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"The boss licked his pencil. 'What's your name?'
'George Milton.'
'And what's yours?'
George said, 'His name is Lennie Small'" (21).

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"'I ain't sure it's good water'" (3).

Gratuitous use of racially-charged vocabulary

Other various language/cultural vernacular.

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"'We travel together,' said George coldly.

'Oh, so it's that way.'

George was tense and motionless. 'Yea, it's that way'" (76).

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Phobias and fears: Lennie getting harmed

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Phobias and fears: Lennie getting harmed

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"'Now listen. We gotta tell the guys. They got to bring him in, I guess. They ain't no way out. Maybe they won't hurt 'im.' He said sharply, 'I ain't gonna let 'em hurt Lennie'" (95).

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Quirks: Abusive in mild situations, but merciful and gentle in dire ones.

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Quirks: Abusive in mild situations, but merciful and gentle in dire ones.

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"Lennie turned his head.
'No, Lennie. Look down there acrost the river, like you can almost see the place.'
Lennie obeyed him. George looked down at the gun" (106).

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Morality/ethics: Willing to make the hard decisions in order to prevent suffering

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Morality/ethics: Willing to make the hard decisions in order to prevent suffering

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"Lennie begged, 'Le's do it now. Le's get that place now.'
'Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta.'
And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head...He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again'" (106).

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"'I though I tol' you not to tell nobody about that'" (83).

"'You get a kick outta that, don't you? Awright, I'll tell you, and then we'll eat our supper...'" (13).

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"'Don't let 'im pull you in- but- if the son-of-a-bitch socks you- let 'im have it'" (30).

"'Jus' talks, an' you don't understand nothing'" (71

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Goals/motivations: Escape work and live in comfort

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Goals/motivations: Escape work and live in comfort

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"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" (57)/

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"'Well, we ain't got any … God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want. Why, I could stay in a cathouse all night. I could eat any place I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. An' I could do all that every damn month. Get a gallon of whisky, or set in a pool room and play cards or shoot pool… An' whatta I got … I got you! You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time'" (11).

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"Lennie stuck out his hands.
'Christ, awmighty, I hate to have you mad at me,' Slim said.
George broke in, 'Lennie was jus' scairt," he explained. 'He don't know what to do. I told you no-body ought never fight him...'" (65).

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"'You said I was your cousin, George.'
'Well, that was a lie. An' I'm damn glad it was. If I was a relative of yours I'd shoot myself'" (24).

"'He ain't mean,' said Slim. 'I can see Lennie ain't a bit mean.'
''Course he ain't mean. But he gets in trouble alla time because he's so God damn dumb. Like what happened in Weed-'" (40).

"George looked quickly and searchingly at him. 'I been mean, ain't I?'
'If you don' want me I can go off in the hills an' find a cave. I can go away any time.'
'No-look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me...you stay with me'" (12).

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"He closed the book. 'Where you boys been working?'
'Up around Weed,' said George.
'You too?' to Lennie.
'Yeah, him too.' said George" (21).

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"...small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose" (2).

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"A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside and runs deep and green...On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains..." (1).

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John Steinbeck takes the title of this novel from the poem "To a Mouse [on turning her up in her nest with the plough]," written by Robert Burns in 1785.

In the poem, the speaker has accidentally turns up a mouse's nest with his plough. He pauses and contemplates about how men and animals might seem different, but in the end they're all mortal. No matter how different "thinking men" and "unthinking animals" seem, everybody suffers and dies in the end.

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The majority of the story Of Mice and Men takes place on a ranch in Soledad, California during the 1930s.

The story occurs over the period of 3 to 4 days.

The reality of the Great Depression adds to the looming threats of poverty, suspicion, and isolation.

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During World War II, Steinbeck served as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune.

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Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Penguin Books, 1978.