Of mice and men- John Steinbeck

CHAPTER 1

In chapter one of 'of mice and men' we meet the two main characters, George and Lennie. George is described as a small and strong and Lennie is described as a 'huge man, shapeless face' and 'sloping sholders'. We also get information about George and Lennie's dream, that they are goning to 'live off the fatta the land' the also say that they have eachother, 'cause i got you to look after me and you got me to look after you' this is their 'American Dream' that many people during that time had. 

Also in this chapter, we see that George has alot of responsibility over Lennie because he is more childlike. 'think id let you carry your own work card' 'you aint gonna get in no trouble cause if you do, i wont let you tend the rabbits' 'good boy' 'you do bad things and i got to get you out'.  These quotes show this responsibility that George has over Lennie. 

steinbeck also refers to nature alot in this chapter and he uses it throughout the whole of the book as it shows that peace and violence (which is displayed in animals) can change very quickly. 

Cyclical quote: Start 'ash pile'  ----- end: 'the red light dimmed on the coals which suggests there was a fire at the start and end of the chapter.

Chapter 2 

In Chapter 2 of OM&M we meet all the main characters, candy, the boss, curley, Curley's wife, and slim. 

At the beginning of the chapter there is a description of the bunk house which is described as 'long rectangular building' 'walls were whitewashed and the floor unpainted'.  it is plain, functional and impersonal where men come and go leaving no personal mark. 

George becomes worried that the last occupier of the bed left it infested with lice, candy assures  George that the man that was in the bed last was very clean, and that he was a very clean person, this also shows that George is a very clean person. 

Also we see alot of racism and sexism, we find out that whenever the boss is angry he blames it on crooks the stable buck. 'the boss gives him hell when hes mad.' 'stable buck's a ******'. language like this was acceptable to use at the time beacause racism was wide spread at the time. The men also refer to Curley's wife as '*****' 'tramp' '*********' 'rat trap'  'a girl' which are offensive words to use toward women however in the 1930's women were treated badly by men and like racism, sexism was wide spread.