Analysis: Of Mice and Men

Details:

From his first two paragraphs, John Steinbeck sets the scene in Of Mice and Men through his use of imagery/foreshadowing as he describes the natural world in a parallel to later events in the novella. "...under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp," may be talking simply about nature or of George and Lenny and the relationship between them. Under implies some thing over another, or protecting another, or above another. The leaves lie to viewers about the depth of them. Deep means not shallow, much to be gone through. Lenny is under George in intelligence as George is under Lenny in size. Lenny sometimes lies to George to try and keep himself out of trouble (he did not have a rat in his pocket apparently). George's motives for protecting Lenny are deeper than some think; he is not just doing it for protection, to have Lenny over him. The trees, George, protect the leaves, Lenny, even though they are slowly dying, the leaves are crisp and Lenny is doomed. "...a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway," is able to be related to Lenny's impending doom. Lenny has made the mistake of getting into trouble with women because of his unknown strength. This has occured more than once, the beaten path. The boys coming down from the ranch are doing so in the pursuit of recreation, the elimination of one they do not particularly like, Lenny. The boys follow Slim, the leader, who handles his problems with violence and vasoline. The tramps, the women Lenny gets in trouble for associating with, come wearily, weary of Lenny and his ignorance and of life, in one case, down from the highway. Lenny and George were constantly on the move, symbolized by the highway. "...the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it," suggests tearing away a figurative mask, to reveal the true essence of a thing. George is the limb in this parallel. He is hard on the outside; with questioning, men sitting on the limb, the bark begins to wear away and his affection for Lenny is revealed. Countless authors describe the setting in a manner completely seperate from the characters, unless the story somehow involves the surrounding area; the description of setting has no point but to allow the reader to have some idea as to where to place the story. Steinbeck, however, describes the setting in a way that can also be applied to the characters and the story, through foreshadowing and parallels.


Point of View:

The third-person objective point of view accentuates the differences between each character through descriptions of their traits by the other characters' observations ("others" including the "unbiased" opinion of the "omnipotent" narrator). The chosen quote, from page 37 of the novel states that "Curley seemed really to see George for the first time. His eyes flashed over George, took in his height, measured his reach, looked at his trim middle." When Curley encountered George in the bunkhouse, looking for his wife, Curley only noticed George because of his involvement in locating the woman, and because of George's attitude ("cold," slightly confrontational). Curley was a small man and had self-confidence issues, forcing him to constantly be vigilant in the pursuit for fights to prove to himself and others that he was not to be underestimated. He looked over George to see how big he was in comparison, sizing up a potential opponent. George also happened to be small, this making Curley feel relieved and more at ease when talking to him, reassuring him that the fight, if one ensued, would not be a great challenge. Crooks, the black, handicapped, stable buck, always "...kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs." (pg. 67) As also stated in this passage, Crooks was "proud" and "aloof." These quotes show that Crooks knew he was different from the others. Keeping out of the way of the other ranch workers was the only way Crooks knew of to maintain his pride and to prevent his insecurities from overwhelming him. Third-person perspective allows readers to see the differences in Crooks better than if first-person perspective was used; first-person often evokes feelings similar to the narrator's and unbiased opinions, best derived from the third-person, are better for evaluating the text (readers are given the information and are able to make their own conclusions about the content). Without the descriptive passages regarding these characters in third-person perspective, these inhabitants of Of Mice and Men would not be as clear to "see" as they are.


Tones:

Steinbeck emphasizes the significance of trust between people and causes a significant amount of empathy to be had by the readers for the innocent and ignorant. George confesses to Slim that in page 40 that he "'Used to play jokes on 'im 'cause he was too dumb to take care of 'imself. But he was too dumb even to know he had a joke played on him... Why he'd do any damn thing I tol' him... He never got mad about it, neither. I've beat the hell outta him, and he coulda bust every bone in my bodyjus' with his han's, but he never lifted a finger against me... I turns to Lennie and says, 'Jump in.' An' he jumps. Couldn't swim a stroke... he was so damn nice to me for pullin' him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in.'" George and Lennie are almost as brothers. George protects Lennie by looking out for him with his intellect; preventing people from taking advantage of Lennie because of his ignorance. Gerge confesses to Slim in this exerpt that he used to take advantage of Lennie in this very way. Lennie never got upset with him because he did not know any better. He completely trusted George and knew that he knew best. He followed him basically blindly. This system of protecting each other completely worked, as George managed to save Lennie from several near-death events. Lennie's size was his main contribution to the partnership. A big guy following a much smaller one is a sign to any potential attacker that the targets are brothers in arms and to mess with the scrawny man is to anger the bigger. This brotherhood would have lasted as long as the lives of the "brothers." And did, though George was forced to end Lennie's life. Why George had to do so is explained in this passage from pages 90 and 91: "'I like to pet nice things with my fingers, sof' things.'... Curley's wife laughed at him... 'When I'm doin' my hair sometimes I jus' set an' stroke it 'cause it's so soft...Here-feel right here.' She took Lennie's hand and put it on her head. 'Feel right aroun' there an' see how soft it is.' Lennie's big fingers fell to stroking her hair... She jerked her head sideways, and Lennie's fingers closed on her hair and hung on. 'Let go,' she cried. 'You let go!' Lennie was in a panic. His face was contorted. She screamed then, and Lennie's other hand closed over her mouth and nose. 'Please don't,' he begged... 'George'll be mad.'... Lennie began to cry with fright... 'George gonna say I done a bad thing. He ain't gonna let me tend no rabbits.'... He shook her then, and he was angry with her... and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck." Lennie is mentally challenged. He enjoys simple pleasures, the most prominent being touching soft things and enjoying the texture. Curley's wife is what is known as a "floozy," unfaithful to her husband, and is always looking to spend time with random gentlemen (cough, cough). Soft things are usually delicate and dainty, and with Lennie's strength, this hobby of his is dangerous for him to pursue, as his great strength always seemed to damage whatever it was that he was petting (be it a small creature or a full grown woman). Curley's wife takes advantage of Lennie's weakness adn has him pet her hair, an attempt at having him open up to her for... further exploration for and of both of them (COUGH, COUGH). Lennie never means any harm to any thing and it is because of this that readers will feel empathy/sympathy for him. He is like a massive child: very easily entertained and subdued but overwhelmingly strong. Lennie only wishes to feel pleasant things but Curley's wife's panic at his insistence on petting her thoroughly causes him panic. Not knowing how to handle the situation, Lennie grabs on to her almost ferociously and ends up killing her, completely involuntarily. Steinbeck manages to grip readers' hearts in alternating ways through his nearly beligerant use of the tones of brotherhood and empathy, which seem to drip from the pages after having read the book.