Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Recent paperback cover
Author	John Steinbeck
Cover artist	Ross MacDonald
Language	English
Genre	Novella
Publisher	Spangler
Publication date	1937
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	107
ISBN	ISBN 0-14-017739-6

Of Mice and Men is a novel by John Steinbeck, first published in 1937, which tells the tragic story of George and Lennie, two displaced Anglo migrant farm workers in California during the Great Depression (1929-1939). The title of the novel is an allusion to "To a Mouse", a poem by Robert Burns.

Overview

Template:Spoilers The story is set on a ranch a few miles from Soledad in the Salinas Valley. Lennie is a downer child. George is a smaller man with normal intelligence. The men are wandering ranch workers who travel together.

Of Mice and Men is based on Steinbeck's own experience as a 'bindle stiff' in the 1920s, before the arrival of the 'Okies' whom he had vividly described in The Grapes of Wrath.

Events

Lennie is a large and physically strong man with the mind of a child, and George is a smaller man with quick wit. The men are wandering ranch workers who travel together in search of any available opportunities to earn money. Lennie depends on George, as does George on Lennie for all different times in their travels. The ideal objective of most ranch workers is to amass a sizeable fortune and eventually purchase a small farm, and "live offa the fatta the lan'." Lennie is driven to reach this objective by the prospect of "tending the rabbits". However, this goal appears to be nothing more than a distant dream until Candy, another worker on the farm, offers to contribute his savings for a place on the future farm. Lennie continues to ask George to explain the land to him, so Lennie never forgets it, and don't forget Lennie gets to tend the rabbits.

While subjected to the loneliness and mediocrity of the life they presently lead, George and Lennie's prospect of their own farm attracts yet another hopeful, Crooks, the African-American stable buck, and Candy, the ranch's swamper. Despite their best efforts, however, the dream begins to collapse, completely falling apart when Lennie accidentally kills the wife of Curley, who is the son of the ranch's owner, by breaking her neck after Lennie refuses to stop petting her hair. He says to himself, "I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing." The killing was foreshadowed in the beginning of the book, as in the last ranch they worked at, Lennie began to touch a woman's dress, and they were going to be lynched until George hid with Lennie, and later on escaped.

Curley's wife, who is considered by the farm workers to be a promiscuous woman with a wandering eye, tries to seek company with Lennie, and may or may not be attempting to seduce him. Though Lennie mentions he accidentally killed a puppy he was given, she fails to realize he is dangerous. Their conversation leads to Lennie stroking her hair through her prompting. However, Curley's wife gets angry when he refuses to let go. Lennie panics, tries to stop her yelling, and ends up breaking her neck. He doesn't seem to have intended it, saying I don't want to hurt you...but George'll be mad if you yell. Realizing she is dead, he adds I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing. Lennie then escapes to the river where the story had begun, the place where George advised him to hide should he ever get into trouble.

George finds Lennie ahead of the rest of the search party, having stolen Carlson's Luger pistol. He gets Lennie to look across the river and tells him once more about the dream. As Lennie looks across the river and the party comes nearer, George fights with himself to aim the gun and does what Candy couldn't do for his dog; kill his friend. Candy not being able to kill his dog and having Carlson shoot it for him foreshadows the forementioned incident. Also Carlson shoots Candy's dog with the same gun used to kill Lennie. Slim, another ranch worker, and the only other one who ever shows compassion, then takes George for a drink to settle his nerves. This may mean the dream is dead, but George is still not alone, so maybe there is hope in the book. The last line is delivered by Carlson, the ranch worker who kills Candy's old dog in a fashion similar to Lennie's killing (foreshadowing his death). He says to Curley, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?", reflecting the fact that neither Curley nor Carlson had ever learned the value of compassion. This book deals with the loneliness of not only the farmlife and the workinglife but also elements of broken dreams as represented by Lennie and George's dream but also the dreams and deception of Curley's wife. This story represents how you could have something so great in your life taken away in the blink of an eye.

Characters

• George Milton – A small and quick, dark of face and hair, cynical ranch hand. He looks after Lennie and dreams of a better life. George's last name, Milton, is a reference to "Paradise Lost" author John Milton.
• Lennie Small – Travels with George. He is a giant of a man who is unaware of his own strength. His mental deficiency manifests in an obsession to stroke 'soft' materials. There is irony in his last name, as it is "Small" while he is a very big man physically. Lennie is killed by George with a gun in order to be spared Curley's bitter revenge, Lennie having recently killed Curley's wife by accident in a barn. His mental deficiency is never specified, but is suspected to be autism or he may have mental retardation or both.
• Curley – An unpleasant curly-haired character. The boss's son. He often picks fights and detests large people; mainly Lennie. During the book he picks a fight with Lennie because he mistakenly believes that Lennie is laughing at him. Lennie initially does not defend himself and takes the beating but finally grabs and crushes Curley's hand after George tells him to defend himself.
• Candy – Is the swamper. He lost a hand while working on the ranch. He owns a very old dog who was shot at the hand of Carlson. His dog is his only companion as many of the ranch workers feel he is too old to socialize with.
• Candy's dog – He's a very old sheepdog who's very hard to care for because of his age. Carlson complains about him because of the way he smells, and recommended Candy to kill him. Carlson prompted him to kill the dog until Candy and Slim agreed upon this, then Carlson shot him, to put him out of his misery. Candy's dog is related to Lennie in the way that George has to take his life, even though Candy did not.
• Smitty – He's a skinner who's good at fighting with his feet, just like Curley. The only time he lost a fight was while fighting Crooks during Christmas, due to the no-feet rule that applied due to Crook's "crooked" back.
• Curley's wife – A young, sexy, pretty woman; sometimes called a "tart" (slut) by the men, she is often gentle toward Lennie and doesn't take advantage of him. She doesn't have a name and is the only woman mentioned on the male-oriented ranch. She often flirts with the ranch men as a cry for attention and secretly hates her husband as he sees her as his trophy. Like George and Lennie she had dreams that were eventually crushed. Her tragic flaw is that she is very lonely and likes to talk to men, to compensate for her loneliness.
• Slim – The moral yardstick at the ranch. All the other characters respect him, as he has an omniscient and omnipotent presence. He is illustrated as a Christ-like figure. Curley suspects he is having an affair with his wife. He helps Lennie from getting fired after the fight with Curley. He is the prince of the ranch. Slim is a jerkline skinner, and can lead mules with little or no effort.
• Crooks – The only black person on the ranch. He is discriminated against and has to sleep alone behind the stables. But later we see some of the discrimination wiped away as he plays horseshoes with the other ranch workers (even though he has a crooked back). Due to his isolation, he judges people before he gets to know them. He really likes his privacy and gets angry when people come into his bunk house.
• Carlson – A large and insensitive man. He shoots Candy's dog and seems to have almost no empathy. He is the typical ranch worker at the time of the book. Owns a Luger.
• Whit – A young man; enthusiastic about life on the ranch, and is a regular visitor to the ranch. Wants to be in the action, wants to be accepted by all the other people.
• The Boss – Only appears once. He is Curley's father and runs the ranch. Supposedly a nice man, but he never takes part in the day to day action in the ranch. Does not respect his son.
• Aunt Clara – Lennie's previous guardian. Although she never directly appears, she plays a key role (especially after Lennie kills Curley's Wife, as a way to deal with the guilt and consequences of his actions). She is the only positive female character in the story. She appears as a vision to Lennie, who begins to talk as though he was her, showing not just signs of autism but even insanity at the end of the book.

Real-life basis

As mentioned above, the story draws on Steinbeck's own experience as a 'bindle stiff' in the 1920s. In a 1937 interview, he says:

Lennie was a real person... He's in an insane asylum in California right now. I worked alongside him for many weeks. He didn't kill a girl. He killed a ranch foreman.

Notable adaptations

Cinema

Of Mice and Men has been cinematized several times. The first instance being in 1939; only two years after the initial publication of the novel. This adaptation of Of Mice and Men starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, Burgess Meredith as George, and was directed by Lewis Milestone. It was nominated for four Oscars. In 1981 it was made into a TV movie. This version starred Randy Quaid as Lennie, Robert Blake as George, Ted Neeley as Curley, and was directed by Reza Badiyi.

The most recent version Of Mice and Men (1992) was directed by Gary Sinise, who was nominated for a Golden Palm award. In addition to directing, Sinise also played the role of George across from John Malkovich, who played the role of Lennie. For this particular adaptation, both men reprised their roles from a 1980 Steppenwolf Theatre Company production.

Theatre

Stage adaptations have also been produced. The original production was produced by Sam H. Harris, and opened on November 23, 1937, in the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. It ran for 207 performances, and starred Wallace Ford as George and Broderick Crawford as Lennie. Also of note, the role of Crooks was performed by Leigh Whipper, the first African-American member of the Actors' Equity Association. Whipper repeated his role in the 1939 film version. It was chosen as Best Play in 1938 by the New York Drama Critics' Circle.

The play was revived in a 1974 Broadway production in the Brooks Atkinson Theatre staring Kevin Conway as George and James Earl Jones as Lennie. Noted stage actress Pamela Blair played Curley's Wife in this production.

In 1970 Carlisle Floyd wrote an opera based on this novel. One distinction between Steinbeck's book and Floyd's opera is that the latter features The Ballad Singer, a character who is not found in the book.

References from other works

For more references from other works, see Of Mice and Men in popular culture

Characters similar to George and Lennie have been popular since the publication of Of Mice and Men. Theatrical cartoon shorts of the 1940s and 1950s, particularly the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons released by Warner Bros., are particularly awash with Of Mice and Men parodies. The Of Mice and Men reference most often in the form of one character asking another, a la, Lennie, "which way did he go, George; which way did he go?" Tex Avery, who worked as a director on Warner-released cartoons during the 1930s and early 1940s, started the trend with Of Fox and Hounds (1940). The formula was so successful that it was used again and again in subsequent shorts, notably Robert McKimson's Cat-Tails for Two (1953) and Chuck Jones' The Abominable Snow Rabbit (1961). Even Avery himself used it again when he went on to direct several cartoons starring the George and Lennie dopplegangers George and Junior for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the late 1940s. There is at least one Roger Ramjet episode which features a George/Lennie-based duo, the latter with lines like "tell me about the rabbits".

Controversy

The novel was banned from various American school libraries or curricula in 1993 and 1994 for "promoting euthanasia" but remains required reading in many other American high school and middle school English courses. Because of the novel's content it has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 at number six.

The creation of the novella

Of Mice and Men was Steinbeck's first attempt at writing his form of novel called the play-novelette. He wanted to write a novel that could be played from its lines or a play that could be read like a novel. He considered this work a failure in the sense that it did not accomplish this.

Steinbeck originally titled it Something That Happened, however he changed the title after reading Robert Burns poem, To a Mouse. The poem tells of the regret the narrator feels for having destroyed the home of a mouse while plowing his field. In essence, it tells of how no plan is fool-proof and how one can never truly be prepared for the future, for even the best of plans can go wrong.

Steinbeck wrote this book, along with The Grapes of Wrath, in what is now Monte Sereno, California, in his home at 16250 Greenwood Lane. Steinbeck's dog ate an early manuscript of the novel. It was very different from the final work.

Other Information

Many students study the novel for GCSE English Literature in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, Standard Grade in Scotland and the Leaving Certificate in Ireland. It is also studied in several high schools in Victoria, Australia as part of the leadup to the completion of a VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education). It is a prescribed English text for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and is studied by Maltese students taking their English A Level or Intermediate Level exams for their Matriculation Certificate.

External links

• Of Mice and Men Summary- Free wiki summary of chapters and characters with discussion and essay questions.