ktmeng/mec huggingface dataset:
Topic: of-mice-and-men

“If I was alone, I could love so easy. ” Steinbeck’s use of this is rather ironic, as Steinbeck is indicating, George is prophetic and foreshadows George loosing Lennie, as this becomes a reality at the end of the novel. However Steinbeck portrays in this manner so that Lennie is not a prevention in order for George to achieve his desire of being independent. Additionally George and Lennie travelling together but being friends was very unusual because during the “American depression ” people travelled alone in order to find work as there would be less hassle.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Despite the disgruntling, Steinbeck clearly denotes George enjoys Lennie’s company, which George is quick to protect him which shows the companionship, as George shares his aspirations with Lennie. “With us it ain’t like that, we’ve got a future. ” The pronouns “us” and “we” indicate the unity and comradeship between George and Lennie, this suggests that George aspires to share his dream because he tries to distance himself from isolation which the other migrant workers suffer from and to avoid a miserable, wasteful meaningless life.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The noun “future” shows George is enthusiastic about his future in-relation to Crooks who is forlorn. It also suggests that George believes that he and Lennie will achieve their dream because the term ‘future’ illustrates he is looking beyond their present situation on the ranch, which he sees their dreams as a success. Steinbeck presents the character in this way, so the reader recognizes the dreams and desires that migrant workers wanted to accomplish; In order to escape from their dismal and hopeless lives.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In-addition George and Lennie being comrades was very rare, but the most infrequent thing was George helping Lennie which was also uncommon at the time of the “American Depression “, as nobody would help another person. In-addition George desires to share his dream with Lennie, in-order to keep Lennie happy and to keep him as a companion. “I could build a smoke house like the one grand ’pa had. ” This phrase insinuates George wants his future to reflect his ideal childhood memories.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The verb “could” which suggests the potential to succeed which consolidates the heavenly idea of the dream in contrast with the hopeless and depressing lives of others. At the end of the novel George kills Lennie for the sake of Lennie to protect him from an awful tragedy. But in this context it is a way of renunciation of George’s own contentment which George wanted to share his own dream with Lennie. Steinbeck interprets George’s dreams in this way to the reader to shows how much one desires in order to accomplish his dream, in order to live a life of happiness but also to achieve the “American Dream”.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Steinbeck explores the theme of destiny which creates a picture in the reader’s mind, of how people had to face the severe realities in order to achieve the “American Dream” at that time. As this is a perfect example to show one’s dreams and desires, but what extents a person would go to in order to do that. Lennie Small is a rather ironic man; he is delineated as an enormous and powerful man but ability wise he is slow, innocent and childlike. With Lennie, Steinbeck mainly follows the theme of innocence within the novel.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Lennie shares the same dream with George but his perspective is different to of that George’s. George wants his own land so he can live with freedom whereas Lennie desires to keep “furry rabbits” and tend them. As Steinbeck portrays Lennie in this way, so the reader feels sympathy for him, as we would say he has a mental disability but this would have not been recognised at the time of the “American Depression” as people would have considered Lennie as strange. In-addition the dream for Lennie petting “furry rabbits” on his own farm will provide contentment and security for him.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Despite his innocence, Lennie is still capable of great violence. Steinbeck constantly compares Lennie to various animals but comparison to a dog is quite significant. This comparison is apparent, such as Lennie is George’s only friend and the dog is Candy’s only companion. Also Lennie is dependent on George to be his faithful protector like the dog is loyal to Candy and relies on him. Furthermore Lennie’s hands were the reason he kills Curley’s wife, which Steinbeck compares to those of a dogs, calling them “huge paws” and also saying that he “pawed up the hay.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

I’m so tired, both physically and mentally, but I bet you, there aint no one in the whole world who could, I mean who would help me. All this because I’m black. Is that even fair? Is that even my fault? I’m just a man too, I’m just a man like any other man round here. We were all brought into this world in the same way, We all were once young free souls with a childhood, we all know what the difference between the good and the evil is.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

But now, I even find myself questioning myself about the existence of this Supreme Being who is meant to help, who is meant to make everything fair and good. If anything or anyone so supreme was there to watch upon us, then why am I having to suffer? I have done no sin, I could not choose my skin colour, And I defiantly cant change that, however much I want to do so. I’m not going to lie, In the past I hated myself too, for being black- Because of my colour, I’ve been isolated from society, I’ve been hurt, I’ve even been denied the chance to even hope for my American dream.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

All this because I’m black. But now I’ve realised that I’m just lucky to at least be living, to at least have a job, to at least have a bed to sleep on at night. You see, I work up at the ranch full of white guys, the boss made sure that my job was somewhat secured after the day when one of the horses kicked me in the back and crippled me. Although my back hurts like a bitch every second in every minute in every hour in every day I’m grateful for it. Without it, who knows where I would be now? Probably dead or left for the dead out in the streets.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

And let me tell you , the thought of that is way better than living in the ranch and being ignored by those white ranch workers. Well, I’m not always ignored, I mean last Christmas I actually was invited in to celebrate with them, they even gave me some whiskey,It was by far an amazing night for me, but then again anything’s better than spending Christmas alone in the dark with the horses. And one of the new guys even came into my room and actually gave me company for the first time in many many years.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

That guy’s name is Lennie small, There’s no dening that he’s a heck of a strong worker, a giant guy, but there’s also no dening that he’s one stupid bastard. I’m not even saying this for the meaness, it’s the truth, I mean when a white guy steps into a black guys room to keep him company there’s only two possible reasons as to why he would do so- Either he’s opened his eyes and seen beneath just the surface or because he’s a stupid bastard. In lennie’s case it was the second reason.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

At that time, I thought that it would be a laugh to take advantage of him, I couldn’t wait to get the feeling of being ble to torment someone, anyone. So I did. Sure as hell I did, I told him that George ain’t coming back for him, I filled his head with complexe ideas about George leaving him to fend for himself, It was pure pleasure, just watching him squirm, panick, be helpless. I let him have a little taste of what it was like to be me, to be alone.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

But stopped as soon as lennie started to talk back, I was damn scared, but who wouldn’t be scared of a huge, dumb guy who isn’t even aware of his own strength? Soon another white guy also came in,his name is candy, an old guy with one hand completely missing. This one hesitated more coming in my room than Lennie did, making me aware that his eyes were also one of them many eyes who could only be bothered to see what is on the surface.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

He told me that he would soon bust outa this place to get his own place with George and Lennie, so I told him straight up, that I’d seen to many guys with dreams similar to them and that I know that it would always only just stay a far away dream, nothing more. This was until they told me that they had the money for it. I was going to tell them about my dream and even ask them to let me stay with them, but that evil bitch came to my door at that exact moment, She heard a bit of talking from me about my dream.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

That bitch was curley’s wife, Curley’s the bosses son so its not like I could have talked back to her while she told me that I could never ever get my dream. She crushed me slowly with her words, but I was thankful for the wakeup call. If she hadn’t said thatI would have just built up false expectation for myself, that would soon be crushed. That’s just my life, Ablack guy with no chance in the white society. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In this large reading task I am going to compare two different stories, John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ and Thomas Hardy’s’ The 3 Complete strangers’. Both stories are composed in totally different nations. Hardy was composing in 1883 about rural Dorset in the 1820’s and due to the fact that of the time duration, Hardy’s composing enters into greater detail about whatever in his story a lot more frequently than Steinbeck carries out in his ‘Of Mice and Men’.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The story is based in California. The initial distinctions in design of composing are rather easy to see. Hardy composes with long, intricate sentence structures, making long descriptions of the structures, objects, people and weather condition. He uses complex, found out similes,” the long inimical seasons, with their sleets, snows, rains and mists pay for withdrawing space enough to separate a Timon or a Nebuchadnezzar … “.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

He explains things within his story with an easy, direct technique, offering a clear visual image,” A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas river drops in near the hill-side bank and runs deep and green”. There are, nevertheless, some resemblances between the 2 stories’ openings. Both open by describing really lonesome, sparse areas. Durable opens with “Fifty years ago such a lonesome home stood on such a down … “, “In spite of it loneliness, however, the spot, by actual measurements, was not more than five miles from a Nation town.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

” Steinbeck opens with a comparable concept, “A couple of miles south of Soledad … “. They both utilize the very same gadget of a path to draw the reader into the story and they explain their opening scenes nearly like you would envision a film director to shoot his film, checking out a wide area, then drawing into more detail, focusing in on a particular part of this vast location. They both utilize descriptions of animals in the location to bring the scene to life and to make it appear far more sensible.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In order to convey the bitterness of the climate, Hardy describes the shepherds’ flock, ” such sheep and outdoor animals as had no shelter, stood with their buttocks to the winds… “. Steinbeck uses dogs and deer to similar effect, ” with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark. ” With this image, Steinbeck conveys the scene of unspoilt nature in this lonely drinking place. ” Within the two stories, many differences appear in the two societies that are written about by the authors.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

One of the key reasons for this is the difference in time of writing and the country they are writing about, with both authors writing about totally different places and styles of life. Hardy tells of a secure community that is tightly woven together with little to be concerned with other than work and leisure. Hardy describes that there is not much trouble, as we can tell from the part-time police officer that would only work with his staff with a royal emblem on top. He did not know what to say when making an arrest, instead saying what a robber would “…
Topic: of-mice-and-men

your money or your life! “. Although Hardy describes this community as quite a safe place, it is not idyllic, with poverty and unemployment in the area, which we learn from one of the main characters, Timothy Summers ” the poor clockmaker we heard of, who used to live away at Shottsford and had no work to do- Timothy Summers, whose family were a-starving… “. In contrast to the tightly knit community, Steinbeck writes about sparse, wide-open spaces with miles to walk if people wished to gather or go to different cities and towns.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

He writes about itinerant workers travelling together to work on lonely ranches during the great depression. They, the characters in the story, have to regularly find temporary employment, working heavily on ranches for small pay, “To-morra we’re gonna go to work. I seen thrashin’ machines on the way down. That means we’ll be bucking grain bags, bustin’ a gut. ” These workers have next to nothing to look forward to after they retire, as a character named Candy demonstrates, “I planted crops for damn near ever’body in this state, but they wasn’t my crops, and when I harvested ’em they none of my harvest.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

“. The characters in Steinbecks’ book harbour the same dream, to have their own farm and work when they want to, but as another character explains, “… never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. ” In both stories, the people have a certain pride in their work. In both stories, people are known by their job title; for example, in ‘The Three Strangers’ we have people described to us as people like “Charlie Drake the Hedge-Trimmer”, as is the same in ‘Of Mice and Men’.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

As a character is referred to as “Slim the jerk-line skimmer” who is admired for the skill he has in the way he works. The difference between peoples work in the two stories is that in ‘The Three Strangers’ a job is for life as you are told “you can tell a mans work by his hands. “. The leisure of the people in Hardy’s ‘The Three Strangers’ is fairly different to that of the people in Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. In Hardy’s story, the characters rarely celebrate as money is tight, but they hold civilised parties for courtship and socialising.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In ‘Of Mice and Men’ this is not the case. Workers earn their pay and waste it on drink, prostitutes and gambling. Marriage is seen in two completely different ways in the two stories. In Hardy’s story there is marriage and planning ahead, “The shepherd fennel had married well… ” In Steinbecks story, people avoid women and marriage, one of the main characters even calls women “jail bait” and says he would rather be given “a good whore house every time” than be married.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Crime and Punishment differs in both stories, in both there are still people trying to escape from the law. In ‘The Three Strangers’ it is in a remote area that has never dealt with an escaped prisoner. The town only has a part-time police officer, yet there is the utmost respect for the law. The case is very different in ‘Of Mice and Men’. People still live in a remote area, but take the law into their own hands, forming lynch mobs to catch whoever breaks the law instead of getting the police involved first, “I’m going for my shotgun, I’ll kill the big son of a bitch myself!
Topic: of-mice-and-men

“. In both stories the punishments are harsh for the crimes committed. In ‘The Three Strangers’ people are hanged and in ‘Of Mice and Men’ people are shot dead by executioners or members of a mob. The communities react quietly against the law and have their own sense of justice. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In Of Mice and Men Steinbeck presents many characters that are extremely insecure about themselves and their future. Curley is arguably one of the most insecure of them all, despite his position as the boss’s son. His insecurities mostly stem from his small stature, and he goes to great lengths to compensate for this – including violence. He is a boxer, after all. For this reason we can be certain that Curley is a danger to others. In examining this claim, a good place to start is Steinbeck’s use of setting.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Most of Curley’s appearances are in the bunk house, which is described as, “whitewashed,” and, “unpainted.” The dismal setting portrays how bleak the lives of the itinerant workers are, and the fact that Curley goes here to pick a fight just proves his inferiority complex. He has to pick on the weak in society to make himself feel better. Another thing to note in Steinbeck’s presentation of the bunkhouse is that there were, “small, square windows.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The violent verb, “exploded,” portrays that he can rapidly swing from relative calmness to outright violence in a matter of seconds, with very little provocation. This proves he is a danger to others. Lennie, “tried to retreat,” but Curley disregarded this and continued, “slugging him in the face.” This conveys how pathetic Curley really is – the fight is completely one sided. In fact, it would be more appropriate to describe it as an assault than a fight. It is only logical to conclude that a man capable of such a crime is a danger to others.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

His actions elsewhere in the novel back up the assertion that he is a danger to others. When he is first introduced to George and Lennie we are told that, “His gaze was at once calculating and pugnacious.” Right from the beginning of the novella Steinbeck presents him as someone who is untrusting of others, always on the offensive. His actions after discovering the death of his wife also prove how heartless he is, especially when compared to Slim’s tender handling of the incident. We read that, “Curley carried a shot gun in his good hand. Curley was cold now.” Curley’s first reaction is to receive revenge for the killing. He shows no signs of grief. He is simply, “cold.” This demonstrates that he is a danger to others, because his compulsive actions always revolve around violence.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Moving on, dialogue is very important when examining Curley’s personality. Steinbeck arguably places more emphasis on dialogue than anything else over the course of his novella. The characters speak with a combination of slang and phonetic spelling, somewhat of a linguistic shibboleth that proves they are of the poorer working class. Even Curley, with his slight economic advantage, still comes off as sounding rough and slightly intimidating.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Curley tries to taunt Lennie into taking the first hit, by using coarse language such as, “son-of-a-bitch,” and, “ya big bastard.” The latter insult is a product of his insecurity about his height. After all, we are told elsewhere in the novel that, “Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys.” Curley not only poses a danger physically, but emotionally as well. He enjoys insulting and belittling others. This is, of course, a common trait of a bully – they try to cover up their own failings by taking it out on others. This incident with Lennie proves to be extremely demeaning for him. Even in the latter chapters one of the reasons he tries to have Lennie lynched, according to Slim, is that, “Curley’s still mad about his hand.” He is presented as being obsessed with revenge, without doubt posing a danger to anyone that would try and stop him.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Elsewhere in the novel Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to present how universally disliked he is. We are told that he has a, “glove fulla Vaseline,” so he can, “keep that hand soft for his wife.” This portrays him as a self-centred pervert that views his wife as nothing but a possession. His wife laments that, “I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” His wife of a few days already has developed distain for him. If the person he is supposed to be closest to says this, his self-gratifying personality must be a danger to others.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

However, this could be too harsh an analysis. It could be argued that Curley is just as lonely as the rest of the ranch men and that the only way he can gain a semblance of respect from the other men is to prove that he is powerful. During the incident with his hand his tough exterior melts, revealing his true personality. We are told that, “he stood crying.” This is a vast dissimilarity to his previous behaviour. Through this presentation Steinbeck proves that he is nowhere near as tough as he makes himself out to be.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

We also get hints that he is afraid of the other men, especially Slim and Carlson. Carlson tells his, “you’re as yella as a frog’s belly,” and even old Candy joins in to taunt him. Curley never dares to fight them. Perhaps Steinbeck intended us to pity Curley, a man that in different circumstances may not have posed any danger to others. It could be argued that Curley is simply a product of the harsh time in which he lived, where he had no choice but to fight in order to survive. Maybe all he craves is acceptance.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Lennie is undoubtedly one of the most awful characters in Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men. When considering if he is to blame for his ultimate death, we need to think about that he is bit more than a child psychologically. Much like the other ranch employees, he is probably damaged not through his own actions however because of the severe conditions of the society he lived in. Therefore, it is unfitting to declare that he is straight to blame for what takes place.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The reality that Lennie even goes into Crooks’ space provides us a peek of his character. Scoundrels’ room is described as, “a little shed that leaned off the side of the barn.” There is an undetectable barrier that avoids Crooks from joining with the others– instead he is left by himself, separated from the camaraderie of the cattle ranch simply due to the fact that he is black.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Another essential description of setting that links to Lennie can be discovered near the culmination of the unique, where it mentions, “When a little bird stumbled upon the dry leaves behind him, he lifted his head.” Through this Steinbeck presents Lennie as someone who is so sensitive that even a small bird can frighten him. This shows that he could not potentially have actually eliminated Curley’s Partner in cold blood, it was an accident. Therefore he is not to blame.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The fact that he talks to himself suggests an element of mental instability, which is backed up elsewhere in the novel where, “from out of Lennie’s head there came a little fat old woman.” He hallucinates, a classic symptom of mental illness. We could not possibly blame him for what happened when he is clearly not fully in control of his own mind. Lennie needed help, not chastisement. Even when Curley is assaulting him in section three he, “retreats,” rather than fighting back. Steinbeck presents him as someone who hates violence. The only reason he attacked Curley was fear, and because George told him to do it.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Moreover, the best way to decide whether Lennie was to blame for his actions is through his dialogue. Steinbeck arguably places more emphasis on dialogue than anything else in his novella. The characters speak with a mixture of phonetic spelling and slang terms. Lennie’s speech is especially odd due to his learning difficulties. We see this in phrases such as, “Maybe George come back already.” His incorrect syntax is somewhat of a linguistic shibboleth that proves how different he is from the rest of the men.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

His dialogue expresses his absolute dependence on George, such as, “George wun’t go away and leave me,” and, “George gonna come back.” The adverb that Steinbeck uses – “miserably” – suggests undertones of doubt in Lennie’s dialogue. George has gone and left him for the night, and he genuinely fears he will never return. This again could point the finger at George rather than Lennie, because it proves that George did not keep watch over Lennie. Steinbeck presents Lennie as someone who constantly needs watched over, and George of all people should know this. It could be argued that all the tragedy in the novel would have been avoided if George didn’t let Lennie go unaccompanied.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Surely George, the one that pulled the trigger on Lennie, should be to blame. After all, we read that, “Lennie… imitated George exactly.” Many of Lennie’s mannerisms come from observing George and Crooks states that if someone is alone, “he don’t know whether it’s right or not.” Lennie needs George to tell him what is right and what is wrong. It could be argued that George should have set a better example for him.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Elsewhere in the novel Lennie’s dialogue emphasises his innocence. He tells George that he, “didn’t want no trouble,” which backs up my previous assertions that Lennie never intended to harm anyone. Lennie also laments that, “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.” Lennie expresses immediate guilt for what he has done. His actions, such as killing Curley’s Wife, could almost be described as impulsive. He simply doesn’t know his own strength. Therefore we cannot blame him for what happens.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

However, it could be argued that Lennie is not totally innocent. Sometimes Steinbeck presents him as someone cleverer than most give him credit for. For example, in the first section we are told that he, “made an elaborate pantomime of innocence,” when George accuses him of harbouring the dead mouse. Here he is presented as someone that would lie to his best friend to get his own way. Another key action to mention would be, “Lennie avoided the bait. He had sensed his advantage.” Lennie can be manipulative when he wants to be, and knows when he has the upper hand in a conversation. Perhaps he is more intelligent than we realise. He plays on George’s guilt, such as when he threatens to, “find a cave.” Therefore Steinbeck conveys that he can be emotionally controlling.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

To conclude, it would be inappropriate to blame a single person for what happens to Lennie. We could not possibly declare that Lennie is wholly at fault. It is a combination of things, such as the harsh society and his apparent mental illness. Steinbeck cleverly tells a story where not one person is innocent. Everybody on the ranch has a part to play in the tragedy that unfolds. It conveys the utter despondency that plagued the itinerant workers of the 1930s.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Due to the context of the time, being a woman gave you a lower social status than men – many were seen as second rate to their male equivalents. They had less power than men, this was displayed through having less rights, particularly when it came to democracy and voting – less control. She was confined by her social status as a woman. This makes her level of power in the novel significantly lower than Curley’s – adding to the idea that she is presented as one of the weak ones.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Despite her social status as a white woman, she manages to manipulate her position over others that she deems weaker than her. Although she is a woman, she is a white American, and this means that automatically she has a social power over the black population – in the context of time and due to racism this was widely accepted. A clear example of this is given by Steinbeck when she tries to talk with Candy, Crooks, and Lennie in Crook’s room. She is not wanted by any of those three characters, and Crooks, filled with hope about the dream farm that they had been discussing, turns to her and says that he would ‘ast the boss not to ever let you come in the barn no more’.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Curley’s Wife takes advantage that her social role is higher up in terms of power compared to Crooks, simply because she is a ‘white woman.’ She says that she could get Crooks ‘strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’ This is a threat towards Crooks, and it is a threat that carries weight because it has happened before and could happen to Crooks. Crooks reduces himself ‘into nothing’ and had ‘no personality, no ego-nothing to arouse either like or dislike’. He shrivels back so much and this shows the extent to which Curley’s wife can manipulate her power. Although out of the characters introduced to the reader in Of Mice and Men she appears to be one of the weak ones, because of the social hierarchy that existed in 1920’s America, she is able to exert her power over a select group of people – namely Crooks and all black people.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Although Candy is theoretically more powerful than her simply because his social status as a white man at that time was considered more powerful than a white woman. But Curley’s Wife manipulates Candy’s physical weakness, and calls him a ‘lousy ol’ sheep’ and the whole group of them ‘bindle stiffs.’ She is prepared to talk to them in such a way that she’s sure that they wouldn’t be able to properly retaliate. At the beginning of her entrance she says that Crook’s room is where they left all the ‘weak ones’ – evidence for this point.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Even though ‘Nigger’ is a racist term, it was used normally in those days. But this shows the little respect the rest of the characters had for Crooks; they could have decided to refer to him using his real name, just like Slim. The fact that they continuously call him that shows the weakness in Crook, if he had the amount of free will and power the rest had, he would have spoke up and tell them to stop calling him a ‘Nigger’.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Steinbeck may have set it out like this to show that not everyone was racist and disrespectful to whom the majority of the people thought was inferior. Slim could have been a character just like Steinbeck, he’s showing that he is not racist and is empathetic to Crook’s feelings, and is aware that despite his skin colour, he is just as superior. However, noticing this, Slim could be portrayed as weak because he didn’t speak up to defend Crooks when it came to the name calling, if he did, he probably would have been casted as a ‘Sell out’ by the other characters.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

There is another incident in the novel that shows how inferior and weak Crooks is portrayed. After Curley’s wife enters the room to talk to him, Lennie and Candy, Crook’s ends up getting frustrated with Curley’s wife and starts telling her off. However, by now the readers would have thought that Crook’s is finally standing up for himself and defending himself, but this all changes in the space of a few minutes. For example, Curley’s wife retaliates and say’s ‘Listen, Nigger, you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’ ‘Well, keep your place Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easily it ain’t even funny’.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

‘Strung up on a tree’ meant to be lynched; this shows that she had the power to get Crooks lynched, even for the pettiest things. So even though Crooks was speaking the truth, him speaking up could get him into trouble, he can’t win, him staying quiet and saying the things the other characters wants to hear makes him look weak, but even when he does speak up against problems, he is still portrayed as weak. After Curley’s wife mentions this, the narration says ‘Crooks seemed to grow smaller’ the use of the letters ‘Er’ shows that he was already ‘small’ but by Curley’s wife mentioning Lynching, it made him ‘smaller’, weaker than he already is.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

One more factor that shows Crooks is weak, is by the structure of the chapter, the chapter starts and ends the same. On page 99, it say’s ‘Crooks sat on his bunk […] he held a bottle of liniment and with the other hand, rubbed his spine’. The chapter also ends the same way. This shows that the way Crooks is living is never ending, it’s a cyclical feature, and there is no hope for him. Also, because Steinbeck kept on referring to his spine, shows that even though Crooks does have hopes and dreams, him being black and being injured is what’s stopping him from living the ‘American dream’. The injury to Crooks back occurred after being kicked in the spine by a horse.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The reason for this is because of where Crooks Is forced to sleep. Crooks sleeps in a barn. This is usually a place where horses rest. On page 98, it lets the readers know the Crooks bun was made form a long box filled with straw. ‘Crooks’ bunk was a long box filled with straw’. This portrays him to be some sort of animal. He is portrayed as a horse. Again even though horses are strong physically, they are weak in the sense that they have no power, they are usually tied up. This is a good example of Crooks. Again, he may be the most intelligent out of the characters and in some ways, mentally strong. But he is still weak in other ways.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Another character that Steinbeck portrays as being weak is Curley’s wife. The apostrophe in ‘Curley’s’ is possessive, this shows that Curley’s wife belongs to Curley and that he is her owner. She is referred to as ‘Curley’s wife’ throughout the novel and is not named. It also shows how unimportant she is and how little the characters think of her. Another way she is portrayed as weak is by her attitude towards the men in the novel. Curley doesn’t pay her much attention, so she feels insecure and lonely. This makes her want the attention of the other men and makes her feel superior and important, even though she isn’t. The characters talk about her in a negative way behind her back. For example, after Curley’s wife is introduced George say’s ‘Jesus, what a tramp’. The use of the word ‘Jesus’ makes Georges reaction the Curley’s wife seem dramatic, this shows that Curley’s wife is a huge problem if she causes such dramatic responses. Also he refers to her as a tramp.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

‘Tramp’ can mean many things, but one definition of a tramp for a female is a prostitute or a person regarded as promiscuous. This is Georges first impressions Of Curley’s Wife, and this is how she comes across whilst trying to flirt. This shows how weak she is to George especially. She may be trying to flirt and act sexy in order for the men to lust after her but her trying has no effect on George, he thinks of her as the opposite. George also calls her a ‘bitch’ and a ‘Rat trap’ whilst talking to Lennie. A ‘bitch’ is the name given for a female dog, this links to the apostrophe in ‘Curley’s wife’ Dogs are popular
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Curley’s wife thinks of Crooks, Lennie and Candy as the ‘Weak ones’ by her saying this, it makes her look weak as well, she feels she has to refer to them as something deemed inferior in order to make her feel superior. However, even though she refers to them as this, she still hangs around them, this show’s that she hasn’t got much choice and that that is the only form of company she has and appreciates, despite coming across as nasty. This shows her weak side.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In section 5, Curley’s wife goes in the barn to comfort Lennie and flirt with him, this could have led into something more. If she didn’t end up dying she probably would have ended up sleeping with Lennie. This again, shows her weakness; she is not strong enough to just leave Curley if she is not happy, she married Curley for the wrong reasons, leading to her being unhappy. Instead she goes behind his back looking for ‘Love’, ‘comfort’ and a sense of ‘importance’. This leads to her being accidently killed by Lennie.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Before this happens whilst she confides in Lennie she admits, ‘He says he was gonna put me in the movies’ referring to one of the actors she met. This didn’t end up happening so she ended up marrying Curley. She then goes on and says ‘So I married Curley. […] I don’t like Curley, he ain’t a nice fella’. This shows that she had no choice but to marry him and that she is finding it hard to escape from him.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The death of Curley’s wife is like Karma. She threatened to get Crooks lynched if he carried on disrespecting her but then ended up dying as a result of her neck of being broken, this is what lynching is. Also, she married Curley for the wrong reasons and used him and she was also the women who stopped the characters from living their dreams, this may have been out of spite from her not getting to live hers. However, again, she ended up dying, and the characters still didn’t get to live their dream. This is how Karma works, ‘what goes around comes around’. This could be linked to the ‘Cyclical feature’ in the novel, the problems are never ending and there is just no hope.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

To conclude, both Crooks and Curley’s wife are very much alike and they’re just as weak as each other. Both characters are referred to as harsh names other than their real names. They both had dreams of being successful but it never happened. Crooks is a black man, and Curley’s wife is a white women. So even though Crooks had dreams and was capable of getting far the only problem that would have been stopping him is the fact that he is black and racism was in full effect in those days. Also, he was the smartest among the other characters, this links back to the title ‘Of mice and men’ that things can go wrong despite how hard you try. So despite his intelligence and how hard he learns, he still can’t get to where he wants to go in life. Nevertheless, even though Curley’s wife is white, she is a woman.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Women didn’t have that much say or rights when men were involved. So her dreams and goals were not reached. For example she say’s ‘I never got that letter, I always thought my ol’ lady stole it’ She is adamant that her mum stole the letter an actor ‘wrote’ to her, so that’s why she never became an actress. Except, going back to how powerful men were in those days, White American men especially, he may have not even written a letter, probably forgetting about her and just complimenting her because it was the heat of the moment type. This shows that Curley’s wife is not mentally strong enough to come to terms and face reality of what actually might have happened, again that’s her way of feeling important, because deep down she is a weak individual.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Steinbeck, like numerous others thinks that everyone, consisting of those who do not deserve it, needs affection and attention. This reveals us that Steinbeck sees human beings as social beings, in the book he specifies this as ‘individuals go bananas if they are alone and have no contact with others’. 2 characters from ‘of mice and males’ that are examples of this are: Scoundrels and Curley’s better half.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Curley’s partner is lonesome due to the fact that she is a woman, throughout the age that the book was written women were dealt with as mere sexual items, the only contact men had with ladies was completely sexual and took place at ‘whore houses’. The other primary reason is since Curley attempted to confide her to there martial house, ‘Believe I don’t like to speak with somebody ever’ every so often? Think I like to stick in that house alla time’.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The males do not speak to her – when they do it is typically a sexist remark such as: ‘jailbait’, ‘bitch’, ‘tramp’, ‘rat – trap’, ‘loo-loo’ (Sweet’s deceased pet dog) and many others. The men avoid her since they believe that she is going to cause trouble, and get them associated with this difficulty. A quote offered by Lennie ‘George says I can’t have absolutely nothing to do with you – talk to you or nothing’ describes to us, that George is fretted that Lennie will enter trouble with Curley again, triggering more difficulty for the both of them. She responds to all of these issues by dressing and acting in a flirtatious manner, which spurs the men on even more to make sexist comments.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Crooks is lonely because he is coloured and a cripple, during the age that the book was written, again the attitude was different to coloured people, Martin Luther King had only just made his ‘I have a dream’ speech which had officially ended the age of slavery. Crooks was confided to his own room, which made him even more lonely and spiteful. The men marginalise Crooks by calling him derogatory names like ‘nigger’ and other racist comments and not letting him into the bunkhouse too play cards. A quote given by Crooks ‘they play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all stink to me’. This shows how Crooks reacts to these comments, he gets defensive and becomes spiteful, yet in the company of Curley’s wife (after she launches an attack on him) he becomes very quiet and curls himself into a ball. We could say that Lennie is lonely but he has George and is only Lonely in his head.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Steinbeck describes that people have hopes and dreams. I feel that people have these hopes and dreams because there is something that is missing from their lives and they need these dreams to feel complete in themselves. There are four characters who share two separate dreams, the first dream is shared between three of the men – George, Lennie and Candy – is too own there own ranch and ‘live of the fatta the land’. This was originally just George and Lennie’s dream, at this point George never believed that this would happen, yet the more he told Lennie what is would be like the more he thought that it could happen.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Lennie on the other hand believed with all of his heart that this would happen. After Candy joined in the dream it seamed like more and more of a reality. All dreams represent something and this follows the pattern, the dream represents security, companionship, and independence. In the dream the men would be a family, which is what all of the ranch workers really want. The other person on the ranch who has a dream is Curley’s wife, she wants to become an Hollywood actress, she like Lennie believes truly that this could happen, and wants it with all of her heart as it would take her away from Curley. Her dream represents the human need for affection and for people to love her and to see her again an again.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

‘Of mice and men’ is based on the theme of outsiders i.e. Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. I think that from reading ‘of Mice and Men’ Steinbeck shows sympathy to some characters yet not to others. He shows this to us in the form of George who is constantly forgiving and sympathetic to Lennie because he knows, that he can’t help being like he is, Slim who sits down and talks to George, and Lennie who gets to know Crooks. Yet in characters such as Curley, Curley’s wife and Carlson, they don’t know Lennie or Crooks and don’t want to.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

So they judge him in a spiteful, uncaring and unfair ways, an example of this is the last line of the book where Carlson says ‘ now what the hell ya think is eatin’ them two guys?’ after George has just killed his best friend. I know that if I had just done that I would need a shoulder to cry on. Steinbeck shows us that some of the characters – Crooks and Curley’s wife – were victims of their age by making Crooks suffer from racism and Curley’s wife suffer from sexism both of which occur but less often.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Of Mice and Men tells the story of two men, George and Lennie, who seem to be uncannily paired in a society of loners. Lennie is very tall, and very muscular with massive strength, but also appears to have a major learning handicap. George is shorter, and far less strong, but has the greater intelligence of the pair. Their companionship is rare, and even though George sometimes threatens Lennie that he will walk off and leave him, George never does. George sometimes becomes frustrated with Lennie and momentarily believes he would be better of with out him, so he could stay in one place for longer and spend his “fifty bucks at the end of the month on what ever he wanted”.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Lennie also craves a parent figure, someone to care for him, and someone to one day give him something soft to touch and some rabbits to look after. The reward George has for this is hard to see, but eventually you see why they are together. Lennie represents company and security to George. There was also a promise George gave to Aunt Clara, a character that is talked about little and never seen, that he would look after Lennie, and that promise seems to mean a lot to both characters.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

At the end of the novel, George is still looking out for Lennie. Lennie never hurt anyone due to being mean or cruel, just out of not knowing his own strength and out of defence when he was afraid. George knows this. But in the society in which ‘Of Mice and Men’ is set, the penalty for a death is death, and anyone who is weak, crippled or old with no use any longer was killed. This is shown clearly when Candy’s dog, his best companion was shot. This is almost foreshadowing of what is going to happen.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

There are three pairs on the ranch, Curley and his wife, George and Lennie, and Candy and his dog. Curley’s hand is crushed by Lennie, and Lennie later kills his wife, ending in Lennie’s death. Candy’s dog is shot when the other men believe he has no more use on the ranch. After all that Candy and his dog had been through and all the years of loyal service that his supposed best friend had performed for Candy, when pressured into a decision, he chose to defy his loyal companion and make the decision on when he should die. Candy later is angry that he did not kill his dog himself. George has the same belief than Candy, when he killed Lennie he seems to oppose that belief.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

George knows that in this society, when they find Lennie they will hang, bludgeon, beat and torture him to death. George does not want this tale to end in a painful death for his lifelong companion, and therefore he does not want Curley and the group of other ranch hands to find him alive, because the consequences will be far worse. George realises that the other options are to send Lennie from his side into a mental institution where he would be a danger to himself and a danger to others, or to run to the next town again, to complete the cycle once more and to have again someone else killed and to again have to run from another gang. George realises that they are both not options he is willing to try. George also realises that Lennie will one day realise that they will never have their own land, and the dream of providing for themselves will never come true.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

There will never be any rabbits to tend to and if George and Lennie remain together they will never have enough money, because they are always on the run. George did not kill Lennie out of spite, not because of his thoughtless, innocent, act had dashed George’s hopes of having a small farm. Simply because the other options were so much worse. Lennie died believing that one-day they would have their own farm, with rabbits and alfalfa and enough to live on for them both. A happy place, with the sun and the rain and no one to boss them around. Just a place where they would belong. And Lennie died believing the dream that many other men had died dreaming of.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

But there are two sides to the story, and people also believe that George should have tried to spare Lennie’s life. Due to his apparent lack of loyalty to Lennie and his selfishness he chose to take Lennie’s life. It is significant to the story how George decides to kill his friend. He does not even give Lennie a chance to get away from his pursuers but instead he shoots him in the back of the head just like what had been done to Candy’s dog.