The novel was written at the time of the great American Depression during the 1920-1930’s. The economy was falling, industry was hit hard. Quite allot of the population was out of work and living in poverty, farmers were struggling to make ends meet as crop prices fell by 40 to 60 percent. People were migrating elsewhere to find work; this is what George and Lennie are doing at the start of the novel. Most people believed that one day they would be successful and achieve their goals in life through hard work; this was known as the ‘American Dream’. In the novel, George and Lennie have one; it keeps them going and shows hope. Their dream is too one day have a little house, own a couple of acres of land and live of the fat of the land.
The name of the novel, ‘Of Mice and Men’ comes from the poem ‘To a Mouse’, by Robert Burns who was a Scottish farmer as well as a poet. The full line of the poem from which the title is from is, “The best-laid plans of mice and men/often go awry”. This could also be a hint that George and Lennie’s dream is not going to happen and work out as to plan. The name could also refer to an actual mouse in the novel, the dead mouse which Lennie finds.
Throughout the novel, we discover something that happened during George and Lennie’s past. It appears to be something Lennie has done, and has made George rather frustrated as it means having to move from place to place. In the opening chapter, by the fire when George and Lennie are eating beans, Lennie says it would be better to have ketchup with his beans. This makes George mad, as he thinks his life would be better without Lennie and he starts blaming Lennie for keep having to move around the country as he keeps doing “bad things” and getting “in trouble”, and George has to help him out. In weed, which was where George and Lennie left when the novel starts, they had to leave because of something Lennie did. He started stroking the dress of a woman there because it was soft; the woman misunderstood Lennie’s intentions and started panicking. Lennie, not understanding what’s happening or what to do holds on and rips the dress, the woman starts screaming and runs away. George and Lennie are then chased after a group of men who think Lennie has tried to rape this woman. They then flee to California to find work elsewhere.
This is important to the events surrounding the death of Curley’s wife as they seem to repeat themselves near the end of the novel on page 90. Lennie is alone with Curley’s wife in the Barn and she asks him if he wants to feel how soft her hair is. Curley’s wife becomes uncomfortable and wants Lennie to stop, Lennie not understanding keeps stroking her hair, she starts screaming and Lennie grabs hold of her to stop her from screaming, “She screamed then, and Lennie’s other hand closed over her moth and nose”. Curley’s wife screams and Lennie tries to silence her not understanding that she can’t breathe and is in a state of panic, but breaks her neck by accident, “... he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck”. Lennie does not learn or understand what is going on, and realise what he is doing is wrong.
George and Lennie maintain a very strong relationship as friends. They both look after each other; at the start of the novel by the pool of water, George tells Lennie to stop drinking the water or he will be sick. “Lennie, for god’s sake don’t drink so much... Lennie. You ganna be sick like you was last night.” George takes care of Lennie in a sort of father-son relationship as he looks out for him, keeps him safe and out of trouble. I guess George feels that he doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Lennie and he would get in trouble or taken advantage of if he wasn’t around to protect him, and he obviously cares a great deal as he still stands by him after all they have been through and all the problems Lennie has caused. In the final chapter when Lennie is being pursued for the death of Curley’s wife, George shoots Lennie to protect him. Firstly, George doesn’t want anyone else harming or shooting Lennie. He also doesn’t want him to spend the rest of his life in a cage like some sort of animal. When he shoots Lennie, he does it with the best intentions and love. Also, he distracts Lennie and makes his death as quick as possible. Lennie’s final moments are of his and George’s dream and Lennie being able to tend the rabbits.
When George threatens Lennie about him not being able to tend the rabbits if he gets in to trouble, he does it this way as it is the only way Lennie is going to understand it. With Lennie’s child-like state, he cares about the rabbits and doesn’t understand that he is twice the size of George and could hurt him if he wanted too.
In conclusion, the first chapter is extremely important. It gives you some idea of what is to come throughout the novel and plays a big part in the final “chapter”. After reading the first chapter, it does leave you asking some questions. Such as what’s going to happen to George and Lennie when they arrive at the ranch, as something happened in Weed and this is where they are running away from and also George told Lennie to come back to the side of the river in case anything happened. You are also left wondering what becomes of their dream to have their own ranch someday and what problems may arise.