Of Mice and Men notes

1. Of Mice and Men notes By John Steinbeck

2. Characters/characterization • George • Lennie • Candy • Crooks • Curley’s Wife • Curley • Slim

3. List characters from most to least perceived power on the ranch:

4. Foils—characters who are oppositeto emphasize their differences • George/Lennie • George/Curley • Others?

5. Direct/Indirect Characterization • Direct description • John Steinbeck’s • Indirect description • Dialogue • Actions

6. Ism’s—characterization and discrimination in the novella • Racism • Sexism • Ableism • Ageism

7. The Title • Robert Burns poem “To a Mouse”

8. Literary Terms • Setting 1930s Central California • Weed, Salinas, Salinas River • Great Depression era • Migrant workers and their plight • POINT OF VIEW? Affect?

9. Language terms • Dialect • Idioms • Colloquialisms • Realism • Diction, imagery, detail creates Steinbeck’s realism • Tone/Mood

10. SYMBOLS—objects with connotative meaning/ representing abstract ideas • George and Lennie’s farm-- • Lennie’s puppy • Candy’s dog • Rabbits • Final scene: Water snake, heron • Death itself—in the microcosm(text as a min-world) of the text: • Lennie’s death--death of innocence in a cruel world • Curley’s Wife—symbolic of “Eve”, “Pandora” brings sin and death to the world. • Increasing nature of violence/death

11. Themes in the text: major topics • Friendship /Idealized male fraternity • Loyalty • Compassion • Loneliness • Dependence • Violence/Intimidation • Euthanasia (mercy killing) • Cruelty • Discrimination/Social Injustice • Moral Responsibility

12. Motifs: recurring themes/ideas • The American Dream—the impossibility of it • Dreaming of an idyllic place • Caregiving to the intellectually disabled • Powerlessness of the dispossessed/migrant drifter • Predatory nature of Human Existence • Corrupting power of women • Loneliness and Companionship • Strength and weakness