This is why Lennie and George were forced to leave. They emigrated to a place called Soledad. They went in search of more work that paid better than the job in Weed. George and Lennie dream about having there own land with a few animals. Lennie always says <can I tend the rabbits George>. He says this because of his fetish for small furry things. George and Lennie were talking about this down by the river.
They found work on a ranch, which Lennie was really good at because of his size and power<He’s so god damn big>. The idea was that they would work on the ranch until they had enough money to get their land and there animals. Curley the boss’s son was a young man who also worked on the poor ranch wanted a fight with Lennie because he was looking at his wife in a seductive fashion. He started to push Lennie so Lennie fought back and accidentally broke his hand with sheer power. Curley’s wife asked him “How did you do that?” Curley said he got it caught in a machine out on the meadows. Lennie was in the barn with Curley’s wife when he started to pet her hair. He began to get obsessive with her hair and would not let go. Curley’s wife asked him to get off but he refused so Curley’s wife started to struggle and then eventually Lennie broke her neck by accident. Curley’s wife just lied there dead. Lennie ran in shock to the place where George had told him to go down by the river.
Meanwhile Candy the ranch swamper and George found her and called for Curley. Curley came and found out what had happened. Curley knew who had done this and went to get his shotgun and went in search of Lennie. George rushed down to the river to try and find his friend before Curley could. George was searching for Lennie and finally found him paddling in the water. Lennie was saying it was an accident and asked George to forgive him. Lennie then went on to talk about the farm and the animals and as soon as Lennie was finished talking about the rabbits the air stopped and there was deadly silence apart from the horses of Curley. George lifted the point of his gun and shot his best friend in the back of head.
Both these stories are set in the time when a job was very difficult to find. In both the stories there was ill luck where work came into it. George and Lennie struggled to find a job and when they did they didn’t get paid very much. George was ok because he could find jobs but they wouldn’t allow Lennie in as well because he was so dumb. Because money was so poor Lenie and George would not be able to purchase their land.
< Who that big dumb animal>.It is the same scenario in the ‘Ostler’ Isaac had a job in service and even then the bosses were not punctual payers. Isaac was fed up with the job in service so he went in search of a higher paid job. Both the stories are aimed at finding a decent job, which is well paid so they can get on in life. In ‘Of Mice and Men’the jobs would have been bad and money poor due to the worthlessness of money during the time of the Great depression where one day money was worth a lot and then overnight money is worth nothing at all.
Both the books are similar in the way that the characters have dreams about what they want to do in the future and have nightmares about what is happening or what is going to happen.
In ‘Of Mice and Men’ the whole story is about controlling the uncontrollable. George has a fantasy or dream of owning his own land and having a few animals and an alfalfa patch. George also wants to get some rabbits so that Lennie’s dream can come true of petting soft things.
<When we get a coupla acres I can let you tend to the rabbits alright>
Lennie and George don’t know there own destiny so they have to rely on slave work on a ranch. George knew in his own mind that it was going to be difficult if not impossoble to get his dream but he had to try for Lennie’s sake.
Curley has a dream bout being a professional boxer and earning lots of money.
<Curly’s pretty handy. He done quite a bit in the ring.
He’s a lightweight and he’s handy>
But he didn’t make it so he got stuck working on a ranch for his dad for very little money.
Curley’s wife didn’t really have a dream as such but she had some thoughts about what she could have been when she was younger she said she could had made it in the movies because of her gorgeous body or even she could had made it in the circus. Her old boyfriend was to write to her to tell her when she could go to Las Vegas or other big cities needed film stars or a circus act. But she was disappointed and the job had gone because her boyfriend never wrote back so she also got stuck helping out on the ranch when her life could have been so much better.
Crooks the ‘Nigger’ had a dream about when he was young when all kinds of race would get on and there would be no prejudice or racism about the black people. He tries to get on but he struggles knowing that that is in the past.
<There wasn’t another coloured family for miles around and now there ain’t a coloured man on this ranch an’ there’s jus. >
This shows that Crooks is very lonely character and sad who has been hard done by and has a miserable life.
Candy the old swamper had a dream about having land like Lennie and George.
The’Ostler’ however has a few nightmares Isaac was no exception. Isaac had a nightmare when he was searching for a job and found the inn. That night a woman came and attacked Isaac and Isaac says that he could see her with a knife on his bed. He got home and told his mum. Several years later a women came to the door and the mother opened it. It was the lady of his dream she knew this from Isaac description.
<In a moment he passed from a state of sleep to a state of
wakefulness his eyes wide open his mental perceptions
cleared on a sudden as if by a miracle. >
Isaac also had a dream about getting a good job and living a normal life.
I thing both stories could be real and I think ‘The Ostler’ has more superstition. The writers in the 19th century like writing about ghosts. Where as in the 20th century writers write more about the real world. ‘Of mice and men’ is very real because of the torrid time that George and Lennie had whilst working on the ranch. They didn’t get paid very much.
However the ‘Ostler’ was a ghost story so it will have something to do with supernatural. When he has the dream it is think that Isaac would be able remember so much. There is also supernatural where his mother recognises the description and knew the name Rebecca that was the image in Isaac’s dream.
Both the short stories depend on someone to live a normal life. The story ‘Of Mice and Men’ is very much dependant on George to look after Lennie. George is Lennie’s minder to make sure Lennie doesn’t get into trouble. Lennie’s Aunt Clara used to look after Lennie until she died so George took over and now guides Lennie through life.
<Because-
Because I got you an-
An I got you we got each other, that’s what, that gives a hoot in hell
About us,’Lennie cried in triumph>
Where as in ‘ The Ostler’ Isaac depended on his mother because Isaac has no relatives and his mother was the closest relative to him. He lived with her all of his life. He told her everything about his dream. It seems like as ‘Of Mice and Men’ Lennie depending on George is the same as Isaac Scatchard depending on his mother.
Both the stories have a strong presence of women. There is a place for women in both the stories ‘Of Mice and Men’ has a strong present by firstly and the start of the story Lennie’s aunt Clara who was not mentioned very much in the story but was a very dominant figure in Lennie’s eyes and indeed his life. There was image of young attractive young women in mice and men in the way of Curley’s wife. Her name was never said during the story this is the theme of sexism around this time when women were seen as down class people. I think Steinbeck has added this figure of Curley’s wife for a cinematic view to attract people’s attention to the women.
In the book there is a very good description of what Curley’s wife look like. But no name she remains anonymous. Curley’wife comes over to the reader as a very seductive character. She has a way of attracting all the men to look at her she does this by looks and charm.
Where as in the ‘The Ostler’ there isn’t any seductive person like Curley’s wife but however there is a woman like Lennie’s Aunt Clara.
Isaac’s mum looked after Isaac just in the same way that Lennie Aunt Clara looked after him. She was always there for Isaac and she always wanted to know what was going on. Like just like when Isaac told her about the description of the ‘women of his dream’.
< A droop in the left eyelid. Flaxen hair with a golden streak in it.
Little ladies hand, with a reddish look under the fingernails. >
So both the stories are a like in the way that there is an older more responsible member to look after a member of the family.
The language and style of these two stories are very different to each other. The story ‘Of Mice and Men’ is written in very informal colloquial American English
<Used ta dres’ up Sundays even when he wasn’t going no place>
Each starting at the beginning of the book and then at the beginning of each chapter is a long slow paragraph like the starting to a opera or stage directions where as the rest is a dialogue. The language of the novel is very simple without complex and difficult sentences. I think this works really well with the theme of the book because it is about two scruffy individuals so I think the text is wise. Also you can imagine the ranch that Lennie and George worked on due to the words used. Steinbeck makes some very clever points about similar things such as Candy and his dog and Lennie and George.
The sentences are structured in a very special way. They are very short sentences in which every line has a word to hint what is happening, a description or what is coming next. Steinbeck has also encountered for the speech that the characters use. It is very informal. Steinbeck has also used words to describe loneliness even the place Soledad where Lennie and George were in Spanish means loneliness. Lennie is the lonely one and I think Steinbeck shows this well.
Where as in complete contrast to ‘Of Mice and Men’ the ‘Ostler’ has long complex sentences with difficult words. The first difference I noticed was that it started in the first person being the narrator and then it went to be told in the third person in Isaac. In the Osler there is more descriptive words used to describe people. Although there is a likeness that the two, Isaac and Lennie are conveyed as lonely characters using words and phrases. I think Collins builds up atmosphere and tension quite well on the night of his nightmare.
< It was half past eleven by the clock in the hall as they
Went upstairs to the bedroom, the window of which looked
the wood at the back. >
