Of Mice And Men

Umair Baloch

English

5/10/2007

Of Mice And Men

In the novel of, “Of Mice and Men,” the setting of the story starts out when both George and Lennie arrive at a pool of the Salinas River in California. Both of them ran away from Weed, their previous location since Lennie made a terrible mistake. George and Lennie are totally different from one another in every aspect. Lennie tends to act like a demanding child, while on the other hand; George harasses him and is a very impatient father. Before entering the ranch, George had warned Lennie to keep his mouth shut at all times. When they arrive at the ranch, they start off my meeting Candy, the handyman. Afterwards, George seems to be suspicious with the warm welcome that Candy gives. Next, the boss comes in, and is very aggressive, and does not like George speaking for Lennie, but George stays cynical towards the boss’s questions. After that Curly, the boss’s son arrives, and a dislike is shown towards Lennie, however George warned Curly not mess with Lennie. Then other characters one by one, were introduced to Lennie and George, and after meeting the characters George felt restless because he was worried incase Lennie made another silly mistake.

In chapter three, two important events took place, the first one being the shooting of Candy’s dog. It all started when Carlson said, “Meant to ask you, Slim – how’s your bitch? I seen she wasn’t under your wagon this morning.” As the conversation went on, Carlson said thoughtfully, “Well looka here, Slim. I been thinkin’. That dog of Candy’s is so god-damn old he can’t walk. Stinks like hell, too…Why’n’t you get Candy to shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups to raise up…” The first conversation showed the readers that Candy’s dog was going to die, especially since Carlson disliked it, and had nothing good to say about it. Slim did not reply back to Carlson’s question, which shows there was an uneasy feeling running through the characters. No one said anything including George and Lennie, but as soon as the bell rang outside the topic had ended and Slim and Carlson left to eat, followed by George and Lennie.

At that time, Lennie was quiet and did not say anything, but as soon as Slim and Carlson left, George and Lennie stayed behind for a while. Lennie was really excited as child and asked George if he could get a brown and white pup. He tells George to ask right away, so that no more pups are killed. Even though Lennie does not want to hurt the pups, it’s pretty obvious that he will since he is so strong.

One thing is clear, even though everyone is nice to each other on the ranch; there is a lack of trust between them all. When George first came in, he had different opinions about everyone, and could not tell them the reason why they came here. Once, George got to know Slim a bit more; he was the only person that knew what had happened in Weed. Along with a lack of trust between the men, none of them actually cared for one another. An example from the novel is when the dog is going to get shot. Candy had that dog since he was a pup and they were best friends. Candy tried is best and fought to keep the dog, but he himself was old, week and disabled just like is old dog. None of the men had to care about the dog getting shot, but they could have cared how Candy was going to feel, especially Slim since he could have done a lot.

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Slim is an important character in this novel; he is the kingpin on the ranch, and has respect from everyone else. Even though he is not the boss, he has authority throughout the ranch. Most important, everyone likes him! In this novel, the language Steinbeck uses to describe Slim is mysterious. One example, which shows this is, Slim “moved with a majesty”, and second “His ear heard more that was said to him.” One interesting fact about Slim is that he is there during the key moments. The first one is when he supports Carlson at the crucial moment before he shoots Candy’s dog. Slim is a wise man, and smart too. He knew that Candy would be really upset, and if he told Carlson not to shoot the dog, he would not have. However, Slim did not stop Carlson, but this time was on his side and let him shoot the dog. Slim; however, was not being cruel, but extremely practical. He knew that the dog was getting old, and his time was coming to an end. Slim has an instinctive understanding of the way nature works – the way life and death work. The dog would have died sooner or later, and he wasn’t doing anyone any good. Instead of making the dog suffer till his death, he agreed with Carlson’s idea to shoot the dog at the back of his head without him even knowing. Once the decision was made, Slim told Carlson to bring a shovel with him so he could burry the dog after it is dead. This shows the nice side of Slim, but also being practical, on the other hand he is very cruel. He did not care about Candy’s feeling at all, and just said, “Carl’s right.”

There is a connection between the dog and both Candy and Lennie in the novel of “Of Mice and Men.” The dog has the same characteristics as Candy, but only in a non-human form. Both of them are old, and can’t really do anything. Candy lost his right hand, the more dominant side and can’t really do much. The dog is lazy and just follows Candy around not doing anything either. Another common thing about the two of them is that whenever someone enters the bunkhouse the dog looks up hopefully, and Candy had the same reaction when George and Lennie first arrived. He also gets the feeling of hope from their dream. An additional resemblance between the dog and Candy is that both of them are old, and crippled. Slim said, “I wish somebody’d shoot me if I get old an’ a cripple.” That is the reason why the dog got shot. Should Candy get shot since he too is old and crippled? This goes same for Crooks, who is also old and crippled. The way the dog died was similar to Lennie’s death later on in the story. Lennie too, was pointless and was just trouble for George. However the good thing about him was that he was extremely strong, but acted like a small child and George took care of him as a father figure. The way both the dog and Lennie died was exactly the same. I think George remembered how the dog died, and what Carlson said about how he was going to kill the dog. Keeping this in mind, George also shot Lennie at the back of the head without him even knowing who killed him, and making it painless as possible.

At the beginning of chapter three it finally happened. Carlson got the opportunity to kill the dog. It all started when Carlson came into the bunkhouse and when he smelled the disgusting odor from the dog he started an argument with Candy. Carlson started telling Candy how pointless the dog was, but Candy did not give in so easily. George too, tried changing the topic, but this time Carlson was serious; he was going to shoot the dog. There was absolutely nothing Candy could do and when he looked at others to seek help, no one said anything. Whit, a young laboring man came in, and started talking about an article in the magazine which someone wrote who used to work in the ranch three months ago. Even with this big conversation going on, Carlson did not join in; all he did during that time was to stare at the old dog. He then started speaking again, and this time was straightforward and said, “If you want me to, I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with. Ain’t nothing left for him. Can’t eat, can’t see, can’t even walk without hurtin’.” The only possible way that the dog was going to die would be if Carlson shot him. Candy then said, “You ain’t go no gun,” and after hearing what Carlson had to say he was disappointed since he did have one and was willing to use it. Candy then decided to make an excuse and it did not work at all, instead it made Carlson wanting to kill the dog even more at the current moment. With that one mistake, Candy said ‘Maybe to-morra’ Carlson said, that there was no point for it, and leaving Candy with nothing to say. He also got his Luger pistol from underneath his bed and put it in his pocket. Candy was looking around the room, especially at Slim because he was the only one who could help him out, and with him too staying quiet Candy had to give in. When Carlson was going out to shoot the dog, Slim reminded Carlson to bring a shovel along.

The second important event that took place in chapter three was the fight between Lennie and Curley. An annoying character in the play that the ranch characters wanted to stay far away from was Curley’s wife. She was a threat to them all. All she really does is cause trouble, and the fact that she is Curley’s wife is more dangerous because no one wants to have a fight with Curley. That’s not all, but they would also end up loosing their job. All the men were attracted by her, but they knew the dangerous consequences they’ll be in and stayed far away as possible. Curley’s wife knows what will happen if the men get involved with her, and that’s why she always comes in without Curly knowing. In other words she comes in asking the men if they have seen Curley as an excuse. That’s one reason why none of the ranch characters have anything good to say about her.

George keeps his dream a secret and does not tell anyone, apart from Candy and Crooks who later find out. However, it does not seem as George is worried about them; it’s the other characters. George repeats the dreams over and over again being certain that their dream will come true. When Candy finds out, George agrees with Candy’s offer, since he sees it practical. In my opinion, I think he felt that he was closer to his destination and Candy was not much of a problem. At the end of the novel when George is about to kill Lennie he recites their dream again, which shows that along with Lennie’s death the dream has come to an end as well.

Compared to all the other characters in the novel, Curley has a different attitude towards Slim and Carlson. He can’t really control them even though he is the boss’s son. The reason being, both of them are different compared to the other workers in the bunkhouse. Carlson for example does not seem to be scared of Curley, and tends to get involved in all the conflicts. When Curley comes to apologize to Slim, Carlson joins in intimidating Curley by saying, “You come for me, an’ I’ll kick your God damn head off.” No other character in the novel would have to guts to say that to Curley. Carlson also tells Curley that he is a coward by saying, “Yella as frog belly,” and calls him a God damn punk. This shows that Carlson is a straightforward person and doesn’t care what he says and who he says it to. Slim on the other hand, is one of the most respected workers in the novel and is Godlike to the other characters. An interesting thing about Slim is that everyone listens to him, unlike where Carlson and Curley bully others to get them listening. These are the reasons, which make Curley have a different attitude towards Slim and Carlson. Both of the men can control Curley, and that is why when Curley was going to have a fight with Slim, it did not even occur. An example from the novel where Curly listens to Slim and Carlson is when Curley is being taken to the hospital. The men threaten him not to blame it on Lennie, and say he got hurt by using the machines.

Before Curley and Slim came into the bunkhouse there was an interesting conversation going on leaving Lennie with a big smile across his face. When Curley and Slim came in and the moment Curley saw that smile across Lennie’s face he thought Lennie was making fun of him when he actually wasn’t. As the fight got under way, there was a lot of tension in the bunkhouse. No one knew what was going to happen, and everyone was just watching Curley punching Lennie on the face. Everyone was shocked because even though everyone knows what type of a character Curley is you would not expect him to start fighting especially with someone like Lennie. George might have been extremely worried as the fight got underway because he might be thinking that this was the end of their job if Lennie did something. That was ironic because Lennie did not touch Curley at all during the fight. He was defending himself throughout the fight and then called George for help.

When Lennie was calling for help, Slim was about to jump in, however George pulled him back. Lennie did not fight back, except just cry for help. Lennie acted as a child being severely punished by a parental figure, and could not do anything. Lennie would be in a lot of tension especially since George warned him not to mess with Curley and keep out of trouble. That could be one reason why Lennie did not fight back. Finally when George said to Lennie, “Get im” he finally grabbed Curley’s hand and did not let go. Lennie’s hand were extremely strong, and we already know when he pets soft things he ends up killing them. Lennie did damage Curley’s hand severely and had to be taken to hospital. It would have been much worse if George and Slim did not pull Lennie away from Curley. In my opinion, as the fight came to an end that would have been the most dramatic part because all the characters would be thinking of what was going to happen next. Would George and Lennie get sacked? Millions of thoughts would be running in their minds. However, thanks to Carlson and Slim everything was going to be fine since they told Curley what to say about his damaged hand.

In conclusion, ‘Of Mice And Men’ is an exciting novel and makes you think a lot. During that weekend, there had been a lot of tension and jealousy throughout all the characters. The two main events that showed this was the death of Candy’s dog, and the fight between Lennie and Curley. In this novel the language Steinbeck uses is perfect, and suits the time period. Even though the word usage is really rough, and mean it works out for the time period, which makes it realistic. Even some of the words that were used are quite confusing and you have to think about what they actually mean. Even though he used many unusual words such as ‘pounding your tail,’ and ‘bustin a gut’ these words helped the novel quite some bit, and brought out various aspects of the story. Steinbeck also used a variety of literary devices. One of the main literary devices Steinbeck used were metaphors. One example of a metaphor in the novel could be Candy’s dog being a metaphor for old age. Even though this is only one, there are many more Steinbeck uses to show various aspects of the story. Other literary devices Steinbeck uses are alliteration and onomatopoeia. You don’t see much of these literary devices being used, however they are still present.

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