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OF MICE AND MEN - BY John Steinbeck
OF MICE AND MEN - BY John Steinbeck
The Author:
Real name is John Ernst Steinbeck he was born in 1902 in Salinas – California 49544cui71xui8f Studied marine biology at Stanford University Held several jobs including laboratory assistant, fruit picker, construction worker at Madison Square Garden in NYC and he was a reporter for NEW YORK AMERICAN During this time he wrote short stories 1929 wrote his first novel “Cup Of Gold” uu544c9471xuui 1930 he found a publisher 1935 he became a full-time writer during World War II he was a special writer for the United States 1940 he won the Pulitzer Prize 1962 Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature he died at the 20th of December in 1968 in NYC
The Book:
Setting:
Main Characters:
LENNIE
very large, strong but gentle man with a large face, pale eyes, wide shoulders and the mind of a child is very forgetful loves stroking nice things, specially animals works on ranches and travels with George, who looks after him cannot think how to do things himself, but he always obeys orders
GEORGE
is a small and quick man with a dark face, restless eyes and a thin nose is Lennies friend and looks after him and tries to keep him out of trouble is very honest
CANDY
is an old man, who works on the ranch too lost his hand years ago while doing his job as farmer becomes friends with George and Lennie has a very old dog
CURLEY
the son of the owner of the ranch, where George and Lennie work is always looking for fights for showing, how strong he is doesn’t like Lennie
CURLEY’S WIFE
a pretty young woman who tries to make all the men on the ranch falling in love with her also flirts with Lennie, but she doesn’t realize, that he is very simple
Plot:
story starts in one evening at the Salinas River George and Lennie worked on a ranch in Weed (a town nearby) Before they arrive at the ranch where they are going to work for a month And they become friends with an old man called Candy and meet Curley , who wants to fight with Lennie George and Lennie meet Curley’s wife Lennie is fascinated of her and loves her, since he has been seen her the first time Lennie gets a little puppy from another man one the ranch George tells this man (his name is Slim) about Lennie Candy, the farmer, has a very old dog that hasn’t got any teeth and can hardly move The other man doesn’t like this dog, because he smells worse Candy doesn’t want to shoot his dog, because he has got him since he was a puppy This job was undertaken by another man on the ranch Candy tells George: “I should have shot my dog myself, I shouldn’t have let a stranger shoot my dog.” One day, Curley provokes a fight with Lennie and Lennie injures Curley On a Sunday afternoon, Curley’s wife begins to flirt with Lennie in the barn She wants him to stroke her hair When he strokes too strong she starts screaming and Lennie wants her to stop He shakes her stronger and stronger and so, he breaks her neck Lennie runs away, back to the river, where the story started Another men find the dead woman and her husband Curley knows, the Lennie must have killed her He decided to kill him and starts looking for him George knows, where Lennie is and sends the other men in the wrong direction He steels a pistol of one of the other men and goes to the river alone and finally he find Lennie there George shoots Lennie in the back of his head, so that he is dead immediately and doesn’t feel any pain
Conflict:
is the inner one of George His friend Lennie has killed Curley’s wife If he doesn’t shoot Lennie, Curley would do it Then George maybe feels guilty like Candy, who has not shot his old dog himself But to kill his friend is not easy for George
Point of view:
Further Analysis:
written in Past colloquial style tone is mostly serious, sometimes emotional scenic mode (often direct speech, action presented in detail) some stylistic devices:
repetitions (Lennie often repeat, what George tells him)
interior monologues (Lennie speaks to himself many times)
ellipses (e.g. <But not us.>)
Sources:
The book German one Dictionary Microsoft Encarta 2001
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