John Steinbeck was born in 1902, in Californias Salinas Valley, a region that would eventually serve as the setting for Of Mice and Men as well as many of his other works. He studied literature and writing at Stanford University, but disenrolled in 1925, after six years, without a degree. He moved to New York …
Candys Dog: “A dragfooted sheepdog, gray of muzzle, and with pale, blind old eyes” (26), Candys dog is a far cry from his sheepherding days. Carlson says to Candy, in regard to the dog: “Got no teeth, hes all stiff with rheumatism. He aint no good to you, Candy. An he aint no good to …
George: George is the storys main protagonist, a small, quick man with well-defined features. A migrant ranch worker, George dreams of one day saving enough money to buy his own place and be his own boss, living off of the land. The hindrance to his objective is his mentally handicapped companion, Lennie, with whom he …
Steinbeck returns to the setting that started the novel, alongside the pool of the Salinas River, where George and Lennie first appeared to us. We remember that George told Lennie to return here if any trouble should happen, and it is only fitting that the course of events lead the reader back to the beginning. …
We find ourselves in the barn. It is Sunday afternoon (Lennie and George arrived on the ranch on Friday morning). All the men are participating in a horseshoe tournament. Lennie is alone in the barn with his puppy, which is dead. Lennie still strokes it sadly, saying, “Why do you got to get killed? You …
Chapter four begins in the novels third setting-Crooks room. It is the next night. After a long description of the room and Crooks himself (see the profile section for more details), Lennie enters. Crooks (who is called such because of a crooked spine as a result of being kicked by a mule) is in the …
We again find ourselves inside the bunk house on the same day. George and Slim enter, in the midst of a conversation. We learn that Slim has agreed to let Lennie have one of his pups. Slim comments on what a strong worker Lennie is and George grows proud. Slim again remarks on the rarity …
Steinbeck begins the second chapter in much the same way as the first-without people. The setting is now at the ranch in Soledad, in the bunk house of the workers. The door opens and an old one-handed caretaker (whose name we later learn is Candy) leads George and Lennie inside. Candy tells the two men …
At the novels outset, Steinbeck takes great pains to familiarize us with the setting, using poetic imagery to describe the “golden foothill slopes” (1) of the Salinas River Valley and a particular pool on the banks of which “the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs …
