Before beginning the novella, we will start with a writing journal. They will select one of the pictures on which to write a brief journal response before checking out a copy of the book.
As we study the novella, we will be studying the book as a whole instead of breaking it up into smaller "chunks" of reading due daily. They will receive the book on Tuesday 15 September when they will also receive a "book log" assignment as well as access to the study guide (hyperlinks to study guide below), and they will need to read the entire book and complete the book log for our discussion of the book on beginning Monday 21 September.
For help in understanding Steinbeck's purposes (vocabulary and themes), hyperlinks to that information is under the study guide hyperlinks, above the essay hyperlinks.
For other basic information on the novella, including plot summary, setting, author information, allusions and idioms in the novella, please scroll down.
Book Log Assignment
Study Guide (.pdf Version)
Chapter 1
Study Guide (.pdf Version)
Chapter 2
Study Guide (.pdf Version)
Chapter 3
Study Guide (.pdf Version)
Chapter 4
Study Guide (.pdf Version)
Chapter 5-6
Study Guide (.pdf Version)
Vocabulary in Of Mice and Men
Themes in Of Mice and Men
Overall Plot Summary:
George and Lennie are two migrant American labourers, who share a dream; that one day they may buy a farm, and Lennie will be able to take care of the rabbits.
Although Lennie is physically very strong and has the body of a man, he has the mind of a child.
The two men arrive on a ranch near the town of Soledad, where they are about to start work as barley buckers. On arriving there, they meet Candy, an old one-handed man who mops the floor, and Curley. Curley is the Boss' son, and immediately hates Lennie because of his impressive size. George realises that Curley will undoubtedly cause trouble for them.
After the two men are hired by the Boss, they meet Slim, a jerkline skinner. He has a lot of authority and has earned much respect from the men. They also meet Carlson.
Later that night, after dinner, Slim gives Lennie one of his puppies. Lennie is delighted by the gift, for he loves to pet things like rabbits, puppies and even mice, although he sometimes accidentally kills the creatures, not knowing his own strength.
George confides in Slim, telling him about how Lennie has caused many problems before, like in Weed. A girl thought Lennie was trying to rape her, and they had to flee.
Later that night, Candy overhears George and Lennie talking about their dream, and he asks if he could join them. He has quite a bit of money saved up, and they realise that if they combine their money in one month's time, they will have enough to buy the house. All three of them are excited by the prospect of how close they are to fulfilling their dream.
Still later that night, Curley attacks Lennie when he sees Lennie smiling when Curley is arguing with Carlson. Lennie does nothing to protect himself until George tells him to fight back. Then Lennie crushes Curley's hand. George is worried because he thinks he will be fired, but Slim convinces Curley to tell people that he got his hand caught in a machine.
The next night, (Saturday night) while most of the men are in town, Lennie visits Crooks, the Negro stable buck who lives alone in the barn. Crooks tries to explain the loneliness he feels but Lennie is too worried about George to listen.
After a while Candy also joins them, and when he talks about the house they are going to buy, Crooks becomes interested. However, when Curley's wife appears, looking for company because she is lonely, trouble starts.
When the three men refuse to answer her truthfully when she asks what happened to Curley's hand, she becomes angry. She guesses from the bruises on Lennie's face that he injured her husband in a fight.
Crooks becomes fed up with Curley's wife and asks her to leave. Curley's wife refuses, and insults Crooks, knowing that she can accuse him of molesting her, and she will be believed rather than the men.
Candy says he hears the men returning from town, and Curley's wife leaves, afraid that her husband might find her in the barn.
After Curley's wife has insulted, humiliated and degraded Crooks, he becomes disheartened and withdraws his offer to join Candy, Lennie and George on their farm. Candy and George both leave when George comes to find them.
The next afternoon, Lennie is in the barn. He is worried because he has accidentally killed his puppy and is afraid that George will not allow him to feed the rabbits if he finds out.
While Lennie debates whether or not to tell George, Curley's wife appears, and soon gets Lennie involved in a conversation with her, although George had warned Lennie never to talk to her.
She kindly lets Lennie stroke her hair, but when he won't let go she panics and struggles. She begins to scream, and Lennie is afraid he will get into trouble, so he shakes her to make her stop. He succeeds, but unfortunately he also kills her.
Remembering George's advice to run to the brush by the river if he is ever in trouble, Lennie does so.
Candy discovers Curley's wife, and fetches George. George has to tell the other men, although there will be little chance of taking Lennie alive if Curley finds out that he killed his wife.
When the men hear the news they go into a sort of killing frenzy. When Carlson finds his gun missing, he reports this to Curley, and it is decided that there can be no mercy for Lennie since everyone assumes he has the gun. Without further ado, the manhunt for Lennie begins.
Lennie waits for George to come and fetch him, and while he does, he imagines both his Aunt Clara and a giant rabbit reproaching him. Then George appears.
Lennie persuades George to tell him his favourite story about how he will feed the rabbits. As George tells the story, he withdraws Carlson's gun from his pocket, and at the end of the story, he mercifully kills Lennie by shooting him.
When the other men arrive they are amazed that George managed to get the gun from Lennie and then shoot him with it, except for Slim, who immediately understands what really happened and offers George consolation. The two friends walk off together in sorrow, mourning the loss of their mutual friend.
Notes on the Setting:
The novel is set near the town of Soledad, a real town in southern California.
The town lies on the Salinas River, an area with which Steinbeck was well acquainted as he was born in the town of Salinas, further to the North.
The first chapter takes place beside the river, while the central portion of the book takes place on the ranch where George and Lennie find jobs.
Again, Steinbeck knew this kind of place well as he had worked as a ranch-hand and casual labourer.
The last chapter returns to the river, to the exact spot where the story started, giving a kind of symmetry to the structure of the novel.
The background to the novel is also important. Climatic changes had turned large areas of the American West into a dustbowl of infertile land.
Many farmers lost their farms and were forced into the life of itinerant workers. Their numbers were swelled by large numbers of unemployed due to the Depression of the 10's.
Since so many workers were available, pay and conditions were very poor, as farm-owners exploited the situation.
Much of the work was seasonal, so these workers seldom settled in one place, and were forced to lead a solitary life, seldom with a family.
John Steinbeck was deeply concerned about the plight of these poor farmers and itinerant workers, as may be seen in his most popular book, The Grapes of Wrath.
To get a deeper insight into the background and social conditions of the time, as well as the writing style of Steinbeck, it is recommended that you read The Grapes of Wrath.
Notes on John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck was born on 27 Feb 1902 in Salinas, California, not far from the area where Of Mice and Men is set. He attended Stanford University, but never settled to one area of study and left without obtaining a degree.
In his twenties, he pursued a varied working life, including that of an itinerant ranch worker, similar to the characters portrayed in the novel. His early writings had some success, and established him as an author interested in social problems.
'Of Mice and Men' was first published in 1937, and was immediately successful, earning Steinbeck a wide reputation.
Steinbeck enjoyed even greater success with the full-length novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), which won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1940. He wrote a number of other novels such as Cannery Row and In Dubious Battle, as well as Short Stories such as The Red Pony and The Pearl.
The latter two stories are frequently studied as school texts.
However, most critics agree that Steinbeck's later works don't quite match up to his earlier efforts. Nevertheless, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 "...for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception.".
Steinbeck died 20 Dec 1968.
Idioms in Of Mice and Men
Chapter One
blow their stake: Lose and/or spend all their money
blowin' in our jack: losing, spending, or gambling away all our money
bustin' a gut: Your gut is your stomach area. To bust a gut is to engage in very hard physical labor -- so hard that you ache all over -- even in your gut.
in hot water: to be in hot water is to be in trouble.
jungle-up: During the Great Depression, many wanderers (hoboes and tramps) would settle for the night in groups. These areas would be known as hobo jungles. To jungle-up is to camp out for the evening in the company of other like companions of the road.
live off the fatta the lan': Live off the fat of the land. The fat of the land is an expression that refers to having the best of everything. In the case of Lennie and George and their dream for a place of their own, it also means that they believe they will be able to survive and prosper by simply relying on what they can grow and raise -- that the land is so "fat" they will need nothing else to be happy.
Chapter Two
bum steer: bum, in this instance, means false or erroneous. A bum steer is false information or directions.
canned: fired
clear out: leave for good
done quite a bit in the ring: The ring here refers to a boxing ring. Candy is making a reference to the fact that Curley has done some boxing.
Drink hearty: in other words, "Drink up, drink well, have a good time!"
flapper: mouth
game: courageous
gang up: attack as a group
get the can: get fired
got the eye: Candy is referring to the fact that, instead of being faithful to her husband, Curley's wife tends to look around at other men.
in heat: For a female animal (in this case, a dog), to be in heat (also known as estrus) is to be in a state of sexual excitement when she will accept mating from a male.
jail bait: a girl below the legal age of consent for sex; an underage girl who tempts a man to sexual intimacy which is punishable by imprisonment
licked: beat; loses the fight
old lady: mother, or, in this case, Lennie's Aunt Clara.
old man: in this case, father
pants is full of ants: To have "ants in one's pants" is to be nervous and restless.
pants rabbits: any type of parasites, such as lice; especially those that might affect the genital area
picking scraps: A scrap is a fight or argument. To pick a scrap is to provoke fights or quarrels.
plug himself up for a fighter: to "plug oneself up" is to advertise or display oneself; to boast. George is referring to the fact that Curley may want to prove what a good fighter he is by going after Lennie.
poison: A woman who is poison is one who can only mean trouble, especially to a man.
poke: A poke is a wallet or purse. Poke also refers to money; especially all the money one has.
pokin' your big ears into our business: eavesdropping; listening in, uninvited, on a private conversation
poop: energy; desire
rassel: lift, carry, and handle; especially something heavy and awkward
rattrap: a rattrap is a hopeless situation; one that no good can come from. George is warning Lennie to stay away from Curley's wife because getting involved with her would only result in a bad situation.
scrappy: aggressive; fond of fighting and arguing
shove off: leave
shove out of here: get out of here
slang her pups: gave birth to her pups
sore as hell: extremely angry
take the rap: take the blame; be the one who gets into trouble
tangles: fights; argues
two bits: a quarter; twenty-five cents
what stake you got in this guy: In this case, a stake is an interest (financial, personal, etc.) in a person or thing. The boss is asking George what interest he has in Lennie.
what the hell's he got on his shoulder: This refers to the expression "to have a chip on one's shoulder," which is used to describe someone who is bad tempered, easily angered, or always ready for a fight. George is wondering why Curley seems so bad tempered.
Chapter Three
bucks: dollars
crack: A crack refers to an attempt or a try. In this instance, a crack means one session of sexual intercourse with a prostitute.
cut off his wind: wind, in this case, refers to breath or the ability to breathe. When someone is hit in the stomach and has his wind cut off, that person my have trouble breathing for a time.
flat bust: completely broke; without any money
flop: sexual intercourse with a prostitute
goo-goos: silly young men; idiots; perhaps those who are a little lovestruck
hoosegow: jail
looloo: a sexy woman
make it stick: To make something stick is to be successful. Curley was not successful in his attempt to scare or intimidate Slim.
old lady: in this case, wife
on the county: on welfare; on public relief
people: family
punk: an insignificant person; someone of no importance
rabbits in: jumps in
roll up a stake: save up some money
scram: leave, usually in a hurry
set on the trigger: Someone set on the trigger is on the verge of causing (just about to cause) trouble.
set you back: cost
shot: one drink (an ounce) of liquor
start a party out to lynch: To lynch is to murder someone, usually by hanging, without following a legal procedure. A lynch party is a mob of people who take the law in their own hands and are determined to illegally kill someone. According to George, some men in the town of Weed wanted to capture Lennie and kill him.
throw a litter: give birth. A litter is the young of an animal that were born at the same time.
throw a scare: scare, intimidate
welter: a welterweight; a boxer who weighs 136 to 147 pounds
wing-ding: a terrific person; someone to be admired
yella-jackets in his drawers: Yellow-jackets are a form of wasps. Drawers, in this case, are underwear. Whit's description of Curley is a lot like saying that he has ants in his pants; that is, that he is restless and nervous.
yella: yellow; a coward
Chapter Four
balony: nonsense
booby hatch: insane asylum; a place designed to house people who are metnally unstable
corn: whiskey made from corn
cover 'im up: protect him; make excuses for him; cover up for him
doped out: figured out
old lady: in this case, the mother dog
put me in pitchers: put me in pictures; gotten me a job as an actress in the movies (motion pictures)
right cross: in boxing, a punch delivered by the boxer's right fist
screwy: crazy
sellin' me: trying to make me believe
set: sit; sit down
strung up on a tree: hanged, lynched
take you out in a box: in this case, the box is a coffin. Crooks is telling Candy that the old man will remain where he is until he dies.
took a powder: left
went with shows: been an entertainer on the stage.
Chapter Five
we'd never do her: "her," in this case, refers to their plan to own a farm. George is saying that he thinks they all knew they would never really accomplish their dream of living on their own place
Allusions in Of Mice and Men
Chapter One
Galiban Mountains: a small mountain range situated east of the Salinas River
Howard street: There is a Howard Street in San Francisco, a city in Northern California. On their travel south from Weed, the two men may have stopped in San Francisco to look for work.
Sacramento: The capital of California, Sacramento is located about eighty miles northeast of San Francisco.
Salinas River: a river that flows north through Soledad and empties into Monterey Bay.
Soledad: a city in near the coast of California, approximately 130 miles south of San Francisco.
watchin' that blackboard: During this era, employment agencies would post available jobs on a blackboard in front of their offices. Prospective employees would wait in front of the offices, watching the blackboard for any new jobs.
Weed: A mining town in Northern California, near Mt. Shasta.
work cards: A job assignment from an employment agency would be written on a work card to be presented by the worker to the employer.
Chapter Two
American River: a river in Northern California that runs past Auburn, through Sacramento, and flows into the Sacramento River.
eatin' raw eggs: It's thought by some that eating raw eggs can increase strength and, especially in men, sexual performance and stamina.
pan gold: a method of obtaining gold by using a pan to sift it out from other rocks and minerals that might flow through a river or stream.
temple dancer: a dancer from India or other Southeast Asian countries, known for the delicate movements of the hands and body.
vaseline: the brand name for petroleum jelly; a greasy, jelly-like substance made from petroleum. Among its other uses, Vaseline is often used as a lubricant (softener) for the skin.
work slips: the work cards given to Lennie and George by an employment agency
writin' to the patent medicine houses: Patent medicines are medications that can be purchased without a doctor's prescription and often through the mail. Some of these medicines would claim to increase sexual performance.
Chapter Three
Auburn: a city in Northern California about thirty-five miles northeast of Sacramento
fence picket: a pointed stake made of wood. Put a number of pickets together and you'll get a picket fence.
Golden Gloves: an amateur boxing organization.
horseshoe game: A game in which players toss horseshoes at two facing stakes driven into the ground
kewpie doll lamp: Kewpie dolls are a particular type of doll first manufactured at the beginning of the 20th century.
Luger: a type of pistol.
phonograph: Before CD players and tape decks there were phonographs, machines that played records.
run up the river: During the salmon mating season, thousands of the fish will swim upstream, struggling against the current, spawn (lay their eggs), and then die. During a salmon run, the fish are easy to catch.
Sacramento River: a California river that runs from Shasta Lake in the north, through Sacramento and into the San Francisco Bay
San Quentin: a state prison near San Francisco, California.
scoring board: a board with holes and pegs used to keep score in certain card games
set the pegs: to set up the pegs on a scoring board before the beginning of a card game
walkin' bow-legged: To walk bow-legged is to walk with the knees turned out. Whit's reference here is to the way a man might walk who had contracted a venereal disease from Clara's place.
Chapter Four
roll your hoop: a popular amusement of children in the past was running while rolling a large metal hoop with a stick. Telling Curley's wife to "roll your hoop," is Candy's way of calling her young and immature.
Chapter Five
an' spoke in the radio: Large Hollywood movie premiers were major events during the 1930s and were often broadcast on the radio. Actors entering the theater would be interviewed and would speak to an audience of radio listeners throughout the country.
Jackson fork: a large mechanical hay fork, used for lifting large amounts of hay.
previews: previews or openings (premiers) of motion pictures.
Chapter Six
bull's-eye glasses: glasses with thick, convex lenses (a convex lens is one that curves outward)
Of Mice and Men Informative Essay
Of Mice and Men Informative Essay Outline