Of Mice and Men Blog by Kaila Kiefer

Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck

Historical Background:

Of Mice and Men was published in 1937. During this time Steinbeck used what he knew about America and incorporated it into his novella. America during the 1930s was in a depression. Jobs and money were very hard to come by. This is shown within Of Mice and Men through the fact that George and Lennie had to travel California just to find farm jobs. Steinbeck also used his life in California for the setting of his novella.




Author Background:

John Steinbeck was born on Febuary 27, 1902 in Salinas California. Because his mother was a school teacher, Steinbeck grew up with a passion for writing. A a teenager Steinbeck worked on farms along with Migrant workers, like George and Lennie from Of Mice and Men. Most of his whole novella Of Mice and Men came from his childhood experiences. Even after Steinbeck published his novels/novellas he still had a rough life. He suffered through two divorces but luckily his thrid marriage lasted until he died on December 20, 1968 from congestive heart failure.



Key Characters:

George Milton-

• migrant farmer
• takes care of Lennie
• has many dreams about a farm of his own
• works hard so he can try to save money
• is kind of short tempered

Lennie-

• is a very kind man
• he has some sort of mental disability
• does not know his own strength
• is always having George tell him about their future farm life together
• he loves animals but accidently kills them

Curly-

• he is a very jealous man
• he assumes a lot of things
• he is very short tempered
• he is one of the reasons that George shot Lennie

Candy-

• he is a symbol of what might have been
• he is a kind man
• he knows not many farms will want him because he is missing a hand so he offers George money to be apart of the future farm.

Key Quotations:

• "The hell with the rabbits. That’s all you can ever remember is them rabbits."

This is significant because George is complaing about how Lennie does not remember anything except rabbits, it also shows Lennie's innocence.

• "Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want. God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble."

This is George telling Lennie the reality of everything. In this time period money is tight and George gets frusterated when Lennie wants things he obviously cant have.

• "No…you tell it. It ain’t the same if I tell it. Go on…George. How I get to tend the rabbits."

This shows Lennies mental instablity. He is hooked on this idea of getting to tend to the rabbits and it is the only thing that makes him happy.


Theme:

I believe that the theme of this book is hope. Through out the whole novella George and Lennie have this dream of a farm of their own, they hope that one day they will have enough money to buy the future farm together. Another theme would have to be innocence. Lennie almost has the mentality of a child. If i had to guess I would say he has some form of Autism. He is very innocent in the fact that when he kills things on accident he becomes very sad.


AP Open Ended Question:

2008. In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of the minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil to a main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.

This is revelant to Of Mice and Men because Lennie brings out Georges true character. George tries to act all tough but he does have a heart because he takes care of Lennie every single day.