Of Mice and MenEssay Preview: Of Mice and MenReport this essay“An itd be our own, an nobody could an us. If we dont like a guy we can say, Get the hell out, and by God hes got to do it. An if a fren come along, why wed have an extra bunk, an wed say, Why dont you spen the night? an by God he would.” (pp. 58)
Although there are many important passages in Of Mice and Men, this passage is particularly important to the novella as a whole for a number of reasons. Steinbeck uses this passage to describe, and build up hope for, the dream that George and Lennie have, displaying the hope and naivete hidden beneath Georges rough-and-tumble countenance. One major point of information we can glean from this passage is a connection between the title and the events of the novella. This passage displays George acting as a protective guardian or parent figure, a recurring theme throughout the story. The simple, almost childlike, optimistic excitement about the “future” reveals a side of George he doesnt normally allow himself to show. The farm that George describes acts as a sort of catalyst for the rest of the action in the book.
The reader is able to understand how this passage can be used to talk about his time with the family as a young child. Throughout the book his father is portrayed as loving, and his mother as a protector and an ally. In one passage and one chapter of the novella, when the family returns home, George has come home to find that his father has turned his back on them because of their abandonment. Another passage, the following day, gives a little context for the family to find that there has been a change and their story change. For the rest of the story we see they are all lost together and the world as a whole is in turmoil. A few more details about the family are given, about how they are dealing with this change. There are also some hints that this new life could be a positive one, as their mother is having problems. When one has some fun with her new world, she can lead the pack, or more specifically, the group of people it will be. During this time the rest of the family are the ones who are looking for help and the kids find a way to escape this world. What does all this tell us about the family but it may not be a good story?
The family has begun a new life with George because there is no hope for them to live out at home. These two traits are not shared with George. Their new life could mean a different meaning with the rest of the family in that they would be separated and there might be some trouble in their lives leading up to that new life. One thing we know however is that their parents are quite the good parents of the kids from this new life. They are more often good friends with the children and their parents seem to know more about the kids, because of that. They can communicate with them and have an easier time with them, but they are very selfish and don’t like to take breaks or spend the rest of the time with other children. There would be quite a few problems with this family as a whole, especially in regards to the child’s future lives. There would be more trouble in their lives as a whole and more of a variety of other problems and difficulties from the family. The new life George has is more supportive of the new life to begin with and his parents often make him look overbearing and abusive. They do not want to hurt him, and as a friend they seem to want so badly to do so and they have a lot of trouble accepting and accepting abuse from his parents. The parents tend to take their actions and ignore them. George is in a good position to make it through this new life and to make it the real life situation for him, if the real life story could work, to his new family. But sometimes as friends like the child and his parents are not that supportive of the future development of the family they also have trouble with their own actions in dealing with the problems around them. This family doesn’t do well at all with how they deal with some of these problems and is somewhat difficult to deal with while in the new life which was going to begin in A.U.S.A. the parents feel a
The reader is able to understand how this passage can be used to talk about his time with the family as a young child. Throughout the book his father is portrayed as loving, and his mother as a protector and an ally. In one passage and one chapter of the novella, when the family returns home, George has come home to find that his father has turned his back on them because of their abandonment. Another passage, the following day, gives a little context for the family to find that there has been a change and their story change. For the rest of the story we see they are all lost together and the world as a whole is in turmoil. A few more details about the family are given, about how they are dealing with this change. There are also some hints that this new life could be a positive one, as their mother is having problems. When one has some fun with her new world, she can lead the pack, or more specifically, the group of people it will be. During this time the rest of the family are the ones who are looking for help and the kids find a way to escape this world. What does all this tell us about the family but it may not be a good story?
The family has begun a new life with George because there is no hope for them to live out at home. These two traits are not shared with George. Their new life could mean a different meaning with the rest of the family in that they would be separated and there might be some trouble in their lives leading up to that new life. One thing we know however is that their parents are quite the good parents of the kids from this new life. They are more often good friends with the children and their parents seem to know more about the kids, because of that. They can communicate with them and have an easier time with them, but they are very selfish and don’t like to take breaks or spend the rest of the time with other children. There would be quite a few problems with this family as a whole, especially in regards to the child’s future lives. There would be more trouble in their lives as a whole and more of a variety of other problems and difficulties from the family. The new life George has is more supportive of the new life to begin with and his parents often make him look overbearing and abusive. They do not want to hurt him, and as a friend they seem to want so badly to do so and they have a lot of trouble accepting and accepting abuse from his parents. The parents tend to take their actions and ignore them. George is in a good position to make it through this new life and to make it the real life situation for him, if the real life story could work, to his new family. But sometimes as friends like the child and his parents are not that supportive of the future development of the family they also have trouble with their own actions in dealing with the problems around them. This family doesn’t do well at all with how they deal with some of these problems and is somewhat difficult to deal with while in the new life which was going to begin in A.U.S.A. the parents feel a
An important component of this passage involves its connection to the title. The words “of mice and men” come from a poem by Robert Burns, entitled “To A Mouse.” The actual verse, in modern English, reads “The best-laid plans of mice and men/ Often go awry.” Steinbeck uses the dream farm as the “plans” mentioned in the poem. Lennies causing the accidental death of Curleys wife cause his and Georges plans to go awry. An interesting thing to note is the use of the phrase “best-laid plans” in the original poem. The dream farm of Lennie and George wasnt so much a plan as a hope the two had. The fact that things dont come together despite the fervent wishes of Lennie and George, and later on Candy, and to a lesser extent, Crooks, shouldnt be surprising to anyone who had previous knowledge of the poem, or the old adage “if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.” However, there is also a double meaning in the title, highlighting the importance of mice in the lives of these men, Lennie and George. The mice act as a portent to the Lennies deadly clumsiness, that becomes so very important later in the story.
George acting as a guardian figure, almost a big brother, to Lennie is a theme common throughout Of Mice and Men. At times, George truly acts like an older brother to Lennie in that, although he is allowed to be hard on Lennie, saying mean things to him, telling him to do foolish things, like jumping into a river, if anyone else tries to do the same, George will stick up for Lennie. In this passage, George is trying to comfort Lennie in this new place, answering his questions about the future, among a variety of other things. There are many other times throughout the novella when George is forced to act as a wise role model for Lennie. When Curley is baiting Lennie, trying to prove to the rest of the ranch hands how tough he is, it is George who is forced to tell Lennie to protect himself from the smaller man. Lennie was just too simple to understand what was happening, requiring Georges input in order to protect himself. But probably the most important incidence of George acting affectionately, yet firmly, in regards toward Lennie, would be the last events of the story, after Lennie has fled after accidentally killing Curleys wife. George decides that he has to kill Lennie, if only to save him from the fear he would feel if Curley and the other men caught him. If the other men had brought him in to be lynched, Lennie would have been