Safe Haven Chapter 1 Summary

On pages 63 to 65, Lennie struggles internally over his own unrealized strength. After Lennie crushed Curley’s hand, Lennie sat cowering in the corner. He’s scared that he did something wrong but he never meant to hurt Curley. He only fought back because George told him to. George and Slim assured George that it wasn’t his fault and that he didn’t do a bad thing. On pages 44 to 48, Candy undergoes a personal struggle. When Carlson tells him that his dog is old and suffering and should be put down, Candy does not want to give up his dog. After Slim agreed that Candy’s dog should be put down on page 45, “Candy looked helplessly at him, for Slim’s opinions were law.” After being defeated by Carlson’s reasonable argument, Candy finally forces himself to give up his dog, knowing that he won’t have to suffer any more.

In the beginning of the story, two men named George Milton and Lennie Small are trying to make their way to a small ranch in Salinas Valley, California. George is the leader of their two man tribe, despite Lennie’s intimidating size. George is filled with determination and confidence while Lennie is a simple man with a big heart.

Whereas in chapter two the setting is depicted as, “The bunkhouse was a long, rectangular building. Inside, the walls were whitewashed and the floor unpainted. In three walls there were square windows, and in the fourth, a solid door with a wooden latch. Against the walls were eight bucks, five of them made up with blankets and the other three showing their burlap ticking.” This second setting sets a rougher, worn down tone. The bunkhouse is primitive with overused beds, floors, etc. While in the woods they are by themselves in a peaceful environment, at the bunkhouse Lennie and George encounter many new faces who are resilient and intrusive. These different interactions also help to create a support system to further amplify the

But Lennie, perfecting his craft one incident at a time, messes everything up. Lennie’s biggest fear was not being able to tend the rabbits when they get their own land, and he loved those rabbits. Lennie grieving over killing his puppy starts conversing with Curley’s wife, a decision he should have never made. Lennie got caught in an unbelievable predicament with Curley’s wife, he was holding her mouth shut while pulling her hair, getting angry at her tell her to shut up, because he does not want to get in trouble. Because, if he did he would not be able to tend the rabbits. As she continued to scream, louder and louder as seconds went by, Lennie with his harmless intentions did not know what to do, so he shook her to get her to shut up but unintentionally broke her neck (Steinbeck, 91). Lennie knowing what to do if he ever did something bad, escapes to the hideout that only him and George know about. Eventually, everybody finds out about Curley’s wife when Candy found her dead body in the barn. At this moment, George knew he had two decisions that would change his life forever. He would either side with his new friends and find Lennie, or escape with Lennie and find another place to work. George makes the right decision and sides with his friends, but he knew they wanted Lennie dead, so he decided to do it himself. George met up with Lennie at their hideout and told him to look the other way and envision everything good about the farm, not wanting to harm Lennie he made sure he was as happy as he could be at that very moment. As George started to describe the farm to him, he put the gun to the back of his neck and pulled the

The characters’ fates in the novel develop individually through separate journeys all controlled by power. The scene depicting Carlson influencing Candy to let him kill his dog represents the idea of power, and the concept of the characters’ journeys with power. Candy is an old man, and because of this, he does not have a powerful position in the social structure on the ranch. Carlson and Slim have power over him because of their younger age and physical abilities. Slim agreed with Carlson’s idea and had the last word on the matter when the book states, “Slim’s opinions were law” (45). Candy knows that he does not have any power over the situations or even himself as he becomes obsolete on the ranch. The dog symbolises Candy and represents the end of Candy’s life journey and the loss of power and worth due to old age when Slim states, “I wisht somebody’ed shoot me if I got old and’ a cripple” (45). The idea that Candy has no power over himself because of his social status and

For the longest time they had both talked about their desire to become landowners and to grow their own crops. All Lennie wanted was to grow alfalfa to feel to his rabbits. Their shared dreams being out of reach is apparent to the reader until Candy comes into the picture. Candy, a hardworking ranch handyman comes in with a full-fledged proposal. He offers them all of the money he saved up to fund a bit of land George and Lennie had their eyes on. In return, he would like to live on the land with them. They all agree that this is what they will do and not to let anyone know. Lennie destroys this dream by accidentally crushing Curley’s wife’s spine. George, Lennie, and Candy’s dream fails to become reality because of Lennie’s ignorance and strength.

George is the logical one, always figuring out some way to keep Lennie going. Such as the beginning of the tale when he states the dream to motivate Lennie to talk about something happy. “‘O.K. Someday we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and.’ ‘Live off the fatta the land’ Lennie shouted!”(Page 14) Talking about the dream gives Lennie some “reset” button, which sets his mood back to his cheerful self. Following the short journey of George and Lennie often involves talk about the American Dream, which ends with George losing his temper. Lennie has talked about leaving, but George wants him to stay. The relationship with Lennie is a vital factor for the dream. The significance of this is that Lennie is constantly a burden to the dream and has no way contributed to it. George needed Lennie in the idea but stated that he could make it without Lennie. Nevertheless, everything George does for Lennie is for the sake of this illusion to become a reality, even if George gets no reward. Also, George has shown that trouble follows this idea and can cause an additional problem. Candy is one of the people who has joined George. “They fell silent. They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they never really believed in was coming true.” (Page 60). No longer a hallucination, George has inspired Lennie and Candy to the point where they will follow him to the end of the world.

Candy 's dog and Lennie share many characteristics by their disabilities. Both struggle through life and worry the people who care about them. While Lennie has a childish mind and is socially inept, needing George to constantly lecture him, the dog suffers from his own health and needs to be taken care of by Candy, unable to help on the ranch.

The killing of Candy's dog was related to when George killed Lennie in several ways. First of all, both the dog and Lennie were weak, and killed as soon as they became useless to the society. Also, the dog was Candy's friend, and Lennie was George's friend. In both cases, Slim viewed the deaths as mercy killings. The last similarity was that both Candy and George felt lonely after the death of their companions. The difference was that Carlson killed the dog for selfish reasons, while George killed Lennie out of mercy. This was how the killing of the dog relates to the killing of Lennie.

I think in chapter one, the most crucial part of the plot is nicks background. It helps you understand who he is, what he comes from, and how he is. He tells about his family and how he ended up in the east.

The first chapter goes back in history and sets up the story and setting. It was the eighteenth century and the Americans were beginning to invade the lands west of the Mississippi River. This caused problems because even though Americans saw the lands as an unoccupied

land so in the last chapter he says to George “You an’ me can get that

the ending of the novel. In chapter five of the novel, Lennie finds himself in more trouble

Meaning, Curley killing Lennie would result in no significance to him, but because if the bond George and Lennie have established, Lennie suffering in George's hands would mean the most to him. George said, "I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun". (Steinbeck 41) Meaning George and Lennie have virtually and unbreakable bond that was formed. They have been together for a long time now and have done everything together. George needs Lennie as much as Lennie needs George, they provide comfort and support for one another even if Lennie does takes it over board many times. They have an amazing bond therefore George knew that Lennie was going to get killed, and he knew he needed to be the one to do so. In addition, At the begging of Mice of Men candy's old dog was suffering and everyone at the ranch knew it had to go. Slim and candy had no connection therefore when slim had shot what meant mist to candy, he regretted not shooting the off himself. "Quote about candy regretting not killing his dog". Connecting back to the first quote. Candy knew it would mean more to him if he were to kill the dog himself, and let the animal he loved to suffer in his own hands, not in a strangers which would mean absolutely nothing to him. The author wants to describe how an Individual is obligated to

Chapter 1: “Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place.”[78]This quote sets the tone of the novel early on as a bleak and hard way to live. It helps the reader connect with George and Lennie by giving them an idea of their situation, that what makes it good.