Lit Analysis #2

Of Mice and Men
1. This is the story of two migrant workers in Cali. during the Great Depression. George Milton and Lennie Small. George is an intelligent, self-centered man who wants to find a way to get financially stable in these hard times. Lennie is his cousin. His mental facilities are lacking at best. His intellect and attention span resembles that of a second grader. But what he lacks in intelligence he more then makes up for in immense strength. The two find their way to a ranch near Soledad. There, they meet a man named Curley. He is the son of the ranch owner, and he suffers from an extreme inferiority complex. Shortly after their heated encounter with Curley, they meet Candy, the elderly one-handed ranch worker who offers to pitch in money for George and Lennie's ''dream ranch''. Curly's flirtatious wife makes a pass at Lennie. Unfortunately Lennie's limited mental abilities keep him from remembering his own strength. He gives her a hug equivalent to that of a mechanical vice which ends up breaking her neck. Curly rallies the rest of the workers in an all out man hunt. George knows that Lennie would never hurt anything intentionally. So George is forced to....help Lennie, ''shuffle off this mortal coil'' before the mob gets ahold of him.
2. The title of this book I feel speaks for itself. ''The best laid plans of mice and men often turn awry.'' Which simply means that no matter how well you feel you've planned out something, there's no guarantee that it will go off without any complications.
3. John Steinbeck's tone throughout the book was fairly serious. He was able to play on your empathy for the characters. Making you feel sad for them when things went wrong, or hopeful when their plans seemed like they were coming to fruition. George has the difficult job of looking after Lennie. The reason they left their home town was because they were run out after Lennie touched a woman's soft dress. With that comes the added weight of knowing how sweet and harmless Lennie is, when all the other characters see a lumbering moron who just hurts things. The older ranch hand, Candy, had a dog that he had raised and used on the farm since he was a puppy. As pets do, he got older and less able to work. The other workers forced Candy into agreeing with them to put his dog down. To add insult to injury they didn't even give him the respect and honor to do it himself.
4. George's characterization was pretty much all indirect. Minus the description of his clothing, all his mannerisms and the way he speaks to Lennie in the beginning paint him as a self-centered man. Underneath that though, is a person who really cares about Lennie. He reads Lennie the same story anytime he asks for it. As I mentioned in #3 up there, Steinbeck plays with the readers emotions. Making you care for the people by giving them some sort of sad or tragic event.