Perla OMAM by Perla Abihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx Let's pool our knowledge about the 4 main themes in this novella en-us 2018-10-05 14:37:36 UTC 2025-09-24 12:05:48 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Bigthunderstorm.png Dreams: a double-edged sword? perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645713 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, ##)
]]> 2018-10-05 14:37:36 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645713 QUOTE 1 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645715 "Ok. 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 ...'
p.32
l. ]]> 2018-10-05 14:37:36 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645715 Racism, sexism, ageism: just parts of our human nature? perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645717 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, ##)
]]> 2018-10-05 14:37:36 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645717 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645718 2018-10-05 14:37:36 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645718 Which to choose? Friendship or Isolation... perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645719 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, ##)
]]> 2018-10-05 14:37:36 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645719 The American Dream: a reality or an illusion? perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645722 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, ##)
 
]]> 2018-10-05 14:37:36 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289645722 QUOTE 2 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289654833 "We'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof."
p.33
l. 4]]> 2018-10-05 14:48:50 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289654833 QUOTE 3 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289657784 "George, how long's it gonna be till we get that little place an' live on the fatta the lan'-an' rabbits?
p.83
l.28]]> 2018-10-05 14:52:54 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289657784 QUOTE 1 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289658821 " 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."
p.85
l.8]]> 2018-10-05 14:54:21 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/289658821 QUOTE 4 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291187294 " 'An' we could have a few pigs. I could build a smoke house like the one gran'pa had, an' when we kill a pig we can smoke the bacon and the hams, and make sausage an' all like that. An' when the salmon run up river we could catch a hundred of ' em an' salt'em down or smoke ' em. We could have them for breakfast. They ain't nothing so nice as smocked salmon. When the fruit comes in we could can it - and tomatoes, they're easy to can, Ever' Sunday we'd kill a chicken or a rabbit. Maybe we'd have a cow or a goat, and the cream is so God damn thick you got to cut it with a knife and take it out with a spoon."
p.84-85
l.20]]> 2018-10-10 12:13:28 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291187294 QUOTE 2 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291800860 "The old man [Candy] 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."]]> 2018-10-11 15:44:13 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291800860 QUOTE 3 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291803315 "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."]]> 2018-10-11 15:47:35 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291803315 QUOTE 4 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291804184 "I was only foolin', George. I don't want no ketchup. I wouldn't eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me."

"If it was here, you could have some."

"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."

]]> 2018-10-11 15:49:00 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291804184 QUOTE 1 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291805816 "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."]]> 2018-10-11 15:51:24 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291805816 QUOTE 2 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291806651 "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."

]]> 2018-10-11 15:52:37 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291806651 QUOTE 2 page perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291807143 "You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me. But they won’t do nothing like that. I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs."]]> 2018-10-11 15:53:22 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291807143 QUOTE 3 who and what page perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291809282 "This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see?"]]> 2018-10-11 15:56:37 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291809282 QUOTE 4 8 perlamariaabihanna https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291810560 "God, you're a lot of trouble," said George. "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl."]]> 2018-10-11 15:58:38 UTC https://padlet.com/perlamariaabihanna/pkjtu7owijjx/wish/291810560