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CANDY exclaims, "Hardly none of the guys ever travel together. You know how the hands are, they just come in and get their bunk and work a month, and then they quit and go out alone. Never seem to give a damn about nobody. It jus' seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart little guy like you travelin'together."
GEORGE responds, "He ain't no cuckoo,"said GEORGE. (Steinbeck,section 3, p.65)

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GEORGE and CANDY discuss, "George patted a wrinkle out of his bed, and sat down. "Give the stable buck hell?" he asked.

"Sure. Ya see the stable buck's a nigger."

"Nigger, huh?"

"Yeah. Nice fella too. Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him. The boss gives him hell when he's mad. But the stable buck don't give a damn about that. He reads a lot. Got books in his room." (Steinbeck, section 2, p. 40-41)

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GEORGE explains, "That ranch we're goin' to is right down there about a quarter mile. We're gonna go in an' see the boss. Now, look—I'll give him the work tickets, but you ain't gonna say a word. You jus' stand there and don't say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won't get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we're set." ( Steinbeck,section 1, p.23-24)

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The American Dream:  a reality or an illusion?

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The American Dream:  a reality or an illusion?

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Of Mice and Men captures the feel of rural America during the Depression. Different outlooks are presented:
--the never-will-be starlet trying to make it to Hollywood,
--the isolated black man born and raised in California,
--a ranch full of men that like to go to whorehouses, play pool, and drink away their earnings
--men that are constantly bouncing from job to job just shy of making ends meet.

The America of Of Mice and Men is populated with dreamers who are constantly struggling to achieve their dreams.

This novella argues that there is no single America. Rather, there are many different groups

(women, blacks, farm workers, farm owners), each with their own unique struggle.

Quote:

GEORGE complained, "…If I was bright, if I was even a little bit smart, I’d have my own little place, an’ I’d be bringin’ in my own crops, ‘stead of doin’ all the work and not getting what comes up outa the ground." (Steinbeck, ##)

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GEORGE said: "we'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chicken. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to woal, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin'  down on on the roof"
(Steinbeck,section 1, p.33)

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"Sure," said GEORGE. "All kin's a vegetables in the garden, and if we want a little whisky we can sell a few eggs or something, or some milk. We'd jus' live there. We'd belong there. There wouldn't be no more runnin' round the country and gettin' fed by a Jap cook. No, sir, we'd have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house."  (Steinbeck,section 3, p.85)

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CROOKS said: " seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land." (Steinbeck,section 4, p.106)

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Which to choose?  Friendship or Isolation...

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Which to choose?  Friendship or Isolation...

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In this novella, George and Lennie represent THE ideal male friendship.  They don’t talk about how they feel about each other or why they should stay loyal – they just stand by each other, and that’s that.

In contrast, everyone else is isolated from one another.  Everyone seems to get along quite well together by talking about how isolated they are, even though the men on the ranch are constantly together and chatting.

Although they are always together, George and Lennie are isolated from the rest of the world. Friendship is a negative relationship in the novella; every time any character gets close to any other, something goes wrong.

LENNIE exclaimed, "But I wouldn’t eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans

with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it." (Steinbeck, 93-95)

VS.

LENNIE whined, "If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time." (Steinbeck, ##)

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In Of Mice and Men, dreams, hopes, and plans are the very foundation of what makes life worth living, but they are also double-edged. What does this mean?

The word "dream" is never used in the book in reference to anything like a hope or aspiration.

The characters never regard their hopes as impossible things to

fulfill. Instead, they see them as concrete and realistic plans.

GEORGE said, "O.K. Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and ...." (Steinbeck, ##)

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CANDY offers, "Tha's three hunderd an' fifty bucks I'd put in. [...]
CANDY interrupted them, 'I'd make a will an' leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, [...]
They fell into a silence. They looked at one another, amazed, The thing they had never really believed in was coming true." (Steinbeck,section 3, p.87)

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CURLEY'S WIFE threatens, "She turned on him in scorn. "Listen, Nigger," she said. " You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?"[...]
She closed on him. "You know what I can do?"[...]
"Well, you keep you place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so esay it ain't funny." (Steinbeck,seection 4, p.113)

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Racism, sexism, ageism: just parts of our human nature?  

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Racism, sexism, ageism: just parts of our human nature?  

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Of Mice and Men deals with many of America’s age-old, hot-button issues, including sexism, racism, ageism, and discrimination against those with disabilities. Most importantly, this prejudice isn’t ever explicitly noted or fought against – those who are discriminated against accept the prejudice against them as a way of life.

Prejudice is a fact of life on the ranch because it was a fact of life everywhere in America at

that time.

Crooks said darkly, "Guys don’t come into a colored man’s room very much." (Steinbeck, ##)

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CROOKS exclaimes," There wasn't another colored man on this ranch an' there's jus' one family in Soledad." He laughed. " If I say something, why it's just a nigger sayin' it." (Steinbeck, section 4, p. 102)

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CANDY states: "The old man squirmed uncomfortably. "Well-hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him." He said proudly, "You wouldn't think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen." (Steinbeck, section 3, p.71)

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GEORGE exclaimed,"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. . . . With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us."
LENNIE broke in. "But not us! An' why? Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why." He laughed delightedly. "Go on now, George!"  (Steinbeck, section 1, p.32)

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THE BOSS and GEORGE discuss,"I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin' his pay away from him?"

"No, 'course I ain't. Why you think I'm sellin' him out?"

"Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is." (Steinbeck, section 2, p.43)

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GEORGE exclaims"No-look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie. ' Cause I want you to stay with me. [...]

'I want you to stay with me Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody'd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn't like you running off by yourself, even if she is dead. (Steinbeck, section 1, p.31)

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SLIM looked through George and beyond him. "Ain't many guys travel around together," he mused. "I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other." (Steinbeck, section 2, p.57)