Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Of Mice and Men
- Context
- John Steinbeck
- Born in California
- Interested in farm labourers and
spent time working with them
- Inspiration for his wirting
- Wrote a number of novels about poor
people who worked on the land and
dreamed of a better life
- The Depression
- 29th October 1929 - Wall Street Crash
- Led to the Depression - 1930 - 1936
- People lost life savings
- 1/3 of America were unemployed
- Series of droughts in southern
mid-western states
- Failed harvests and dried-up land
- Farmers forced to move off their land
- Economic migrants headed to California
but were turned back
- Set up home in large camps in
California valleys
- Sought work as casual farmhands
- Ranch hands like George & Lennie lucky
to have work
- Plot
- The story begins when George and
Lennie prepare to arrive at a ranch to
work - and ends in tragedy just four
days later.
- Makes it much more dramatic: one event
follows on from another in rapid succession
- There is a sense of inevitability - we
sense that there will be no way out for
Lennie.
- The story is told in the third person, so we
are provided with a clear, unbiased view of
all the characters.
- Circular plot
- Time of day
- Lennie and George arrive at the ranch in the
morning, early in the day, when possibilities
are open
- Lennie dies as the sun is setting, suggests
that Lennie's death was 'right'. The sun sets
when a day is complete, so Lennie dies
when his life is 'complete'.
- Characters
- George
- Good friend to Lennie because of
promise to Lennie's Aunt Clara
- Looks after Lennie
- Needs Lennie
- So he isn't lonely
- His strength gets him jobs
- Shares a dream
with Lennie
- Honest with people he trusts
- Lennie
- Limited intelligence
- Relies of George
- Shares a dream with George
- Gentle & kind
- Incredibly strong
- Described as animal-like
- Slim
- Natural leader
- Respected
- Quiet dignity
- Understands George &
Lennie's relationship
- Helps George
- Know little about him
- Mysterious quality
- "Too good to be true"
- Curley
- Boss' son
- Doesn't need to
work much
- Small and hates
big guys
- Looks for
opportunities to
fight
- Possessive of his wife
- Curley's wife
- No name
- Curley's "property"
- Flirtatious
- Lonely
- Only woman
- Doesn't like Curley
- Married him to spite her mother
- Crooks
- Only black person
- Isolated
- Lonely
- Referred to as
the "nigger"
- Proud and aloof
- Intelligent
- Concerned
about rights
- Candy
- Oldest on ranch
- Knows he'll be thrown
out when he's too old
- Lost hand in accident
- His dog's his only friend & companion
- Gets shot by Carlson
- Apart of George & Lennie's dream
- Finds Curley's wife dead
- Themes
- Loneliness