Why Of Mice and Men?

I think that Steinbeck chose 'Of Mice and Men' as the title for his book because he wanted to relate to the poem written by Robert Burns. In the book, Lennie, George and Candy have a plan to retire to a nice place of their own in the country side however their plans are turned upside down just as the mouses's house was destroyed in the poem.

In relationship to real life and Steinbeck's book, it suggests that no plan is fool-proof and one can not be completely prepared for the future.

Of Mice and Men - Ending to the Story

Curley lead the small group of men out of the ranch and towards the south. Following right behind Curley was Slim and Carlson and behind them Whit and George. The men trudged softly across a ploughed field silhouetted against the sun set. A cold, light breeze danced through the nearby trees and carried leaves across the landscape. It was quiet and only the distinctive calls of birds could be heard over the soft sound of footsteps. Every man was determined to find Lennie except George.

After a short time of silent travelling Curley cut through the silence, "I swear, when we find this big bastard im gonna shoot him. Don't you guys think I wont." "Yes, we understand Curley, but we shouldn't stay out here all night looking for him, the boss is going to wonder weve gone off to." replied Slim. The men fell silent once again until Curley snapped at George, "Now, do you have any idea where the big guy would've ran off to?" "Like I said before Curley, he would have gone South because we came down from the North. We will find him soon, he couldn't of gone very far."

As the sun started to go down the men quickened their pace and continued walking through the fields. As they approached the nearby forest George knew that the other men would turn back soon so after making sure no one was watching him he slipped away from the rest of the men and made his way back to the ranch. By the time he arrived back the sun was projecting a bright pink light over the sky as it made it's final decent behind the distant mountains. George quietly slipped into the bunkhouse and began to gather his belongings as well as some items Lennie had left.

Just as George was leaving, Crook came into the bunkhouse. "What are you doing here?" George demanded. "I thought you liked to keep to yourself." "I saw what the big guy did. Why are you here? I thought you left with the other guys." George went back to gathering his belongings and made his way to the door. Crooks stepped in front of him

Inside Outside Feelings ~ Lennie

Lennie on the outside:

• Lennie acts obedient to almost everybody except people George tells him not to be obedient to.
• Is very shy
• Caring towards everyone

Lennie on the inside:

• Constantly looking forward to tending to the rabbits
• Likes the simple things in life
• Curious
• Worried of ever being parted with George (Relies on George)
• Does not want to make enemies

Contrast:

There are no major differences between the way Lennie acts on the inside and the way he acts on the outside. Lennie is generally a very caring person and does not want to cause any trouble with anyone. I think that Lennie is very simple because he is not a very smart person. Because he constantly relies on George for everything, he has not developed any social skills and he only knows how act one certain way with people, cautious and careful.

Ambitions for the Future

My ambitions for the future is to have a job that I really enjoy and hopefully pays pretty well. Something to do with computers or robotics is what Im thinking about now, however, everything could change in the near future. Above finding a good job I would like to meet a great girl that really understands me as I will understand her. I will probably not look for anything specific, just a nice, funny, mature girl that I can depend on.

I would love to have a fairly large house where I can feel at home. I do not require a lot of things, I would be happy to have a home that is really tidy. I hate clutter and I would absolutely hate to become a hoarder or somebody like that. I hope that in the future I will be able to live somewhere exotic. Although I love Canada I think it would awesome to live somewhere new. Maybe in the far future you will even be able to move to a distant planet, that would be awesome. These are just hopes and no one can know what the circumstances of the future will bring.

Character Foils - Lennie

Quotations that describe Lennie:

• A very noticeable trait of Lennie's is that he is a very hard worker however he is not very smart... "Oh! I ain't saying he's bright. He ain't. But I say he's a God damn good worker."(p.22)
• You can see that Lennie can become annoying to the people around him... "You said I was your cousin, George." "Well, that was a lie.. If I was a relative of yours I'd shoot myself."(p.24)
• You can see that Lennie is caring person but sometimes sends mixed messages... "he wants to touch everything he likes, just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an' the girl lets out a squak, and that gets Lennie mixed up..."(p.41)

Characterization

Curly:

• You can tell that Curly is a working man but belongs to a higher class than the regular workers... "He wore a work glove on his left hand, and, like the boss, he wore high-heeled boots." (p.25)
• You can see that Curly has a large ego and sense of pride. He is somewhat snobby... "He turned toward the door and walked out, and his elbows were still bent out a little." (p.26)
• One could notice that Curly is not completely satisfied with who he is and what he is like... "He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kinda like he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy"

My Bedroom - In Detail

My bedroom is quite small and is located on the second floor of my house. When you walk in you are faced with a large window located across the other side of the room. To the left is my bed which is single 'tall' bed pressed up against the left wall. It has brown and beige bedsheets and is quite comfortable. To the right of the bed is a small carpet that runs the length of my room and beside that a large desk where I spend most of my time at home. In between the bed and the desk, on top of the carpet, sits a medium sized swivel chair. This chair is comfortable except unfortunately my cats also find it cozy so there is always cat hair on it. If you were to walk into my room, turn left you would be standing at the end of my bed. There is a large closet here as well which has large sliding doors that act as mirrors.

Other than the main objects in my room there are a few other things. Beside my large desk there is a small set of plastic drawers. Sitting on top of this is a cage where I have several Stick Bugs. Another thing that is somewhat noticeable would be the TV on my desk. Something else that might stand out would be the large amount of comics I have on top of my desk and near my closet. That is the run down of my bedroom.

Comparing my room to George and Lennie's new bedroom, I could squeeze a lot more detail out of mine. The ranch bedroom is considerably larger than mine however it is being shared between 8 or so people. I think although my room is small George and Lennie would rather sleep it it than the ranch bedroom. This is probably because the ranch bedroom is very bland and will probably get very cold in the winter.

Expectations of the Story

After listening to all the blog presentations, I expect that the story 'Of Mice and Men' will be about more than just working. As of now, I know that Lennie and George have started working at the ranch and someone named Curly is causing problems. George has warned Lennie to stay away from Curly and not cause any trouble. I assume that Lennie will find trouble with Curly because that is usually how most books and films go. And there always has to be a problem in a story.

I think the two travellers do not want to achieve too much. They just want to earn enough money to live a decent life somewhere. I am not sure yet if George want to spend his whole life living with Lennie but I think we will find out soon.

Personal Reflection:

So far, I am finding Of Mice and Men to be a really humorous and clever book. I find it really relative to the blog presentations and I can see how the book relates to it's specific time era. Sometimes the language can be a little misleading but it is nothing that makes the book illegible. I find the southern american speak to be quite funny, especially when Lennie is talking.

Questions:

1.) Why is Lennie so "special"?

2.) Why does George stay with Lennie if he dreams of a much better life?

3.) Why does Lennie allow George to boss him around?

Of Mice and Men ~ Movie

The Of Mice and Men movie was a film released in 1992. The movie is based on the popular novella written by John Steinbeck. The story is of two traveling companions trying to get by during the Depression. George and Lennie are the two main characters and they are played by John Malkovich and Gary Sinise. A popular review website gave Of Mice and Men a 9.6/10. There were also many generous comments such as "Well-mounted and very traditional, Of Mice and Men honorably serves John Steinbeck's classic story of two Depression-era drifters without bringing anything new to it." The film was also nominated for a Golden Palm award in 1992.

You can find a quick trailer for the movie here...