Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck

Historical Fiction

Just Right

Just Finished

1. The ending of the book was very surprising. At the end, Lennie kills Curley’s wife, though it was an accident. She was sitting next to Lennie after he accidentally killed his puppy, out of brute strength. When she comes and sits with him, she tells him that her hair is very soft. After she offers him to stroke it, to feel how soft it is, he does, stroking it harder and harder. Soon she became afraid, and told him to stop. When Lennie didn’t stop though, she started to panic, thrashing and screaming, causing Lennie to become frightened. Lennie thinks he is going to get in trouble if the men (who are playing horse shoes outside) hear her screaming, so he tries to get her to be quiet, covering her mouth and trying to get her to be quiet. She still will not stop screaming, so he shakes her, just a little too hard and her neck snaps. When Lennie sees what he has done, he know that George will be mad when he finds out. So Lennie does what George always told him to do, hide in the brush if he ever did something bad. When the other guys find out, Curley is furious. He demands that they go find Lennie and kill him. Although George doesn’t want to, he knows that if they don’t Lennie will continue hurting innocent people. So they split up to find Lennie, and when George does he is faced with the tough task of killing his best friend and only family. The book ends in Slim and George walking down the highway, away from the farm and towards a new life.

2. In the end I had mixed feeling about the book. I thought that it was an interesting time and lifestyle to learn about, especially since it’s virtually non-existent today. It was also interesting because my dad grew up in California, and a lot of my family is there, so I know the lay of the land, and the basic history. It was fun hearing about Soledad, as that is someplace I’ve visited before and enjoyed touring. The actual plot of the book though was not enjoyable for me. I thought that although George was nice for taking care of Lennie, I did not like him as a character. He seemed rough and crude much like other characters. The ending was something else I didn’t like at all. I hated how they killed off one of main characters, and how there was really an open ending. I would have liked to know how their lives continued, except for Lennie and Curley’s wife of course. The book itself was a little difficult to read because of the language and way they spoke. I liked how it was historically accurate, and it really gave you an idea of how they spoke and conversed.

3. I think a main theme of this book is loyalty. For the whole book Lennie is loyal to George, as George is to Lennie. They are a family and always have each other’s backs. Even at the end when George is forced to kill Lennie, he does it for Lennie’s own good. He knows that if he doesn’t shoot him, he will be forced with a life behind bars, possibly in a mental institution, or being killed and humiliated much more publically. Candy is also loyal to his dog, as his dog is to him. Right up until the end when Candy’s dog dies, Candy is putting his dog down for his dogs own good. The dog was old and crippled, and probably in lots of pain. Candy did the humane thing and put the dog out of its misery, which I thought was the right thing to do. I know when my uncle’s dog was really sick; they kept giving it surgeries until he really could not be helped any more. Putting the dog down was the right decision, and now they are all a lot happier with a new, healthy puppy. One character that does not show loyalty is Curley’s wife. Even though they have only been married a short period of time, she flirts with all of the men on the farm. It makes the others feel uncomfortable, but she continues. It seems like at any every chance she gets she is flirting with other men, which is really disrespectful to her husband, and disloyal.

4. My favorite character was Lennie. Although he made mistakes in his lifetime, it was because he didn’t know any better. He clearly had some mental disability that caused him to not be able to judge right and wrong, and not take responsibility for his actions. He was always a good guy though, and as they said, he never did anything out of meanness. Even when George is rude to him and calls him mean names, he is still loyal to George to the very end. I admire him for keeping with his dream and always sticking to it. He is motivated by the fact that they will someday own a house with bunnies, even when that dream seems close to impossible. I admire him for sticking to his dream, and I was sad when he died at the end.

5. My least favorite character was Curley. I disliked him because he was always looking for a fight, from Lennie, George, or any one really. He didn’t even know Lennie, who was really a nice guy but he still started fighting him. I was glad when Lennie broke his hand, because I thought that Curley definitely deserved it. Another reason I don’t like Curley is because he basically ignores his wife. He leaves her alone all day, which is what causes her to flirt with other men, and doesn’t really talk to her. Even though I don’t really like Curley’s wife as a character, I do feel bad for her because no one will really talk or hang out with her. I think the fact that he ignores her drives her to look for other company, and in the end that’s what gets her killed. I also don’t like how Curley jumps to conclusions. When he found his wife dead, he automatically assumed it was Lennie, and even though it was, he didn’t even stop to consider that it could be someone else. He also doesn’t even give Lennie a chance to explain himself, instead demanding that they go out and find him right away.

6. The ending of the book was definitely a surprise to me. I never thought that George would kill Lennie, though I can see why he did it. There were lots of clues and foreshadowing leading up to the death of Curley’s wife, so I kind of saw that one coming. For example, when George tells Lennie to go to the brush if something bad ever happens, you get a good idea that something bad is going to happen in the story. The puppy, mouse, and the girl from Weed are also all good indicators that something bad was going to happen. They paved the road to Curley’s wife’s death, and all of their deaths showed that something worse was going to happen.