Of Mice and Men Quotations

Of Mice and Men Quotes Hopes and Dreams An live off the fatta the lan, Lennie sh extincted. An have rabbits Wed jus live there. Wed pass away there. Wed have our own place where we belonged and non sleep in no bunk house They fell into silence. They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they had neer really confided in was coming true. Nobody n forever gets to heaven, and nobody never gets no land. It skillful in their head. Crooks why Id come add a hand Well just forget it, said crooks. I didnt mean it. Just foolin. Wouldn indigence to go no place handle that. George said softl, - I think I knowed from the very first.I think I knowed wed never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much i got to thinking maybe we would. Friendship VS Isolationism George Guys like us, that work on counterpanees, be the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family - With us it aint like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that authorizes a dump about us. Lennie broke in But not us An why? Because because I gotyou to look afterwards me, and you got me to look after you, and thats why confect Well-hell I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. He was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen. tighten Aint many guys travel around together, he mused. I dont know why. Maybe everbody in the whole damn world is scared of each other Crooks A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guys goes nuts if he aint got nobody 1. Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong no place. . . . With us it aint like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We dont have to sit in no banding room blowin in our jack jus because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn.But not us. Toward the end of region 1, before George and Lennie reach the ranch, they camp for the night in a beautiful clearing and Ge orge assures Lennie of their special relationship. In this passage, George explains their friendship, which forms the heart of the work. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck idealizes male friendships, suggesting that they are the closely dignified and satisfying way to overcome the loneliness that pervades the world. As a self-declared watchdog of society, Steinbeck set out to expose and chronicle the circumstances that cause human beings suffering.Here, George relates that loneliness is responsible for much of that suffering, a theory supported by many of the jiffyary characters. Later in the narrative, Candy, Crooks, and Curleys wife all give moving speeches about their loneliness and disappointments in sustenance. Human beings, the book suggests, are at their best when they have someone else to look to for guidance and protection. George reminds Lennie that they are passing lucky to have each other since most men do not enjoy this comfort, especially men like George and Lennie, wh o exist on the margins of society.Their stay put is made to seem especially rare and precious since the majority of the world does not at a lower placestand or appreciate it. At the end, when Lennie accidentally kills Curleys wife, Candy does not register the tragedy of Lennies impending death. Instead, he asks if he and George can still purchase the farm without Lennie. In this environment, in which human life is utterly disposable, only Slim recognizes that the loss of such a beautiful and powerful friendship should be mourned. 2. Spose they was a carnival or a circus come to town, or a ball game, or any damn thing. Old Candy nodded in appreciation of the idea. Wed just go to her, George said. We wouldnt ask nobody if we could. Jus say, Well go to her, an we would. Jus milk the cow and sling some grain to the chickens an go to her. In the middle of Section 3, George describes their cud of the farm to Candy. At first, when Candy overhears George and Lennie discussing the farm they intend to buy, George is guarded, put forwarding the ageing man to mind his own business. However, as soon as Candy offers up his life savings for a set down payment on the property, Georges vision of the farm becomes even more real.Described in rustic but lyrical language, the farm is the fuel that keeps the men going. Life is hard for the men on the ranch and yields few rewards, but George, Lennie, and now Candy go on because they believe that one day they will own their own place. The appeal of this dream rests in the freedom it symbolizes, its escape from the backbreaking work and spirit-breaking will of others. It provides comfort from psychological and even physical turmoil, most obviously for Lennie. For instance, after Curley beats him, Lennie returns to the idea of tending his rabbits to soothe his pain.Under their current circumstances, the men must toil to satisfy the party boss or his son, Curley, but they dream of a time when their work will be easy and determ ined by themselves only. Georges words describe a timeless, typically American dream of liberty, self-reliance, and the ability to pursue happiness. 3. A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe readin books or thinkin or ingurgitate like that. Sometimes he gets thinkin, an he got nothing to tell him whats so an what aint so. Maybe if he sees somethin, he dont know whether its right or not. He cant turn to some other guy and ast him if he sees it too.He cant tell. He got nothing to measure by. I seen things out here. I wasnt drunk. I dont know if I was asleep. If some guy was with me, he could tell me I was asleep, an then it would be all right. But I jus dont know. Crooks speaks these words to Lennie in Section 4, on the night that Lennie visits Crooks in his room. The old stable-hand admits to the very loneliness that George describes in the opening pages of the novella. As a black man with a physical handicap, Crooks is forced to live on the periphery of ranch life. He is not eve n allowed to enter the white mens bunkhouse, or join them in a game of cards.His resentment typically comes out through his bitter, caustic wit, but in this passage he displays a sad, touching vulnerability. Crookss desire for a friend by whom to measure things echoes Georges earlier description of the life of a migrant worker. Because these men feel such loneliness, it is not surprising that the promise of a farm of their own and a life filled with strong, brotherly bonds holds such allure. 4. I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an that same damn thing in their heads . . . very damn one of ems got a little piece of land in his head. An never a graven image damn one of em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Everbody wants a little piece of lan. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. In this passage from Section 4, after Lennie shares with Crooks his plan to buy a farm with George and raise rabbits, Crooks tries to puncture Lennies hopes. He relates that hundreds of men have passed through the ranch, all of them with dreams similar to Lennies. Not one of them, he underlines with bitterness, ever manages to make that dream come true.Crooks injects the picture with a sense of reality, reminding the reader, if not the childlike Lennie, that the dream of a farm is, after all, only a dream. This moment establishes Crookss character, showing how a living of loneliness and oppression can manifest as cruelty. It also furthers Steinbecks disturbing observation that those who have strength and power in the world are not the only ones responsible for oppression. As Crooks shows, even those who are oppressed seek out and attack those who are even weaker than they. 5.A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and dick lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically. The rich imagery with which Steinbeck begins Section 6, the powerful conclusion, evokes the novellas dominant themes. After killing Curleys wife, Lennie returns to the clearing that he and George designate, at the beginning of the book, as a meeting place should they be separated or run into trouble.Here Steinbeck describes much of the natural splendor as revealed in the opening pages of the work. The images of the valley and mountains, the climbing sun, and the shaded pool suggest a natural paradise, like the tend of Eden. The readers sense of return to a paradise of security and comfort is furthered by the knowledge that George and Lennie have claimed this space as a fail-safe haven, a place to which they can return in times of trouble. This paradise, however, is lost. The snake sliding through the water recalls the conclusion of the story of Eden, in which the forces of evil appeared as a snake and caused humanitys fall from grace.Steinbeck is a master at symbolism, and here he skillfully employs both the snake and heron to emphasize the predatory nature of the world and to foreshadow Lennies imminent death. The snake that glides through the waters without harm at the beginning of the story is now unsuspectingly snatched from the world of the living. Soon, Lennies life will be taken from him, and he will be just as unsuspecting as the snake when the utmost blow is delivered. Themes Friendship -George and Lennie -Candy and his dog -Saves them from loneliness -Makes sacrifices George shoots Lennie, so that Curley will not have a hance to torture him, even though he doesnt want to. -Loyalty George stuck by Lennie through all his problems and did what he though was best for Lennie what he killed Curleys Wife. I aint mad Friendship that he forms with Slim after Lennies death me an youll go in an get a drink. Loneliness Curl eys wife sexism -Is given a bad reputation -Sexuality jailbait/ buns Crooks color/ racial discrimination -Isolated he does not live in the bunk house with the rest of the ranch hands and is not allowed in unless under special circumstances ChristmasCandy His best friend was a dog -His do was shot, he was completely alone George is lonely even though he had Lennie. This is because he is not mentally compatible with George. Also since the relationship is seen as a master-pet or parent-child relationship Lennie can be more of a responsibility. However, friendship and fellowship plays a big role in their bond. Slim is seen as God-like so the reader does not see slim effected by loneliness forefinger Curley has power because he is the bosss son.Curleys Wife also has a lot of power over the ranch hands because of her sexuality and because she is Curleys Wife. I could have you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny. Crooks gift lighted with pleasure in his torture a nigge r, an a dum-dum, and a lousy old sheep bindle stiffs Wearing high heeled boots symbolizes power. This does not apply to Slim. He does not have to Wear high heeled boots yet he has authority at the ranch and has natural respect, it does not have to be forced unlike with Curley. discrepancy Sex Discrimination against Curleys Wife I aint want nothing to go with you George says this to Curleys Wife. Pg. 93 racial discrimination against Crooks A colored man got to have some rights even if he dont like em Inverted discrimination In a second George stood framed in the door, and he looked disapprovingly about. What are you doin in Crooks room. You hadnt ought to be in here. Nature Lennie is compared to animals. The actions/ movements of nature show promise/danger One end of the great barn was piled high with new hay and over the pile hung the four-taloned Jackson fork suspended from its pulley.The hay came down like a mountain slope to the other end of the barn, and there was a level p lace yet unfilled with the new crop. At the sides the feeding racks were visible, and between the slats the heads of horses could be seen. Fallacy personification but with nature. This reflects the mood of the scene. Pg. 104 natures response to Curleys Wifes death. But the barn was live now. The horses stamped and snorted, and they chew the straw of their bedding and the clashed the chains of their halters. Pathetic Fallacy Horses reflect the danger.