Abdell St.Paul
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
Realistic Fiction
Just Right
Just Finished/107

1. I finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. At the end of the book it was really surprising because George killed Lennie instead of running away from trouble with Lennie again. George knew that Lennie killed Curley's wife when he saw her broken neck. George knew where Lennie was because after the incident at Weed George told Lennie to go to the brush if something bad happened. George told the other men that Lennie went south because George knew he had enough time to meet with Lennie at the brush and shoot Lennie before Curley and the men torture Lennie. I thought that after George killed Lennie he would find
more jobs easier than with Lennie because Lennie was a slow minded person and he would get in trouble. t The end of the book destroyed the dream that Lennie, George, and Candy wanted.

2. I liked how John Steinbeck used foreshadowing in this book that lead up to Lennie killings Curley's wife and George killing Lennie. I liked how John Steinbeck showed how Lennie possesses physical strength beyond his control, as when Lennie can't help killing mice. I liked how John Steinbeck described how George would treat Lennie. I liked how John Steinbeck made George, a short, small guy who was in charge and  Lennie the big strong guy who wasn't in charge. I liked how John Steinbeck didn't give Curley's wife a name so he could make the reader understand why she didn't have a name. I also liked this book because John Steinbeck described how migrant field workers would travel to ranches to look for jobs and how they would dream of having their own ranch, fruits, and animals. I didn't like the dialogue of the book because the language in the book got confusing, the characters were speaking in slang. I didn't like how the John Steinbeck made Lennie get shot from George because George promised Aunt Clara to take care of Lennie. I also didn't like how George was short-tempered to Lennie.

3. The theme that I noticed in this book so far is the American dream because through out the whole book the migrant workers dreamed about family, land, and having enough money. For example George and Lennie dreamed of owning a farm with pigs, rabbits, and having enough money to raise a family. I noticed the theme in the characters because Curley's wife dreamed of being a movie star instead of being married to a ranch worker, and Crooks explaining to George and Lennie that every migrant worker dreamed of having land but all of them never succeeded to own land and have a family. The American dream appears in both the characters and the plot because Lennie, Candy, and George dreamed of having a farm with rabbits. The American dream also appeared in both the plot and characters because during The Great Depression if you were a farmer or a migrant worker it was hard to have land, family, and have enough money because the economy collapsed.

4. My favorite character is Slim because he's caring and is peaceful. Slim understood the nature of the bond between George and Lennie, and comforts George when George shot Lennie. Other characters in the book looked to Slim for advice especially when Slim told Candy to let his dog die out of misery. He also comforted Candy. Slim is quiet. He's an insightful man. Slim is the most experienced at the ranch and he is logical. Slim has the responsibility to make sure that the right thing is happening, and he has the responsibility to keep everyone in the ranch together.

5. My least favorite character is Curley's wife because she ruined the American dream. I didn't like Curley's wife because she flirted with Lennie with out knowing that Lennie had slow minded brain. She didn't listen to George when he told her to not talk with Lennie. If she would've talked to George more about why she George didn't want her to talk with Lennie, the dream would've happened. Her death destroyed the American dream between George, Lennie, Candy, and Crooks. She makes fun of Candy's age. She flirts with other men even when she's married to Curley. She doesn't have a name. She stays in the house all day, always lonely. She helped Lennie hide the dead pups.

6. I was not expecting the ending to end in a sad twisted way. I thought that the ending stunk because George had to kill Lennie. They never had acres of land, animals, enough money, and a family. I thought that John Steinbeck would end this book in a happy way where Lennie's dream becomes true. The things that were different at the end than what i thought would be is that George kills Lennie. I knew that at the end Lennie would get in trouble because one of the clues that John Steinbeck left the reader was after the Weed incident George told Lennie to hide in the brush if something horrible happened. Another clue that led to George shooting Lennie in the head in a happily way is when Carlson shot Candy's dog in the head to keep it out of its misery, George used the same gun as Carlson to shoot Lennie in the head to keep Lennie out of his misery of killing things and people without meaning it.