Of Mice and Men

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  • Created by: Faolan
  • Created on: 16-05-15 12:46

Curley's Wife

  • “I think Curley's married…a tart”. (29) Candy talks to George about her, showing that none of the men trust her
  •  “Nobody can’t blame a person for looking’”. (33) She talks to George and Lennie, showing she wants company.
  • “Jesus, what a tramp”. (33) George’s immediate impression of her.
  • “Don’t you even look at that *****…I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail-bait worse than her”. (33) George warns Lennie off her, shows how the men fear her sexuality.
  • “What the hell was she doin’?” (38) Curley looking for his wife, showing he doesn’t trust her.
  • “Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl”. (54) George is aware that she is an outsider.
  • “He spends half his time lookin’ for her, and the rest of the time she’s lookin’ for him.” (56) Whit’s description of the husband and wife relationship reveals a lack of trust and communication.
  • “Think I don’t know where they all went? Even Curley I know where they all went”. (81) She reveals her insecurity to some of the workers, she knows her husband is at a brothel
  • “If I catch any one man, and he’s alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys get together an’ you won’t talk. Jus’ nothing but mad.” (81) She reveals her loneliness and frustration to some of the workers about her inability to form proper relationships
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Curley's Wife

  • “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while?”. (82) She continues to demonstrate how alone she is.
  • “Sure I got a husban’. You all seen him. Swell guy, ain’t he?” (82) She shows that she is unhappy in her marriage
  • “I get awful lonely…I can‘t talk to nobody but Curley”. (92) She makes her feelings clear to Lennie.
  • “What’s the matter with me? Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am anyways?”. (93) Her anger at the way she is treated.
  • “I coulda made somethin’ of myself”. (93) She begins to talk about her bright past to Lennie.
  • “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes” (94) She describes her failed dream to Lennie.
  • “I don’ like Curley He ain’t a nice fella” (94) She reveals her true feelings about her husband.
  • “She struggled violently under his hands…and her eyes were wild with terror”. (96) She dies a horrible, needless death.
  • “She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young”. (98) The author describes lying dead, it is only in death that she is in peace
  • “You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart.” (101) Candy to Curley's dead wife. Even dead, she is still a target for abuse.
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Candy

  • "A guy on a ranch don't never listen nor he don't ast no questions."
  • Candy looked for help from face to face
  • The old man [Candy] squirmed uncomfortably. "Well-hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him." He said proudly, "You wouldn't think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen."
  • George half-closed his eyes. "I gotta think about that. We was always gonna do it by ourselves." Candy interrupted him, "I'd make a will an' leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, 'cause I ain't got no relatives or nothing…"
  • ‘They’ll can me purty soon. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk houses they’ll put me on the county.’
  • ‘I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.’
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Slim

  • When he had finished combing his hair he moved into the room, and he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen – page 55
  • ‘His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those simile of a temple dancer’
  • ‘there was gravity in his manner … all talk stopped when he spoke’
  • Slim looked through George and beyond him. "Ain't many guys travel around together," he mused. "I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other."
  • Slim had not moved. His calm eyes followed Lennie out of the door. "Jesus," he said. "He's jes' like a kid, ain't he."
  • "Sure, he's jes like a kid. There ain't no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he's so strong."
  • ‘He ain’t mean,’ said Slim. ‘I can tell a mean guy a mile off.’ 
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Slim

  • Candy looked helplessly at him, for Slim’s opinions were law. – page 72
  • Slim nodded. "We might," he said. "If we could keep Curley in, we might, But Curley's gonna want to shoot 'im. Curley's still mad about his hand. An' s'pose they lock him up an' strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain't no good, George."
  • "I think you got your han' caught in a machine. If you don't tell nobody what happened, we ain't going to. But you jus' tell an' try to get this guy canned and we'll tell ever'body, an' then will you get the laugh"
  • As the novel's moral centre, he okays the mercy killing: Never you mind," he says to George: "A guy got to sometimes"
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Lennie

  • “Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy *******” (4) said by George
  • “Poor *******”. (8) said by George early in the novel, showing he feels sorry for Lennie.
  • “You get in trouble. You do bad things”. (11) Lennie is reminded by George about the trouble he causes.
  • “George, you want I should go away and leave you alone?” (12) Lennie realises he is a burden to George.
  •  ‘If you don’t want me, you only jus’ got to say so, and I’ll go off in those hills right there…An’ I won’t get no mice stole from me.’
  • “He’s sure a hell of a good worker”. (23) George describes Lennie’s good qualities.
  •  “If I was a relative of yours I’d shoot myself”. (25) George reveals his frustration to Lennie.
  • “Lennie don’t know no rules”. (28) George explains Lennie’s lack of understanding.
  • “I don’t want no trouble”. (30) Lennie shows George that he is peaceful
  • “Maybe he ain’t bright, but I never saw such a worker.” (41) Slim tells George about Lennie’s efforts.
  •  “I didn’t mean no harm, George”. (45) Lennie takes one of the pups without permission. He never realises the possible consequences of his actions.
  • “Jesus, he’s jes’ like a kid”. (45) Slim’s description of Lennie.
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Lennie

  • “Slim straightened up and regarded Lennie with horror”. (67) After Lennie defends himself, the others in the ranch find him difficult to relate to.
  •  “I didn’t mean no harm, George”. (69) Lennie, after breaking Curley’s hand.
  • Lennie looked sadly up at him. ‘they was so little,’ he said apologetically. ‘ I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and they was dead.’
  • “Why do you got to get killed? I didn’t bounce you hard.” (90) Lennie talking to the pup he accidentally killed, again he is unaware of his own strength and the problems he creates.
  •  “He rocked himself back and forth in his sorrow.” (90) The author comments on Lennie’s child-like actions showing his upset that the dream may be over.
  • ‘Well, he said if I done any more bad things he ain’t gonna let me tend the rabbits.
  • “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.” (97) the death of Curley’s wife, he isn’t fully aware of the terrible nature of the situation.
  • “All the time he done bad things, but he never done one of ‘em mean.” (100) George tells Candy that Lennie can’t control what he does.
  • “Tend rabbits. You crazy *******. You ain’t fit to lick the boots of no rabbit.” (108) Lennie is hallucinating, his dreams are turning against him.
  • When he pets the mouse, it makes him feel safe and secure - but also something which would be looked down upon in society
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Curley

  • "A thin young man with a brown face, with brown eyes and a head of tightly curled hair"
  • ‘Well Curley’s pretty handy,’ the swamper said skeptically.
  •  Candy sums it up like this, "Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy."
  • "Like the boss, he wore high heeled boots"
  • "Did some time in the ring"
  • "Glove fulla vaseline" "Keeping his hand soft for his wife"
  • "Hands closed into fists"
  • "Calculating and pugnacious"
  • Come on, ya big *******. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-***** is gonna laugh at me.’
  • ‘Slashing . . . slugging’
  • "Flopped like a fish on a line" (when lennie crushes his hand)
  •  "Im gonna get him. Im going for my shotgun"
  • ‘I’ll kill the big son-of-a-***** myself’
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George

  • “God, you’re a lot of trouble… I could get along so easy and nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl”. (7) talking to Lennie about how he holds him back.
  • George’s hand remained outstretched imperiously. Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again. – page 26
  • “God a’ mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble…An’ whatta I got? I got you!” (11) telling Lennie again how he has been held back.
  • “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is”. (23) The boss doesn’t understand why George cares for Lennie.
  • “You was poking’ your big ears into our business. I don’t like nobody to get nosey”. (25) George to Candy, showing how difficult he finds it to have relationships with others.
  • George got up and went over to Lennie’s bunk and sat down on it. ‘I hate that kinda *******,’ he said. ‘I seen plenty of ‘em. Like the old guy says, Curley don’t take no chances, he always wins.’ – page 51
  •  “We gotta keep it till we get a stake…We gotta stay”. (34) George explains to Lennie why they have to remain at the ranch, even though they know it is far from ideal.
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George

  • “We kinda look after each other”. (36) George to Slim, explaining the nature of his and Lennie’s relationship.
  • “It jus’ seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart guy like you travellin’ together.” (41) Even Slim finds it difficult to understand their relationship.
  • “I ain’t got no people”. (43) George reveals his loneliness to Slim.
  • “I’m stayin’ right here. I don’t want to get mixed up in nothing.” (57) George doesn’t want to cause any trouble.
  •  They all sat still, all bemused by the beauty of the thing, each mind was popped into the future when this lovely thing should come about.’ – page 88
  • “This thing they had never really believed in was coming true.” (63) After Candy joins the group, the narrator shows us that George believes that they can really achieve their version of the American Dream.
  • “I think I knowed from the very first”. (100) George talking to Candy, reveals that he probably knew all along that their plan would never succeed.
  • The hand shook violently, but his face et and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and down again. 
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Crooks

  • “Ya see, the stable buck’s a ******”. (21) this is how Crooks is first described.
  • “They let the ****** come in that night”. (21) we see immediately that he is an outsider.
  • “Where the hell is that god-damn ******?” (30) this is how the other workers call him.
  • “Crooks’ bunk was a large box filled with straw”. (70) The narrator describes the less than glamorous living conditions.
  • “His body was bent over to the left by his crooked spine…and he had thin, pain-tightened lips”. (71) The narrator describes his physical condition.
  • “He reached for the liniment bottle. He pulled out his shirt at the back, poured a little liniment in his pink palm and, reaching around, he fell slowly to rubbing his back.” (88) The author describes the process of Crooks applying his medication, he has no one else to help him ease the pain.
  • ‘You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.’
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Crooks

  •  “I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink”. (72) Crooks explains his differences to Lennie.
  • “There ain’t a coloured man on this ranch an’ there’s jus’ one family in Soledad.” (74) Crooks is aware of his isolation.
  • ‘George can tell you screwy things, and it don’t matter. It’s just the talking. It’s just bein’ with another guy. That’s all.’
  • “A guy needs somebody- to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody…I tell ya a guy gets too lonely, an’ he gets sick”. (77) Crooks talks to Lennie about his loneliness.
  • “Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody ever gets no land”. (78) Crooks to Lennie. He is quite negative in his outlook because of all the discrimination he has suffered in his life.
  • “Guys don’t come into a coloured man’s room very much”.(79) Crooks tells the other workers of his loneliness.
  • “Well, you keep your place then, ******. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny”. (85) He is threatened by Curley’s wife.
  •  Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego – nothing to arouse either like or dislike.
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