Of Mice and Men quotes

"We kinda look after each other"

"If I was alone I could live so easy" He could be happier alone but he is caring and keeps his promises so stays with Lennie

"Get 'im Lennie" sense of justice, will not allow Lennie to be beaten up

Slim:"That aint no good George" George:"I know, i know" Lennie could not be locked up so George was heroic to kill him

"Sure he's jes'like a kid. There ain't no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he's so strong"

"I didn't want no trouble" Doesn't realise own strength

"Me an' him goes ever' place together" Lennie is totally dependant on George

"Why do you got to get killed? You ain't so little as mice. I didn't bounce you hard" blames the death on the pup because it is so small, does not accept responsibility

"George'll be mad" No moral judgement, things are bad and good depending on what George thinks

"Nice fella too. Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him. The boss gives hum hell when he's mad" Crooks is proud and independant and intelligent but none of these features will stop the boss giving him hell

"Crooks was a proud, aloof man...his eyes...seemed to glitter with intensity...he had thin, pain tightened lips" Crooks life is dominated by pain- the pain of being the only black man and his disablement

"I ain't wanted in the bun house....Cause i'm black" Crooks is a victum of racial prejudice

"You got no rights comin' in a colored man's room" Crooks has enough independance and pride to stand up to Curley's wife

"She had full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages" She is described as a "tart" and "jailbailt" by the ranch hands

"Think i'm gonna stay in that two by four house and listen how Curley's gonna lead with his left twice then bring the ol' right across?" She is very lonely, trapped in a loveless marriage

"You know what i can do to you if you open your trap?" She can be vindictive and she will use the power of her status, despite this being totally unfair.

"He says he was gonna put me in the movies" Curley'swife has her dream destroyed too

"She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young" Curley's wife is never really evil. Her punishment outweighs any crimes she has committed

"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" Curley seems set on proving that he is big in all but his size. His success as am amateur boxer is an obsession so every person he meets is seen as a possible opponent especially Lennie who is obviously bigger and better than Curley who sees him as a challenge

"Curley says he's keeping that hand soft for his wife" Makes obscene allusions to his wife and goes to the brothel on Saturday nights, a liar

"I don't like Curley. He ain't a nice fella" Curley only sees the world through his eyes and is therefore extremely selfish. His inability to control or understand his wife brings about Lennie's death. He is just as much to blame as his wife or Lennie, but he will never or accept this.

Candy is a "Tall, stoop shouldered old man" who has lost his right hand. Right from the start Candy's age and his physical weakness is emphasised

Candy is also described through his dog "a drag footed sheep dog, grey of muzzle and with pale, blind old eyes"  Candy's relationship with his dog is like George and Lennie's relationship, not something rational but an antidote to lonliness. Candy, rather like his dog is old, infirm and weak. One of the strongest statements in OMAM is that such people are worthy of our respect and attention

He is "a huge man, shapeless of face ... and he walked... the way a bear drags his paws. His arms ... hung loosely" Simple and animal like

"An' i won't get no mice stole from me" Childlike and innocent but he knows how to make George feel guilty about his actions

"Come on George. Tell me. Please, George. Like you dont before" Delights in dreams like a child does

"Lennie can put up more grain alone than most pairs can" He is incredibly strong and George sees it as an asset in working

"He was so scairt he couldn't let go of that dress. And he's so damn strong, you know" Lennie holds onto things when he is scared

George is "small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features" This suggests intelligence, a strong personality but unhappiness

"What the hell kind of bed you giving us anyways. We dont want no pants rabbits" Clean living and healthy

"Go to sleep, Lennie" father figure and caring

"I ain't nothing to scream about" he is modest

"After a long time they get mean" frightened of being lonely

"You keep away from Curley, Lennie" good judge of character and senses danger

"Jerkline skinner"

He is "godlike" and "moved with majesty"

"There was gravity in his manner...all talk stopped when he spoke"

"Understanding beyond thought"

"His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer"

"Crooks reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego- nothing to arouse either like or dislike" The futlity of Crook's stand shows how little power a black person has in the world of the novel

"Nobody gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land" Crooks has a double burden, he is not only a black man in a society that immediately discriminates against non-whites, but is also partly disabled in a society that fails to provide for him