Slim of Mice and Men

John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. was an American author wrote many novels including one of his most famous, Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men teaches many lessons about the nature of human existence. Each relationship grows throughout this short story and end with a dramatic experience. All of the characters, including Lennie, George, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, admit, at one time or another, to having a profound sense of isolation, seclusion and loneliness.

Through characterisation, the author is able to express the main idea of disempowerment and also allowing us as readers to feel discontented and upset towards the main character.

Steinbeck uses Crooks character to show how weak people take advantage of other weak people. Curley’s Wife threatens him by calling him everything except his name and saying that she can get him hung. ¨Well, you keep your place then nigger, I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny¨ Curleyś Wife says (80-81). The Boss allows the migrants to fight him because just for a laugh

Slim is described with high authority and respect with strong and tall postures. During Slim’s pen-portrait, slim is emphasized as “his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought”, and that “his authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love”. This shows large amounts of respect and trust to him from the others of the ranch, also showing his society-agreed wise mind of the place.

• What are the characters’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors? What do these indicate to the reader about the character?

The Great Depression took place in the United States in the 1930s. Northern California, Salinas Valley was affected by the Great Depression. Many farmers lost their properties and were forced to find other work. Banks were forced to foreclose on mortgages’ and had to collect debts. Hundreds of thousands of farmers packed up their families and few belongings, and headed for California. The Great Depression left many people in poverty and caused them to face unpleasant events. This is how life was like for the characters in Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. Mostly all the characters in this novel suffered from loneliness. Some of the men desired to come together in a way that would allow them to be like brothers to one

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men tells a story of two very different friends how both share the dream of one day buying their own farm. George and Lennie are both two workers that take temporary jobs at different ranches. That the new job that they get to meet Candy, the old “swamper” who cleans the bunkhouse; Slim, the “prince of the ranch”; Crooks, the African American stable hand. Then there is also Curley, the boss’s son and Curley’s wife, women that is desperate for the attention. Throughout the story, Steinbeck uses a lot of foreshadowing to prepare the reader what is about to occur. The plans of the characters going “askew,” the death of Curley’s wife, the loss of the farm dream, and the death of Lennie; are four clear examples of Steinbeck’s

Compare the episodes in which Candy’s dog and Lennie die. How has Steinbeck made these events effective for the reader?

Regardless of how intensely the characters of this novel hope and dream, their plans do not find fulfillment. Due to the lack of fulfillment of their dream, the characters face loneliness setting each apart from the other. Unlike George and Lennie, the other character of Crooks has no one to support him and be there for him as Lennie and George have each other. In the story, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck contrasts the loneliness and isolation experienced by Crooks, whom life has made abandon his dream of equality, with the closeness of Lennie and George, establishing a false sense of hope for the achievement of their dream, making the ending tragic because they lose both the dream and their unique friendship no

One of the major themes of John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men is that having a dream creates hope, friendship, and determination, enabling one to strive onward in life with a sense of importance. Three major examples show this idea. The first example is Candy’s loss of his dog and his joining George and Lennie 's dream of owning land. A second example is Crook’s memory of his father’s

The viewpoint of the world that the narrator has, completely alters as certain events take place throughout the story. His outlook on nature transforms into a wholly different standpoint as the story progresses. As his tale begins, the narrator sees himself as a tough guy or “bad character”. He believes he is invincible. There is nobody as cool as he

George and Lennie find work on a farm "bucking barley." On this farm they meet the laborers as well as other characters of this novel including Candy (an older laborer), Crooks (the black stable hand), the boss, Curley (a short man who happens to be the bosses son), Curley's wife (a lonely woman easily excited by the attention of men), Carlson (a ranchhand) and Slim (the local authority figure). The characters in this novel all seem to want to transform their lives and are not able to do so. Curley's wife, a failed actress, is living day to day hoping that she will be able to fulfill her lifelong dream of acting. Slim, has nothing to show for a lifetime of laboring. He, just like George and Lennie, had hoped and dreamed for many years to own a piece of land to call his own. He has to live with the realization that he will probably die laboring just as he has done for so many years before. Crooks, on the other hand, has more of a sociological issue to deal with. He dealt with constant racial issues preventing him from accomplishing the American Dream. He has struggled to be treated as a human being because he has been oppressed by the white workers for so many years. The

We only know more about Curley’s wife through the comments of the men at the ranch. Everyone refers to her as ‘Curley’s wife’ so doesn’t have her own identity, therefore is not addressed as a person but as a possession. Prejudice leads to her loneliness as she has no rights and feels isolated. Every worker on the ranch appears to try to avoid Curley’s wife as they fear the consequences that Curley could put upon them if he discovers anything suspicious. Because of this, she’s a lonely character and seeks attention from others as Curley doesn’t give her any; however, she sometimes comes across as being desperate without it being her intention. One of the workers on the ranch describes her as a ‘tart’ and a woman that would ‘sell out for twenty bucks’ – this would influence the other workers not to get involved with her by making Curley’s wife’s life on the ranch a challenging one in order for people to understand her intentions of being friendly rather than desperate.

In the novella, ‘Of Mice and Men’, the characters of Slim and Curley are created to have a strong influence on the other workers’ lives. While both the characters make an impact with the way they are presented, Steinbeck portrays them both very differently. He does this by giving the reader different impressions when each of the characters are introduced, the idiosyncrasies the author has given them, the way they treat others, how the rest of the characters react to the characteristics of Curley and Slim and why they influence particular characters.

Some of these characters play a major role in the plot while others represent a group of people that is discriminated, because of race or gender. George and Lennie are the main characters, which makes them most important to the book’s content. Their friendship and dream about having an own farm are most valuable for the story, since the plot is based on these factors. Crooks and Curley’s wife are on the other hand just as important as the previous characters, but they are more important for the linking between the book and The Great Depression than to the actual plot. These characters reflect how the society looked like in the past, which creates a perception of reality. For example, Curley’s wife has no name, which signalize her powerlessness and position on the ranch. This character does also represent a segment of American society that is discriminated against because of gender. Crooks symbolizes people that is discriminated because of race. These characters are important, because they strengthen the book's action, link, message and