Independent+Novel+Study

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Dec. 3 2010 Pages 1-25 Pages covered in this entry? Plot Summary Of Mice and Men is a story about two drifters, serious, streetwise George and his childlike friend Lennie who search for work in the fields and valleys of California, a few miles south of Soledad. Owning nothing but the clothes on their back, George and Lennie live life one day at a time, eating meals of canned beans and sleeping on sand. George constantly gets angry at Lennie for forgetting things he's been told several times and George talks about how easy life would be for him if he didn't have Lennie on his shoulders. He says how he could have a nice life, save up the money he's in that month, live in a hotel, buy whatever food he wants and maybe even have his own girl. Lennie replies by saying if George wanted to leave Lennie would live up in the caves and sleep their and find his own food, but George knows he couldn't survive up there and really he loves Lennie and would never leave him. The two men have a dream of having a future, not being like the other guys that sit in bars and waste all their money because they don't have anywhere to go, who rot in jail and nobody cares and why not? "because I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you, and that's why" says Lennie reciting a line George tells him to keep them going. The next day the two men head for a job a few miles away from where they're staying, they settle in and George tells Lennie not to say a word to the boss and just show him how well he can work. This job comes with a place for them to stay, food to eat, cards to play with, so they really don't want to mess up. While meeting the boss Lennie forgets not to talk and has the boss suspicious of the two men but they get the job and will start work the next day. Is the language in the novel difficult or easy? GIve examples and explain. The language is not difficult or easy, it is understandable but they way the characters speak in this book is improper but you can still follow along, for example : "You keep me shovin' and you lose me ever' job i get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst.  How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest? When I was starting the novel study, I got two books to read and started reading Mice and Men first thinking if I didn't like it, I could just read the other. But as I started this book I got into and fell in love with the characters and saw the relationship between the two men which is really unique and sweet. I have never read a book about this and generally don't like reading about hard times or struggles but the way George and Lennie want progress in their life, work hard and love each other is so interesting and really drew me into the book. Why did you select this novel? I chose Of Mice and Men because it is a classic and many people have told me this book is amazing, just looking at the front cover you see quotes that make you want to read it "Such a perfect book - Nick Hornby", "A Thriller, a gripping tale that you will not set down until it is finished - The New York Times", "Knuckle-whitening, the tension is almost unbearable - Sunday Times". The quotes from the front of the book influenced my choice on the book and I'm glad they did because I enjoy this book very much so far. 9/10 Journal Entry #2 Dec. 10/10 Pages 25 - 55 Plot Summary In the second section of the novel Of Mice and Men, we are introduced to a few new characters. Slim, a big, tall worker who is known to be a nice guy and whatever his opinions are, they are considered law because everyone listens to Slim. Curley, the boss' son who starts off as a rude, small guy who tries to start things up with Lennie by making Lennie feel frightened with his rude attitude and questions, people think it's because Curley doesn't like big guys because he himself is not a big guy. Curley's new wife is introduced, she comes in the bunk house looking for Curley, where she first meets George and Lennie. She wears heavy make-up, short dresses and high heels, Lennie thinks she's beautiful. George senses how Lennie thinks of her and warns him not to do anything, later on George explains to Slim the story of why they really left their old job, Lennie saw a beautiful girl in a red dress and Lennie being as dumb as he is, grabs onto he dress and won't let go, he doesn't realize what he was doing was wrong, but the girl goes to the police and tells them she was raped. Lennie and George had to hide in an irrigation ditch underwater with only their heads sticking out the sides for air and scram out of that town in the middle of the night, that's how they ended up where they are now. George tells Lennie if they were to ever face a problem with the job they are working at now, he should hide in a bush by the river, where they used to sleep before they had this job. Candy, an old man who works in the bunk house has to face a sad choice in this chapter, everyone in the bunk house is complaining about how his old dog stinks up the house and can't walk properly or even see, they tell him to shoot his dog and Slim would give him a puppy from the new litter Slim's dog had. Candy doesn't want to kill the dog he's had ever since he was a puppy but he knew he was in pain and Slim even agreed that he should shoot the dog so he knew he had to. Lennie also gets a puppy from Slim's dog's litter and plays with it and loves it, he even sleeps in the barn at night so he can be with his new puppy. To what age group is the novel aimed? Support your answer with evidence. I think this story is really for anyone from ages 13 and higher, it is a classic and both my parents have read it and loved it. I think it wouldn't be a good age to read this story when you are less then 13 years old because it has some strong, emotional parts in it that might be too much for a child to handle. What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why? The setting changes throughout the story, because they are drifters there is never a for sure, concrete place for them to stay. At the moment they plan to stay in the bunk house for a while but the novel could take place anywhere, because you see what life is like for drifters. What's going on as the story begins? The story started out with the introduction of the two main characters, Lennie and George and they show the bond between the two men, and how their life is. 10/10 Journal Entry #3 Plot Summery Pg. 55- 68  ﻿ ﻿After a hard day of work, Slim and George return to the bunkhouse, George confides in Slim the story of how him and Lennie came to be companions. Living in the same town, after Lennie's aunt Clara dies, George began to look after him. At first, George admits, he pushed Lennie around, taking advantage of his stupidity, making him do things like jump off a cliff into a river. Seeing his friend nearly drown because he didn't know how to swim, George feels guilty and ashamed from what he thought would be funny. From then on, George has tried to take good care of Lennie, making sure he's not hurt or in danger. Lennie then comes in the bunkhouse trying to hide his new puppy underneath his shirt, George yells at him for taking the newborn creature away from it's mother so Lennie returns to the barn to put his puppy back with it's mother. While Lennie is in the Barn, George has a conversation with Whit, a worker at the bunkhouse. Whit asks George if he'd like to join the guys to go local whorehouse, he says old Susy's place has nice chairs and it's cheap, George says he can't afford to waste his money because he's trying to earn a "stake" (He doesn't mention what for because Him and Lennie agree not to tell people about their dream of their own barn). Lennie returns shortly followed by Curley, who storms looking for his wife, full of jealousy he asks where Slim is (thinking she'd be with him) the men tell him he's in the barn, putting tar on a mule's foot. Curley angrily storms off into the direction of the barn, followed by Whit and Carlson, who hope to see a fight. Lennie tells George Slim was not with Curley's wife in the barn after the guys leave. Lennie asks George to tell him the story of their barn so George describes it for him again, Candy begins to listen in and get excited by what George says, he offers to give them his life savings from working on the barn so that he can come live with them,  since he is old and crippled, he worries that the ranch will let him go soon. The men agree that after a month of work at this ranch, they will have enough money saved to make a down payment for the barn. When the men return, Curley apologizes to Slim for his suspicions and the other men laugh, Curley gets angry and takes his rage out on Lennie, he goes straight to him and asks what was so funny because Lennie was sitting smiling thinking about tending the rabbits on the barn, totally oblivious to the men in the bunkhouse. Lennie begs Curley to leave him alone but Curley attacks him, he starts punching him, making his nose bleed and eyes swell up. Lennie stands there not knowing what to do, not fighting back, George yells "don't let him do that to you, fight back" so Lennie grabs Curley's right hand and breaks it effortlessly. Slim leads Curley away to a doctor, he tells him not to have George and Lennie fired, or he will make Curley look like a fool and the laughingstock of the ranch. Curley agrees he will not attempt to have them fired. George comforts Lennie, telling him that the fight was not his fault and that he has nothing to be scared of. Lennie’s only fear was that he wouldn't be allowed to tend the rabbits on their farm but George assures him he still can. Why would you (or why wouldn't you) recommend this novel to a friend? I would recommend this novel to certain friends, the ones who can handle a very sentimental book because this story has a very sad ending but is definitely worth reading if you can handle it. Comment on the style of the novel. Is it easy or hard to follow the events? The style is simple, the events go part by part with a few flashbacks, it is easy to follow and the story has lots of foreshadowing in it's events. How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest? George and Lennie constantly bring up their dream of their own barn and that makes you want to keep reading because you want to see if the get their dream or not and if they do, how they manage to get it. MORE DETAIL ON THE QUESTIONS 8/10

Journal Entry #4 Plot Summery 68-83

While Lennie was going to visit his puppy, he gets distracted by a glowing light, he walks over to it and sees Crook's room. Lennie looks in the window and smiles, Crook sharply says "You got no right to come in my room, Nobody got any right in here but me" Lennie explains how he say the light and just smiles, Crooks gives into his smile and thinks he's harmless because he's just plain stupid. As they start to get talking, Lennie completely forgets George telling him and Candy not to tell anyone about their dream farm so he goes off into a rant about their dream life and him tending the rabbits. Crooks tell him how he was from California and lived on a chicken ranch with his family, they had about ten acres and you'd think life would be good but since they were a family of negros nobody accepted them and they were the only black family in miles. He just laughs at the dream and says he's heard a bunch of guys come to work at the bunkhouse thinking they have a chance to change and get a real life but it makes no difference, they always end up screwing up and wasting all their money. Crooks asks Lennie "S'pose George don't come back no more. S'pose he took a powder and just ain't coming back. What'll you do then?" Lennie frantically gets up and demands Crooks to tell him what has happened to George and who hurt him but crooks calmly replys with "I was just supposin'" but he still tries to tell Lennie that if George doesn't come back, everybody would throw him in the booby harch and tie him up with a collar, like a dog. Lennie sits frightened and Crooks reassures him that George is fine and that he'd be coming home tonight (he went to the local whorehouse with the rest of the guys). Crooks starts talking about the past again and how his farm had a strawberry patch, chickens and an alfalfa patch. Lennie's interest quickly takes a turn and says "George says we're gunna have alfalfa for t he rabbits" as he goes on Candy comes and asks if Crooks had seen Lennie anywhere and Crooks irritably invites him in to talk with the two trying to conceal his pleasure with anger. Candy starts talking about how he'd been figuring about the rabbits (Who also completely forgot George telling them not to tell people.) as Candy and Lennie start to talk about the money and everything figured out, Crooks say" I never seen a guy really do it, I seen guys nearly crazy with loneliness for land, but ever' time a whore house or a blackjack game took what it takes..." He hesitates ".... if you... guys would want a hand to work for nothing- just his keep, why I'd come an' lend a hand." Before they could reply, Curley's wife comes in asking if any of the boys had seen Curley, they angrily say no and treat he very hostile. She comments " Funny thing, If I catch one guy along we get along fine, but if it's two of more they nothing but mad" Lennie watches her, fascinated. Crooks just asks her to leave and threatens her by saying Curley wouldn't like to hear you've been in my room. She angrily replies that she could easily get him fired, Crooks knows that so he just nods and agrees, embarassed. As they hear the guys coming home, they all leave Crooks room, but before Lennie and Candy leave, Crooks calls about that he was jus' fooling around and wouldn't actually want to live in the farm. The two men leave and Crooks sits back and slowly rubs his back.

What is the initial or first problem faced by the main character? Lennie gets in a fight with the boss' son Curley because he starts picking on Lennie so Lennie breaks his hand.

Describe any new characters that are introduced? What is their purpose? Crooks is new in this section and he is described as quiet and lonely, I think he's here because he needs to put some sense into Lennie's head and tries to tell him what life would be like without George.

Is the novel believable? There are parts in this story that probably would not happen in real life but I can see this being a true story, because I seen how bad mentally disabled people have been treated and as sad as it is, this story is very realistic about the consequences that happen to Lennie.

One day when all the men from the bunk house were competeing in a horseshoe competition, Lennie stayed in the barn playing with his puppy. He yells at it "Why do you got to get killed? you ain't so litle as mice. I didn't bounce you hard."He started panicking and thought maybe George wouldn't let him tend the rabbits in their dream farm because of this so he tried hiding it in the hay. Moments later, Curley's wife comes in and Lennie tells her to leave, that he's not allowed to talk to her because he thinks George'll get mad. She reassures him and tells him no one will see, everyone is playing in the competition. She starts complaining to him, She gets lonely, but she can't talk to nobody but Curley, or else he gets mad. Then she notices something under the hay "what you got covered up there?" "Just my pup" Lennie replies sadly, her realizing he killed it she says "don't you worry none. He was jus' a mutt. You can get another one easy". As they start to talking and Lennie forgets he's no suppose to speak with her, she tells him she could have ahd a good life, she was offered a job as a moviestar in Hollywood! But when nothing came of it, she gave up and married Curley, who she doesn't even like. Lennie completely changed the subject and said "maybe if I took this pup out and throwed him away George wouldn't ever know. An' I could tend the rabbits without no trouble." She asks why he likes rabbits so much and he tells her it's because he likes to pet soft things, bringing about, her offering to let him touch her hair. He puts his big hand on her hair and she warns him not to "muss it up" but he doesn't pay attention, all his focus is on how soft her hair is. She starts yelling and shrieking and Lennie gets scared and doesn't want to get in trouble so he covers her mouth and before he knew it he'd broken her neck and she was dead. He goes into a panic and thinks theres only one thing he can do; run to the hiding spot George told him to go to if he was ever in trouble. Candy walks ino the barn later that evening looking for Lennie, when he sees Curley's dead wife he runs to get George. George imediately knew what had happened and tells Candy to come back into the barn when George is there and tell all the men together or else they might think George was a part of Lennie's actions. So Candy does as planned and all the men come running. When Curley sees his wife he becomes furious and says he's gonna shoot Lennie. They look for carlson's shogun but it's not there so they realize Lennie must've tooken it. They make George direct them to where Lennie might be and they all start running. George, knowing where Lennie is gets ahead of the group and finds him. George sees Carlson's shotgun and picks it up, he tells Lennie to look in the opposite direction looking at the river and the sunset. Lennie asks him to tell him the story of their land again, George begins and tells him everything, how they're gonna do it, "it's me and you" as he does so, he lifts up the gun and steadies it, brings the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head and pulls the trigger. Lennie falls to the ground and lays without quivering. The men come running at the sound of a gunshot. George says he had to wrestle Lennie for the gun so he finally shot him, only Slim knows the truth. They sit sadly and everybody wonders what's wrong with those two. As George shot Lennie he also killed his dream of a free, careless life on their dream farm. What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why? The setting is in Salinas, California, set it 1930s. I don't think it is too important when the story takes place in but I think it's important to know that the area they are isn't a luxery area and all they really have, if their lucky, is a bed and the things on their back because with knowing this, you should realize that their life isn't great. Who is telling the story? How does this person’s perspective effect the way the story is told? The story is in third person, omniscient. You know all you need to and you find out everything as it happens. Why did (or didn't) the novel meet your expectations?

It did, because although it got some bad reviews from the story being so emotional, I think it was a great book because it really shows you how the world is, the nature of a human being preys on the weak. I did cry at the end of this story but I am very glad to have read it and picked up the message it was trying to show you.

Focus Assignment - #2 - Characterization

George Milton George is a short, careful and quick-witted man who has a short temper but is a loving and devoted friend. He has a hardened, gruff exterior but deep down he’s a dreamer. He cares for, and travels with Lennie, a big disabled guy who seems to only cause trouble for George. George is aware of how much better his life would be without Lennie and he does protest against the caretaking of his friend, but he is always devoted to his commitment to protect Lennie. The tone of their relationship is set right at the first words Georges speaks, a stern warning to Lennie not to drink so much so he doesn’t get sick. George can be impatient and abrupt with Lennie but that never strays from his primary purpose of protecting his friend. In the story, you learn that George changes as the story progresses, while George is having a conversation with Slim, he admits that when he first started traveling with Lennie, he abused him for his own amusement. When Lennie got hurt from one of George’s silly pranks, George learns a moral lesson that it is wrong to take advantage of the weak, and he grows from his mistake. George’s behavior is all based on how to protect Lennie and eventually deliver the two to their dream life, a big farm where they can enjoy the freedom to leave work early just to go see a baseball game. More important than a ball game, however, is the thought of living safely and comfort with Lennie, free from people like Curley and Curley’s wife, who seem to exist only to cause difficulty for the two. Though George is the one who often-tells the story of life on their future farm, Lennie’s childlike faith is what enables George to actually believe the possibility of achieving their dream. At the end of the story a difficult realization hits him; that the world is designed to prey on the weak. The predatory nature of the world asserts itself as George is forced to shoot his best friend in the quickest, least painful way to spare him from the merciless death that would have been brought upon him by Curley’s lynch mob. As he loses his best friend, he also kills his own dream of the future being a perfect fraternal world. If I were in the story, I would not like to be George because even though he is a great person, he is the one who has to face the most pain and I would not be able to handle life after being through what George had to do. George is an amazing friend who I would love to have because he always has your back and from the story you see that he’d rather himself have the pain then for you to have it.

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