The title of the novel comes from a poem by the Scottish poet Robert Burns, written in the 18th century:
"The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft agley
And leave us nought but grief and pain
For promised land."
This basically means that the best laid plans like George and Lennie's can go wrong. When they do go wrong all they bring is heartache. Slim differed from the others in the fact that he does not seem to want something outside of what he has, he is not beaten by a dream, he has not laid out schemes. Slim seems to have somehow reached the sad conclusion indicated by the novel's title that dreams leads to despair. Slim does not have any dreams because I think Slim had realised that dreams do not come true. They are only fantasies in the minds that only depress you if they do not turn into reality. In the novel dreams are one of the ways in which characters combat loneliness and hopelessness of their existence. Although it seems that Slim has no companion like the other men, there is a difference because Slim chooses to be alone. For example Crooks is alone because he is black. This is because Negroes in America around that time were treated as second-class citizens. Also they were not allowed to share the same facilities as white people in public places. This is why Crooks stays in the barn and not in the bunkhouse with everyone else. Crooks does not choose to be alone he is alone with no one to talk to. Also Candy is lonely because he is old and so is Lennie because he is a liability. Men dream to cover up pain and sense of hope in their lives but Slim has no pain. For example when |Whit asks Slim to read a letter out in a magazine written by a former worker, George and him are very interested in the news where Slim is not. Whit is very excited about this letter which is shown when he says, "That's the guy!" He shows his stimulation by the exclamation mark. Likewise George is interested when he says, "Let's look at it?" On the other hand Slim only says, "Guess you're right." I think that the letter is a symbol of the pathetic hope for success that the men have. Getting the letter in the magazine is similar to fame, but really is it ones passing moment of recognition. I think Steinbeck uses Slim here to show people that not all workers on ranches were lonely and pathetic. Through Slim, Steinbeck shows the reader that anyone can end up on a ranch even if they are smart, handsome or hard working. So Steinbeck tries to break the stereotypical view of ranch workers through Slim.
George does not have anyone to talk except Slim. George can not have a satisfactory conversation with Lennie because Lennie either does not remember or can not reply. So George finds comfort in talking to Slim. He is relaxed in front of Slim because when George first meets Slim he does not put his defences up like normally. George openly calls Lennie a "big bastard" in front of him; this shows that George is relaxed before Slim. As he is relaxed around Slim and he recognises that he is a trustworthy friend, George tells him about the events in Weed. George first asks Slim not to tell anyone he says, "You wouldn't tell? - No, of course you wouldn't." This shows that George can trust Slim even without making him promise not to tell no one. It is like when George asks the question he suddenly realises what he is asking of Slim but he fully knows that he will not tell anyone. When George talks to Slim about Weed there was "a clang of horseshoe," just before. This may also sound like the clang of a kneel which is the warning for evil and in this novel a warning of death. Steinbeck is hinting that something evil will happen and right after this sound George tells Slim more about Weed. Also George openly admits that he took advantage of Lennie's child-like mind, playing some dangerous tricks on him. Once he told Lennie to jump into the river, which he did and nearly drowned. Ironically Lennie was glad that George saved him forgetting he was the one who told him to jump in the first place. We also find out about Aunt Clara who died. So Steinbeck uses Slim as George's confidant to talk to and tell us, the readers, what happened in the past.
In chapter 3, where the shooting of Candy's dog takes place Slim shows real authority. When Carlson first suggests that he should shoot the dog, Candy looked helplessly at Slim because it says that, "Slim's opinions were law." This shows that Slim, to some extend, has power over life and death. Slim also says, "You can have a pup if you want." This scene is very important and significant because it builds us up for when George kills Lennie. When George thinks whether to kill Lennie or not Slim says, "Curley's gonna want to shot him…And s'pose they…put him in a cage. That ain't no good George." Slim basically says that George has to kill Lennie because there is no other alternative. When Slim says at the end, after George has killed Lennie, "You hadda George," indicates the sad truth that one has to surrender one's dream in order to survive. Some people may not think that George was right to kill Lennie but, to some extent, Slim's opinion persuades us to think it is the responsible thing to do. If George just went and killed Lennie we would not think that it was the right thing to do, however Slim tells us all the possibility and still after George kills Lennie the reader still feels sorry for him. Also I think that Slim persuades George as well because after Slim explains all the options to George he does not question the matter anymore. For example George said before to Slim, "Couldn' we maybe bring him in and they'll lock him up." This shows that George is unsure what to do but after Slim's wise words he makes up his mind. It is only Slim who is able to persuade George to kill Lennie as it is similar to before when Slim was the only one to convince Candy to allow his old dog and long-time companion to be killed.
Slim is a contrast to Curley. For example Slim's first description is at least twice as long as Curley's description. Another contrast of their characters is that Slim only uses his strength when it is necessary whereas Curley's uses his gratuitously. For example when Curley attacks Lennie for thinking that he is laughing at him, Slim wants to end the fight but George stops him. Slim only decides to jump in after Curley attacks Lennie. Afterwards Slim shows his cleverness when he thinks of a plan to keep George and Lennie on the ranch. When Lennie breaks Curley's hand George says to Slim, " 'Slim, will we get canned now?'…Slim smiled wryly." George and the reader think that him and Lennie will be sacked but Slim has a great significance here because he thinks of an intelligent plan. He says to Curley, "I think you got your han' caught in a machine." Otherwise Slim would have told the truth and Curley's would lose his pride. Slim's plan is important because I think that nobody else would have thought it. Both of the characters use their authority differently. Curley has authority because he is the boss's son and Slim has authority on the ranch but each uses it differently. Curley's uses his power to bully people but Slim only uses his authority against Curley. This happens when Curley pesters Slim about where his wife is. Slim says, "you lay offa me." And Curley reply is, "I didn't mean nothing…I jus' thought you might of saw her." Curley is threatened by Slim because he does not know what Slim is capable of. Whit said, "Nobody knows what Slim can do." This shows that Slim has never lost his temper to the extent that it would end up in a brawl.
Slim keeps reminding the reader of Lennie's strength but also his immature mind. There are many examples of this when Slim is in awe of Lennie's strength, he says to George, "God Almighty, I never seen such a strong guy." As well Slim says, "He's jes' like a kid…except he's so string." These statements from Slim shows that Lennie can not control his own strength and this adds great suspense to the scene when Lennie is alone with Curley's wife.
So I think that Steinbeck uses Slim to educate people about life on a ranch. He also makes it clear that Slim is this God-like man except however he is a jerkline skinner. And it teaches the reader that not all ranch workers are uneducated and uncivilised.
