Bilal Jabbar D11F Page of
OF MICE AND MEN
How does john Steinbeck prepare us for lennie’s death?
This novel “Of Mice and Men” is set in the farmlands of Salinas Valley in California, in the 1930s during the Great Depression. It is about two migrant workers Lennie Small and George Milton, who work and travel together. Lennie is one of the central characters in this novel. He relies on his beloved and thrust worthy companion George, like a son is dependant on his father. These migrant workers led really potholed and isolated lives and the only thing that kept them going was ‘The American Dream’, which was to own ‘a little house and a couple of acres’.
In Chapter 1, we learn that Lennie is very forgetful. In the conversation between George and Lennie; Lennie thinks he has lost his work card but George has it. The fact that he cannot even look after his own work card suggests that he is quite forgetful and simple minded. Also, Lennie doesn’t learn from experience this is established when he is ‘pettin mice’ he pets them too hard and they always end up being dead. And George says: “…….. you always kill’em”. The reader gets this idea that Lennie doesn’t learn from experience which could prove to be quite dangerous in future particularly if another incident like the one in ‘Weed’ happens again. In Weed Lennie gabbed a ‘purty’ girl’s red velvet dress and she thought he was going to rape her and because of that George and Lennie nearly got killed. He might not be lucky enough to escape and this might cause a tragic end.
For this same reason, George sets up brush as a place Lennie has to come to if he gets in trouble. “Hide in the Brush”. This suggests to the reader that trouble is inevitable as George is instructing Lennie what to do if things go wrong.
Subsequently the tension and pressure starts to build up for the reader as George and Lennie arrive on the ranch. The ‘boss’ is suspicious of George as he was doing all the talking for Lennie and says “Say-what you sellin’?” As the boss asks George what is he up to or playing at, the reader already get the felling that Lennie is going to get himself into trouble. When we are introduced to Curley, this just adds to the tension as Curley comes across as being really aggressive, man who likes to fight guys bigger than him. Lennie who is really simple minded and doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong is a clear target for Curley. So now the audience almost becomes certain that there is going to be trouble for Lennie because Curley’s initial reaction when he saw Lennie was “His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists”. His initial reaction when he sees Lennie suggests to the audience that Curley will pick on Lennie as he is bigger than him. This adds to the audiences’ belief that Lennie will get in trouble, at the same time point particularly with Curley. In addition to Curley, we meet Curley’s wife, who is referred to as being a ‘tart’ and likes to flirt around with men “She has got the eye”. As soon as we are introduced to Curley’s wife George tells Lennie to stay away from her and if he gets into trouble ‘return to the brush’. So the audience start to get this feeling that Lennie will get himself into a big mess as Curley’s Wife is really flirty. We are reminded of the incident in Weed involving an attractive girl like Curley’s Wife. So the audience almost see trouble coming foe Lennie. Even Lennie himself who doesn’t usually have much to say has a premonition: “I don’t like this place George”. This is quite interesting because Lennie himself has fears about remaining on the ranch.
