Alexa Abihanna 411 by Alexa https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z Let's pool our knowledge about the 4 main themes in this novella en-us 2020-09-24 16:12:46 UTC 2020-10-20 18:27:04 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Bigthunderstorm.png Racism, sexism, ageism lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/776473840 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." (p. 76 in pdf)
]]> 2020-09-24 16:12:46 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/776473840 The American Dream: a reality or an illusion? lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/776473843 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."
(p. 40 in pdf)
 
]]> 2020-09-24 16:12:46 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/776473843 Which to choose? Friendship or Isolation... lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/776473849 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. 
 
Friendship:

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." (p.13 in pdf)

Isolation:

LENNIE whined, "If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time." (p. 14 in pdf)
]]> 2020-09-24 16:12:46 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/776473849 Quote lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818643587  "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."  (p.9 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 14:28:16 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818643587 Quote lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818650317  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 ' all, and when the end of the month come I coul' take my fifty bucks and go into town and get what‘ ever I want. Why, I could stay in a cat house night. I could eat any place I want, hotel or an 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." (p.12 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 14:37:30 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818650317 Isolation lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818650653 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 ' all, and when the end of the month come I coul' take my fifty bucks and go into town and get what‘ ever I want. Why, I could stay in a cat house night. I could eat any place I want, hotel or an 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." (p.12 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 14:38:04 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818650653 Friendship lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818653174  "No - look! I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ’Cause'. I want you to stay with me.  (p.14 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 14:41:27 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818653174 Quote lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818655964  "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 -" "An’ live off the fatta the lan’,"Lennie shouted. "An’ haverabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is an the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George." (p.16 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 14:45:12 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818655964 Isolation lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818658823  "’Cause I can jus’ as well go away, George, an’, live in a cave." (p. 18 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 14:48:57 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818658823 lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818667141  "Sure. Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger." (p.20 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 14:59:06 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818667141 Friendship lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818673059  "Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is." (p.23 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 15:06:30 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818673059 Quote lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818694834  "For two bits I'd shove out of here. If we can get jus' a few dollars in the poke we'll shove off and go up the American River and pan gold. We can make maybe a couple of dollars a day there, and we might hit a pocket." (p.34 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 15:34:51 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818694834 Friendship lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818698738  "Sure," said George. "We kinda look after each other." (p.36 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 15:40:24 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818698738 Quote lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818802046  George's hands stopped working with the cards. His voice was growing warmer. "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 smoked salmon. When the fruit come 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.59)]]> 2020-10-10 18:04:18 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818802046 lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818831566  "'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me." (p.69 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 18:46:21 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818831566 lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818842843  An' what am I doin'? Standin' here talkin' to a bunch of bindle stiffs-a nigger an' a dumdum and a lousy of sheep-n' Orin' it because they ain't nobody else." (p.79 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 19:00:52 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818842843 lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818845024  "Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny." (p.81 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 19:04:00 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818845024 lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818938399  "Coulda been in the movies, an' had nice clothes-all them nice clothes like they wear. An' I coulda sat in them big hotels, an' had pitchers took of me. When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an' spoke in the radio, an' it wouldn'ta cost me a cent because I was in the pitcher. An' all them nice clothes like they wear. Because this guy says I was a natural." (p.89 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 21:33:44 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818938399 Isolation lexa_sing https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818977112  "I can go right off there an' find a cave," he said. And he continued sadly, "-an' never have no ketchup-but I won't care. If George don't want me . . . . I'll go away. I'll go away." (p.99 pdf)]]> 2020-10-10 22:50:05 UTC https://padlet.com/lexa_sing/w0ctfmvge7pd9p7z/wish/818977112