A comparison between the opening section of the novel of 'of mice and men' with the opening section of the film of 'of mice and men'

Shah Muneeb Alam 10L

Media coursework

A comparison between the opening section of the novel of ‘of mice and men’ with the opening section of the film of ‘of mice and men’.

‘Of mice and men’ is a novel written by John Steinbeck. A film ‘of mice and men’ was also directed by Gary Sinise in 1992. The novel and the film are a bit different from each other. The book was written in the 1930’s, a time of high unemployment through out America and a time of racism and sexism and segregation. The main themes are sexism, prejudice, loneliness, loyalty and protest. John Steinbeck wrote the novel in the 1930’s a period known as The Depression. ‘Of mice and men’ is about two companions, George and Lennie, who are migrant ranch workers. They have gone to the Salinas River to work on a ranch. The story follows the two men in pursuit of dream of owning their own piece of land and tending rabbits.

In the film the characters are presented by Gary Sinise as George and John Malkovich as Lennie. Gary Sinise starts the film showing George on a train. The music is very sad and depressing; it is slow and is also classical. The audience can hardly see as it is dark and the picture of the train is coming in and out of focus. George emerges from the shadow looking pensive, his eyes penetrating, staring as if he is in deep thought; he is also looking very upset. This makes the audience wonder why? Then there is a cut to the scene. This indicates that the rest of the film is a flash back.

Then there is a flashback. A woman in a red dress is running as fast as she can, as if she is running away from danger. The red symbol represents danger. A long shot camera focuses on her face which was looking terrified, scared, and in horror. Her dress was also torn. The audience wonders why her dress was torn and what happened. Then George and Lennie were being pursued and chased by men on horses with guns and dogs. The tension increases as George and Lennie try to out run the men on horses. The music becomes faster and more exciting. There is a lot of sound in the background such as dogs barking, men shouting, George telling Lennie to run faster. This increases the tension in the audience. George and Lennie jump and hide in the river so that the dogs lose there scent. After George and Lennie lose the men who were after them, they jumped on to a train which was going extremely fast. It is dark and there are shadows. They had to jump on the train because they had no money and had to run away from Weed. There was an atmosphere of danger. There was no music at all except sounds of the train and whistles. There was minimal lightening so that the setting could blend into the surroundings. There are a range of camera shots which focus on George and Lennie. These shots show that they are workers and the state they are in which is fatigued, exhausted and drained. In side the train is only the sound of the conversation between George and Lennie. This conversation highlights the relationship between George and Lennie and illustrates who is in control. It also indicates that George is being a father like figure towards Lennie as he says “go to sleep Lennie” and “take off your coat” after Lennie says “I’m wet”.

After that George and Lennie board a grey hound bus in a town, it is day time, with long camera shots of George and Lennie. There is no music only the conversation between George and Lennie could be heard. It was a very short conversation which highlights Lennie’s forgetful nature.

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Next the bus is shown traveling through the countryside. There is a close up Lennie showing him staring out the window. One zoom in on Lennie shows him being excited like a child who is going on a trip. There is also a long shot of the countryside with mountains, land, and greenery. Then the bus stops, George is asleep and they are told get off the bus. So Lennie wakes George up.

Subsequently the film shows George and Lennie walking along a road, going towards the ranch they are going to work at, and they are talking about their new job. There is no music; there are only sounds of George and Lennie having a conversation, footsteps and crickets. And also a bus passes them without stopping. George gets cross because the bus driver overtakes them. The audience learns about Lennie’s strength as he killed a mouse whilst they were walking along the path. We also learn that George can be kind because when he threw Lennie’s dead mouse away, Lennie became upset and started crying, so to comfort Lennie he offers him a pup.

In the next scene George and Lennie are by the fire at the Salinas river pool. George tells Lennie about the rabbits which are going to be tended by Lennie and also about the small piece of land that they are going own and the small house which they are going to have. And that they will prosecute the trespassers which will come on their land. George tells Lennie to recognize the surroundings so that if he ever gets in trouble he can come back and hide here. The fire which George started represents George and Lennie starting a new life. George tells Lennie about their dream as a story because Lennie wanted to hear a bedtime story like a child. As George tells Lennie the story the camera keeps on switching from George to Lennie. The music is soft and adds to the environment. The atmosphere is very exciting.

John Steinbeck begins the novel with a long description of Soledad and the Salinas River, the place where George and Lennie are going to spend their night before going to the ranch. Then he describes George and Lennie. As George and Lennie are walking on the path they stopped by the river to have a drink of water and then started walking again. Then Lennie takes a dead mouse out from his jacket and starts playing with it, George then gets suspicious and asks Lennie what he has in his hand. Lennie denies having anything in his hand and tries to hide then thing he has, but he becomes unsuccessful as George threatens to sock him. George snatches the dead mouse and throws it as far as he can. This was the second time George threw the mouse away, because the last time he threw it Lennie went and got it back. This made Lennie upset and he started crying like a baby. George shows that he cares for Lennie by offering him a pup. This illustrates Georges love for Lennie and that Lennie is still mentally a child. John Steinbeck also describes George and Lennie and he also compares Lennie to strong animals like a horse and a bear. George also tells Lennie to remember this place so that if he ever gets in trouble he can come back here. Then George and Lennie lie down besides the river and try to sleep but Lennie like a child wants to hear a bedtime story, so they talk about their dream of owning a place of their own. As George is telling Lennie the story, Lennie keeps urging him to tell him how he is going to tend the rabbits.

George and Lennie as they came along the path they walked in a single file, one behind the other. Lennie was behind George as if he was following a leader. Both men were dressed in denim trousers and in denim oats with brass buttons. Both wore black shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders. Steinbeck described George as small and quick, he had a dark face with restless eyes and strong sharp features, and he had small strong arms and a thin and boney nose. Steinbeck described Lennie as the complete opposite of George. Lennie is huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily dragging his feet the way a bear drags its paws. John Steinbeck tries to create a tense and exciting as well as an atmosphere full of curiosity. Form the few pages we know that George and Lennie are here because Lennie did some mischief in weed because of which they had to run away from there. We also know that they are going to work on a ranch up in Soledad. The story is being told by the narrator.

The opening chapter gradually sets the scene for the rest of the novel. It is slow paced but gives a lot of information about George and Lennie, why and where they are coming from, where they are going, their personality, appearance and relationship. About the personality of George and Lennie we learn that George is the smart one, he cares for Lennie and is kind to Lennie. Lennie is the dumb one he is still mentally a child, he thinks of George as a father like figure. He is forgetful, respects George and never does or says anything bad to him. There is a lot of Americanism in the novel. I think that the book has a fairly interesting start; because the place was described nicely and we gat a lot of information about George and Lennie.

The events in the story begin differently in the film and in the novel. They differ because in the novel there is a lot more information than in the film. In the film there is not so much detail; in there are some extra scenes which are not in the novel, like George in the train, Lennie boarding the bus, the flashback, the men chasing George and Lennie, for example. The filming of Soledad looks nearly the same in comparison to the description in the book. The film has not missed any section of the books opening. The language used in the novel and in the film is exactly the same. The film used filmic techniques like flashbacks. The flashback format has helped Sinise to tell the story chronologically, to help the audience understand more clearly what has happened. He has shown a dramatic chase to make the audience feel interested, excited and curious. The opening of the film did not stick closely to the opening of the novel. There has been more movement in the film than in the novel; from the chase to the train and the town, from the bus to the road and the river. This is important in the film because it allows the audience to know what has happened and what will happen and create suspense and tension. Sinise kept his actors very close to Lennie and George, this is why both characters made am outstanding performance. In this film Gary Sinise keeps to the spirit of the book but he changes the beginning to give to chronological information to the audience and to provide more interesting detail and information.

Overall I preferred the film because it gave me a clearer view of the situation. How ever I do think that the book is very important as it gives more detail. And also I do think that all books should have films made after them.

Shah Muneeb Alam 10L