Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck’s novel of migrant workers struggling to survive during The Great Depression.

Two men, George and Lennie, cling to each other in a world where every man has to earn his keep day by day.

Set in Salinas Valley, California, Of Mice and Men follows two migrant workers looking to for refuge at a ranch

The opening provides a setting that is quiet and peaceful, noting the underlying peacefulness that is provided by the natural world “On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves

lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them.”

The Great Depression

A period of economic struggle during the 1930’s and 40’s

Many poor farmers were forced to travel to look for work

A feeling of loneliness or isolation drove people apart Everyone was just concerned with

surviving

Character:George &

Lennie“The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin bony nose. Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.”

-Steinbeck, pg. 2

George is described as a ‘quick’ and ‘strong’ man He is smaller in size than Lennie, but George is

much more intelligent, which is why his eyes are ‘restless’

George takes up for Lennie and must protect him in life.

Lennie, a ‘huge’ man with ‘sloping’ shoulders is identified through his animalistic physical stature He walks ‘heavily’ being compared to a bear,

showing that he is disabled Lennie is large and powerful, but his mind is not

as sharp as George’s

Plot: Exposition

“An’ you ain’t gonna do no bad things like you done in Weed, neither.”

Lennie looked puzzled. “Like I done in Weed?”

“Oh, so ya forgot that too, did ya? Well, I ain’t gonna remind ya, fear ya do it again.”

A light of understanding broke on Lennie’s face. “They run us outta Weed,” he exploded triumphantly.

“Run us out, hell,” said George disgustedly. “We run. They was lookin’ for us, but they didn’t catch us.”

We learn early on that George and Lennie are not only migrant workers . . . They have been on the run Lennie has done some ‘bad things’ that caused

the men to be chased from their last ranch For this reason, the men are looking for a new

place to workGeorge reveals to the readers how

difficult it is looking after Lennie “I could get along so easy and so nice if I

didn’t have you on my tail.” Lennie needs George to take care of him