
John Steinbeck

Page Length:
107 pages

Publication Date:
1937, 1938, 1965, 1978, 1993 (This edition published in 1993)

Recommended For:
High School and up, even though it is only 107 pages

Summary: (from the back of the book)
They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have firned a "family", clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation.
Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. For George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provcations of a flirtatious woman, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.

My Thoughts:
I found the book to be quite boring and if I had not had to read it for Honors English, I probably would not have. However, it is a book about the hard times back in the early 1930s and is about acheiving the American Dream. It is a good classic that teaches history, and for that I would recomend it.

We had to keep a journal of each chapter, which I will now paste below:
Chapter 1:

At the beginning of Chapter 1, I noticed they did a part just for the setting before starting the story. I also noticed how it was very descriptive, and how George and Lennie's characters are the opposite of what I would expect. I would think George be the big one, Lennie the small one. I noticed Lennie's issue and that he acts very young and doesn't quite know what he is doing and tends to get into trouble because of it.
Chapter 2:
Chapter 2 was very boring and not a lot took place that I thought was important, besides meeting most of the characters. I felt bad for Candy because he does not have a hand. Curley I do not care for, for he is rude for no reason. I love the old dog, because it is a dog, and I didn't really notice anything I thought to be important for the rest of them.
Chapter 3:
I almost cried during Chapter 3 when they had to kill the old dog! If I was Candy, I would've taken the gun and shot Carlson for wanting to kill my dog! Lennie spent lots of time with the puppies that night, as would I, except I would've known not to take it away from the mommy being only a day old. Compared to their life now, I would be just as hopeful about their future life as Lennie, George, and Candy are, and I would have pitched in as well. When Curley came in to the room, I knew there would be trouble. I feel bad for Lennie because he was getting beat up pretty bad and he didn't know to fight back.
Chapter 4:
Crooks is lucky to have so many more personal items than the other men, but he has to sleep on straw in a barn, which is definitely not lucky. Having so many books tells me that Crook can read and is a smart man, especially for being African American because back then they weren't very smart at all. Lennie will probably get in trouble for telling Crook about the rabbits and such. Crook is one mean, mean man! He knows Lennie is like messed up and he's tormenting him. How rude! I agree with Crooks; he is sick! Candy is smart and Curley's wife is a weird, sick person. I don't like his wife.
Chapter 5:
Poor Lennie doesn't know his own strength and kills everything he touches. I feel sad that the puppy died, but Curley's wife had it coming. She told him to feel her head, and she saw what happened when he did it to the puppy. Curley is a strange, angry little man. I agree with George that they should just lock him up and not kill him, but I also agree that Curley would never let that happen and would want him dead.
Chapter 6:
Lennie's mind is odd because he sees the rabbits and his dead Aunt Clara talking to him. George is very sad and upset, but Lennie doesn't know. George is dutifully trying to kill Lennie, and Lennie is letting him because he's looking for rabbits. He is very nervous and can't do it, but when the people get super close, he has to and so he shots Lennie in the back of the head, having Lennie fall to the ground. Carlson and Curley are much like each other - they don't care about anyone but themselves. When George and Slim are upset that George had to kill Lennie, they wonder why they aren't excited and happy.

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