Jamie Wright

Jamie Wright
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
Historical fiction
Just right
Just finished- 107 pages

1. I have just finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The ending was a very crucial part of the book. The book had a lot of foreshadowing in the beginning, which didn't seem like it had much importance at the time, but as we got closer to the end of the book, it made a lot more sense as everything unraveled. Although the death of Lennie and Curley's wife was unexpected, foreshadowing in the beginning of the book led up to it. For example: Lennie loves soft  things (the mouse and the puppy)  and all he wants to do is pet or hold them, but his strength gets the better of him and he kills them by accident. When Curley's wife tells Lennie how soft her hair is Lennie cannot control himself and this scares Curley's wife.  Lennie reacts in the only way he knows and when she won't stop squealing, he gets angry and he breaks her neck by accident. Another example of foreshadowing in this book would be when George told Lennie to go back to the brush if there was ever any big trouble. This basically tells the readers that their will be big trouble at the end of the book and that George will find Lennie there waiting for him in the brush. After the death of Curley's wife George meets Lennie in the brush and tells him what they are going to do with the rest of their lives. Then George takes out a gun and he  shoots Lennie in the back of the head. The book ends by Slim and George walking down the street, leaving that place to go on to the next for a fresh start together.

2. This book contained great detail. Steinbeck does a  good job describing the plot of the book, but it seemed that there was a little bit too much description in some parts. One example of this is when he described the brush. He took up almost two pages  to describe the scenery. There were definitely important facts in their, but some facts like how warm the water was, didn't seem like it was necessary. He also does a good job on describing the characters. He describes George as a small, quick, dark of face man with restless eyes and sharp, strong features.  He was very good at foreshadowing and leaving clues for what was going to happen next in the book. This made the reading very interesting and encouraged me  to read on. When the author brings the book to life it makes the reader want to continue reading to the very end.

3. I think that the theme is family. I think that this is the theme because there are so many examples of families in this book. One example would be George and Lennie. They both take care of each other, they look out for each other, and they also are great friends. The same goes for Candy and his dog, but they have been together since Candy got him as a pup, so it was very hard to imagine life without him. One last example of family in this book takes place in the bunkhouse. The workers play (cards) together, live together, work together, eat together, etc. These groups are all considered "non-traditional" families. Even though they are all not related, they share a great bond together as if they were related. That is why I believe the major theme in this book is family.

4. My favorite character was George because he was kind to Lennie and he looked out for him. Even though he acted like he was so tough and he didn't need Lennie, he really cared about him and it was hard to imagine life without him. He always made sure that Lennie was safe and he tried his hardest to keep him out of trouble. At times it did seem that he was a little bit mean to Lennie, but that's what people have to do sometimes to keep the ones they care about safe (like what are parents do for us). It was surprising to see George kill Lennie, but he did it because the others would have wanted him suffer for what he did. George also knew that he would be in a better place in the afterlife.  That is why George is my favorite character.

5. My least favorite character was Curley because he was very arrogant, mean and judge mental. When they first meet Curley gets angry at Lennie for not answering him. He also picked a fight with Lennie for "laughing at him". Also, he always tells his wife how good he is and how he was a "champion." Curley also acts like he owns everybody and that everybody should work and serve him. Curley is not a nice person and all he cares about is himself. He was very arrogant and conceited. That is why he was my least favorite character.

6. The ending was pretty surprising to me. There were some things that was able to guess because of the author's foreshadowing. I knew in the end that Lennie and George would end up at the brush because  there would be big trouble. The thing I did not know was what the trouble would be. It wasn't until the scene where the death of Curley's wife took place that I realized that he was going to kill her. But once she started talking about her soft hair, then I suspected that it was going to happen.  I also knew that Lennie and George would meet in the brush but was surprised when George killed him with the missing gun. Even with the foreshadowing provided by Steinbeck the ending of this book was very hard to predict and that's why it surprised me.