1. This novel has two main characters that happen to be best friends; George and Lennie. George takes care of Lennie because Lennie has a mental disorder. These two men are headed to California but go around from ranch to ranch looking for a job. The boss hires them. George and Lennie meet other people that live on the ranch, such as, Candy, Curley, and Curley's wife. When George and Lennie are alone, Curley's wife starts to flirt with them. After, George tells Lennie to stay away from her, even though Lennie thinks she is pretty. After, they leave back to work, they meet Slim and Carlson. Later, George tells Slim the truth about them; George and Lennie aren't really cousins. Explained that Lennie has gotten them into trouble many times before. Curley later picks a fight with Lennie and Lennie breaks Curley's hand. The next day Curley's wife flirts with Lennie and Crooks and Candy. She eventually noticed that Lennie is the reason Curley's hand is broken. That next day, Lennie accidentally kills the puppy. Curley's wife enters the barn where Lennie is and she lets him "pet her hair." When Lennie was petting her hair, he starts to pull tightly and that makes Curley's wife scream. Lennie then accidentally breaks her neck, then runs to the Salinas River. The place they are suppose to meet up if things went wrong. George and everybody else finds out, and they are set to kill Lennie. George finds Lennie and talks to him about how they will be together in their farm land. When talking about the ranch they will have, he shoots Lennie in the back of the head. The other men show up and George lies to them about what has happened to Lennie; that George wrestled him for the gun and had to shoot him.
2. I think that the theme of the novel is friendship. Even though they do not talk about their feelings toward each other, it is obvious that they are very good friends. George did not want to shoot Lennie, but he felt that it would put Lennie out of his misery.
3. The tone of the novel I think is realistic and honest. Steinbeck describes the characters as they are in life.
- (George) "“S’pose they was a carnival or a circus come to town, or a ball game, or any damn thing.” Old Candy nodded in appreciation of the idea. “We’d just go to her,” George said. “We wouldn’t ask nobody if we could. Jus’ say, ‘We’ll go to her,’ an’ we would. Jus’ milk the cow and sling some grain to the chickens an’ go to her.”"
- (Lennie) ""If you don’ want me I can g off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time." GEORGE "No—look! I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ’Cause I want you to stay with me.""
- Imagery
- "Lennie said gently, "George… I ain’t got mine. I musta lost it." He looked down at the ground in despair.
"You never had none, you crazy bastard. I got both of ‘em here. Think I’d let you carry your own work card?"
Lennie grinned with relief." - Foreshadow
- "Lennie looked sadly up at him. "They was so little," he said apologetically. "I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead—because they was so little. I wish’t we’d get the rabbits pretty soon, George. They ain’t so little.""
- Symbolism
- " (Lennie)"No…you tell it. It ain’t the same if I tell it. Go on…George. How I get to tend the rabbits."(George) "Well," said George, "we’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we’ll just say the hell with goin’ to work, and we’ll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an’ listen to the rain comin’ down on the roof—Nuts!""
- Diction/Syntax
- "Lennie knelt and looked over the fire at the angry George. And Lennie’s face was drawn in with terror. "An’ whatta I got," George went on furiously. "I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shovin’ all over the country all the time.""
