George and Lennie move to Salinas to chase their dream. George and Lennie have a dream “ to live of the fatta the lan.” Lennie gets very excited at the thought of this because he likes to stroke soft things and George promised him some rabbits to tend to. “Tell me bout the rabbits like you done before”- “tell you about what”- “bout the rabbits George”. At the start of the book George catches Lennie with a dead mouse in his pocket this then links the title to the story. The style of writing also, came from a poem “to a mouse” by Scottish poet Robert burns. At the end of the story the dream is shattered because Lennie kills Curley’s wife. George finds him in the brush and comforts him before killing him peacefully in the back of the head where he won’t feel it. I think he got the idea from when Carlson shot Candys dog because he said “… if you was to take him and shoot him in right the back of the head.” George shoots Lennie himself instead of Curley as not to live with a guilty conscience. You can tell its over when Candy pleads with George “you an me can get that little place cant we George? You an me can go there an live nice cant we George?”
The minor characters of the novel help the way a story is told especially on film.
One of the first friends George and Lennie make is Slim the mule jerker. George becomes quite friendly with Slim as he gives Lennie a pup.” It wasn’t nothing, said slim, I would of have to drown most of them anyways.” I think George likes Slim because he can trust him and he accepts Lennie the way he is and doesn’t question it much.
Curley on the other hand is a very aggressive, insecure character and very protective over his wife whom of he is very jealous. We think that he cannot perform very well in the bedroom department and this is the cause of his aggression. We also back this up with the fact he wears a Vaseline filled glove presumably to pleasure his wife with that hand. Curley has a short fuse and snaps at every one who crosses his path. Curley speaks to Lennie but George answers. “By Christ he’s gotta talk when he’s spoken to. What the hell are you getting in this for?”.
Crooks is the black stable boy but is always referred to on the ranch as ‘a nigger’. He is not accepted in the bunkhouse so has to sleep in a room on the side of a barn. He is physically unwell as he was kicked by a horse and now has a crooked back hence the name ‘crooks’. He cannot do farm labour anymore and will probably die on the ranch. Crooks do not like people in his room because he’s not allowed in the bunkhouse. “ You got no rights coming in here. This heres my room. Nobody got any rights in here but me.”
Curley’s wife is not taken seriously at all by anyone because of the sexual inequality at that time, men come first then women. For some unknown reason we never get to hear her name. She is just branded a tart by everyone but she doesn’t retaliate. She is a lost soul because she has no one to talk to or confide in. due to the fact Curley is incompetent she is also sexually frustrated. Due to the fact she is stuck in a house she has even more frustration. But not with other people but with herself because she had the chance to be an actress but she married Curley instead. “Nother time I met a nice guy, an he was in the pitchers. Went out to the river dance palace with him. He says he gonna put me in the movies. Says I was natural. Soon as he got back to Hollywood was gonna write to me about it” “I never got that letter,” She said.
Candy was the old swamper (cleaner) whose life wasn’t the best. He only had one hand, was old and not very fit. All he had was a little money and a dog that was on its last legs, to keep him company. In chapter 3 Carlson takes the dog and shoots it. This is the closest thing to Candy and the poor thing gets shot. This reflects on when Lennie killed the mouse and pup no one lingers on the subject and just carries on with their routine. The same with Curleys wife when she’s dead they don’t mourn they just want revenge and to kill Lennie. Candy realises that if he doesn’t leave now he will die on the ranch so offers George a substantial amount to come and help them. Otherwise he will just die around people who don’t really care about him. “S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an fifty bucks id be putting in. I aint much good but I can cook and tend to the chickens and hoe the garden some.”
Candy is an important character in “Of Men and Mice”. He is the first person George and Lennie meet on the ranch. “The boss was expectin’ you last night” the old
Man says. The old man doesn’t know them but is already helping them and warning them that the boss I quite angry. This shows how well natured Candy is. He likes not to draw attention to himself so when the boss comes in he goes out unnoticed. But later says the boss is a nice guy. “Well he’s a pretty nice fella.” When Curley comes into the bunkhouse candy warns them not to get on the wrong side of him because he likes to pick fights. “Well Curley’s pretty handy”, the swamper said. Its as though everyone fears Curley. He does not speak greatly of his wife either. He talks about her having the eye for other men. “Yeah? Got married two weeks back and got the eye. Maybe that’s why Curleys got ants in his pants?”
In chapter two Carlson brings up the ‘smelly old dog’. The dog is Candy’s oldest and best friend. They pressurise Candy into letting them shoot his dog and getting a pup off slim. Then Carlson shoots the dog and no one is bothered but Candy. This parallels with Candy’s life because if he died everyone would just carry on and he would just be another person. But Candy’s hope rises when he hears and joins George and Lennie’s dream. You can tell you can trust Candy because when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife he only gets George so he can do something about it. Afterwards Candy pleads with George because he knows the dream is over. Candy’s final word in the face of Curley’s wife is ‘poor bastard’. This could be used to all the characters on the ranch including himself because they are all poor and stuck in endless jobs.
Candy is an important character in “Of Men and Mice” because he adds a sense of sorrow to the story in the way only a crippled, dyeing man could. The way he moves and talks makes it seem he’s not got long left and nothing to live for until he hears George and Lennie’s dream. If you left Candy out of the novel it would be a lot shorter because he is involved in most of the activities in the book john Steinbeck has written about.
DEAN PENNINGTON 11.4