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Of Mice and Men
Section Six
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Plot summary (Section Six)
Complete the plot summary by filling in the blanks.
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Vocabulary
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Structure
The last section of the novel echoes the first. The setting is identical and many phrases, incidents and images are repeated. Find as many similarities as you can and enter them in the table below.
Section One Section Six
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Transformations
What effect do these structural similarities have?
The incident with the water snake changes the associations of the setting. The idyllic opening scene has given way to a vision of a predatory natural order characterized by the indiscriminate, unpredictable visitation of death.
Lennie’s furtive movements as he creeps down to the river to drink transform him from the happily domesticated horse, bear, or dog of Section One to a hunted animal.
There is tragedy in the repetition of the farm story. Lennie revels in it, unaware of his impending death, while the reader and George both now know that the dream will never come true.
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Full circle
The cumulative effect of all these repetitions is to give the novel a cyclical structure which reinforces the atmosphere of inevitability. George and Lennie have come full circle and are back where they started – except that this time, Lennie is going to die.
On a more general level, this cyclicality also reflects the lifestyle of the principal characters – moving from ranch to ranch, from month to month, from year to year, never getting any further forward, then finally dying.
At which other points in the novel is a cyclical structure employed? What is the effect?
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Foreshadowing
Look back at all the possible instances of foreshadowing you noted in your worksheets. Did all your predictions come true?
Some critics think these hints are rather clunking. Did anyone really believe the characters could ever fulfil their
dreams? Was anyone surprised when Lennie finally came to grief?
Others argue that this is missing the point. Of Mice and Men is not a thriller, with a suspenseful, convoluted plot, but a novel about characters and ideas. The atmosphere of grinding inevitability is an aspect of the novel’s art.
What do you think? (There is no right answer!)
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Tension
The novel builds to its climax as George prepares to kill Lennie. Find four sentences which heighten the dramatic
tension!
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Origins
The title Of Mice and Men comes from Robert Burns’ poem ‘To A Mouse, On Turning Her up in Her Nest with the Plough’ (1786).
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ MenGang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ painFor promis’d joy.
How are these lines relevant to the novel?
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Mice and men
Now consider these lines from the poem:
Still, thou art blessed, compar’d wi’ me!The present only toucheth thee:But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!
(Robert Burns, ‘To a Mouse’, 1786)
In your opinion, which characters from the novel qualify as ‘mice’ and which as ‘men’?
Taking these lines into account, for whom do you feel most sorry at the end of the novel – George or Lennie?
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Thinking about Lennie
Reread the passage where Lennie experiences visions of his aunt and a giant rabbit. To what extent do you
think Lennie is aware of his difference from other people?
Which other incident in the book prefigures Lennie’s death? What point do these incidents make, considered together?
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Thinking about George
Why does George shoot Lennie? Try to think of more than one reason.
What will be the consequences for George? Consider the major themes of
the novel in your answer.
Do you think George changes over the
course of the novel?
What is the significance of Slim’s attitude to George at the end of the novel?
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Revision strategies
Can you think of any other useful strategies?
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Got the plot?
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Quiz
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Essay questions
Choose two themes from the novel and examine the ways in which they relate to one another.
Choose three characters and contrast the ways in which
they deal with the problem of loneliness.
‘Of Mice and Men is a novel of ideas rather than a study
of character.’ Discuss.
How does the structure of Of Mice and Men shape the reader’s response to the novel?
Consider the novel’s treatment of women.
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Essay questions
What contribution does Curley’s wife make to Of Mice and Men?
Discuss the role of Slim in Of Mice and Men.
What are the effects of marginalization on the characters in Of Mice and Men?
Write a detailed analysis of the relationship between Lennie and George, paying particular attention to imagery drawn from the natural world.
‘Of Mice and Men strikes a note of protest against contemporary social injustice.’ Discuss.
