Megan Moruzzi

Megan Moruzzi
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
Historical fiction
Just right
Just finished



1. I have just finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. In my opinion the ending of the book was the most important part. It was important because it felt like the whole book lead up to this point. There was also a lot of foreshadowing in this book leading up to the end which made me better understand it. This book is really about the American dream and how to accomplish it. The American dream is having enough money, having land and having a family. Lennie and George are trying to reach that goal of having a house, rabbits and an alfalfa patch. They are men that move from farm to farm to find work every month or so. This book takes place on a farm that they have recently arrived at. It explains there troubles and friendships. At the end of the book Lennie kills a pup because he is so strong and big that he accidentally breaks its neck. This part of the book was foreshadowed. He had killed several other mice from his strength as well. Lennie is mentally ill and sometimes doesn't understand what he is doing or what he has done. He hurts them from stroking them to hard. The feeling of something soft makes him happy. George takes care of him like he is his brother. He protects him and makes him feel secure. At the beginning of the book George and Lennie are resting on brush because they have a long ways to walk. George tells Lennie if anything happens while there are on the farm that is really bad he should come straight back to the brush and hide. They meet some interesting people on the ranch. Curly is the bosses son and has just married a beautiful woman. Candy is an old man that has yet to pursue his dream of having money, land and family. When Candy sees Lennie and George and find out they are also chasing the same dream he becomes interested. Slim is a colored man that has to sleep behind the barn because the other men don't except them into there non-tradtitonal family. Lennie is very interested in the pups that are in the barn he goes to see them every day to pet them because they are so soft an soothing for him. At the same time that Lennie kills the pup Curly's wife comes into the barn to see if anyone wants to talk to her. She looks down and sees the dead pup and is concerned but was quickly is told that it was an accident and it was only cause Lennie liked soft things and at the same time that he was stroking the pup broke its neck. She was taken back by this statement but decided to let it go. She told him that her hair was very soft and he could feel it if he'd like. Of course Lennie took her up on this offer but stroked to hard and she started screaming so he covered her mouth and shook her because he didn't want George to hear her because then he wouldn't let him tend to the rabbits when they got there land. When he shook her he broke her neck and also killed her. He had decided that this was bad enough to run back to the brush until George found him. All the men were now looking for him with there guns because they knew it was him. George found him first and decided this was no world for him to he living in and when the other men found him they would just torture him so the best thing to do was to kill him so that he didn't have to suffer. George was very nervous and upset that it had come to this but he knew it was the right thing to do.  The other men finally found them and realized what George had done. Slim had sympathy and understood what George had done and how he felt bad about it so he was very considerate. Slim and George decided that they needed some time alone with each other and went into town for a drink. "Slim twitched George's elbow. 'Come on, George. Me an' you'll go in an' get a drink.' George let himself be helped up to his feet. 'Yeah, a drink.' Slim said, 'You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.' He led George up through the entrance of the trail and up the highway" (107). This is a really important part of the book because, George and Lennie walked onto the trail together and now George and Sim are walking off together.



2.  I thought this book was okay. I wasn't crazy about the plot of the book but I did like the way that it was written. There was a lot of foreshadowing. When Lennie Kills Curley's wife I had a feeling that it was going to happen because he hurt a girl in the other town that he worked in last. He also killed all those animals, the many mice and the pup. Another moment that was foreshadowed was that Lennie was going to have to go to the brush and hide until George found him. This moment was bound to be important because George explained what to do in such detail and had Lennie repeat it so many times so that it would sure stick in is head. I also like the way that the author has different forms of non-traditonal families. For example I think that the men in the bunk house are a form of non-traditonal family because they do everything together like eat, work, sleep, play and they look out for each other and care about one another. This is a big part of the book as well because it shows the connection they all have and it makes it even harder for you to except the ending of the book. I have never read Steinbeck before but just from reading this book I have herd so many things about him that it makes me want to read more of his books.



3.  I think that the theme of this book is the American dream. I see this theme throughout the whole book.When George and Lennie enter the ranch there goal is to come out with enough money to have a place of there own. They also have each other for family. I think that they also see family all over the ranch weather it is non-traditonal or they are related. The bunk house is a example because they all share a common goal which is the American dream. Another place that family shows up in the book is Candy and his dog. Although they are not relatives they have been through a lot together like growing old suffering together but also making each other happy. Another place that the American dream is in the book is Lennie and the rabbits. He is really patient about wanting to take care of the rabbits, that is his dream.


3. My favorite character is George. He is my favorite character because even though Lennie is not his brother he still treats him like he is and you can tell that Lennie is all that he has. He is a very considerate person and gentle with Lennie. I like the fact that he is so committed and makes Lennie feel so safe. George also promised Lennie great aunt that he would look after Lennie and in my opinion he never broke that promise. Even though he kills Lennie in the end of the book I think that is for the better and that was a way to protect Lennie from suffering. If the men found him Lennie would be tortured. That would be the first time in the book that George wasn't the one giving the consequences to Lennie.  I think that this concerned George and he felt that killing Lennie was the best thing to do in that situation. I also like George because he is so passionate about getting a house and enough money to support it.


4. My Least favorite character is Curly. I didn't like him because he was very mean to Lennie. He started a huge fight with him about looking at "his woman". Again Lennie's strength got the best of him and he started squeezing it and he couldn't stop because he had so much pressure and everybody was yelling at him, he squeezed it so hard that he broke it. I am happy that Lennie broke Curly's hand because I think that he deserved it. I really don't like Lennie though because he abuses his wife. He hits her when he thinks she was looking at another man and this makes me feel really bad for her. When Curly's wife is murdered my Lennie all Curly thinks about is getting Lennie and hurting him, he doesn't think about his wife and how he has lost her. He is just an all around bad person and I think that Steinbeck did a good job showing that.


5. The end of the book was somewhat predictable because of the foreshadowing that happened. I couldn't tell exactly what was going to happen but I had a feeling that it was not going to be good. When George explained the hiding place to Lennie in such therow detail it made me concerned that Lennie was going to have to go there at some point in the book. Also the fact the Lennie had killed so many animals and thing also made me feel like he was going to hurt/kill an important character. I thought that George was not going to let Lennie tend to the rabbits and Lennie was going to get mad and kill or hurt George. Then, Candy and Lennie would go off and live the American dream together. I didn't think that Slim and George would go off together because I thought that they didn't like each other. Overall I liked the ending because I think that it was better off that way. Now Lennie is with the rabbits in heaven and George might be able to get the land, money and family without having to worry about what Lennie is doing. :D