English "Of Mice And Men" Flashcards
Physical Characteristics of George
Small Quick Dark of Face Restless eyes Sharp, strong features Strong hands Slender arms Thin and Bony nose
Setting of the story
Soledad, California
Salinas river
Taliban Mountains
Ranch
Physical Characteristics of Lennie
Huge man Shapeless face Large pale eyes Wide sloping shoulders Walked heavily; dragging his feet Arms hung loosely at his side
Why do George and Lennie have to walk to the ranch
The bus driver didn’t stop at the ranch gate because he was too lazy to pull up
Why didn’t George want Lennie to drink the water
The water looked scummy and it wasn’t running; you aren’t supposed to drink running water
What did Lennie hide in his pocket, and why does he carry it around
He hid a dead mouse in his pocket and would pet it with his thumb while they walked along
What instructions did George give Lennie about meeting with the ranch boss?
George said that he would give the boss the tickets and Lennie wouldn’t say a word the whole time
Why did George and Lennie have to leave weed?
Lennie felt a girl’s dress and she got scared and yelled for help so Lennie just held on tighter and she thought he was raping her they had to hide
What lady had once given Lennie pet mice? What happened to her?
Lennie’s Aunt Clara would always give him pet mice and she died
What are the things George says he could do if he didn’t have Lennie with him
He could get a job and work with no trouble. He could take his 50 dollars at the end of the month and buy whatever he wanted. He could eat at any place and eat any place.
What does Lennie ask George to tell him about repeatedly?
Lennie always asks George to tell him about the rabbits
How are George and Lennie different than other guys that work on ranches, according to George?
They have a future. They have someone to talk to that cares about them. They don’t have to sit in some bar because they have someplace else to go. They look after and they have each other.
What did George dream of for their future?
“Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together, and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs an’ we’re gonna live off the fatta the lan’.”
Why do George and Lennie travel together
They have to look after each other and stick together. They don’t want to be alone and they don’t want to be lonely.
If Lennie gets into trouble again, where is he supposed to go?
He is supposed to hide in the brush until George comes get him
When was the boss expecting George and Lennie
The night before they got to the ranch
What is the name of the old man, and what is he missing
His name is Candy and he is missing a hand
Why does the boss wear high-heeled boots and spurs?
To prove he is not a laboring man
What are George and Lennie’s full names
George Milton and Lennie Small
What lies did George tell the boss about Lennie, and why?
He says that Lennie is his cousin, and that he was kicked in the head by a horse. He says that during their last job in Weed, they were digging a cesspool.
What are two things a guy on a ranch doesn’t do?
A guy on a ranch never listens and never asks questions
Who is Curley, and what is he like as a person
The boss’s son
He is very demanding and he likes things to go his way
What does the old man think of Curley’s wife
He thinks that she is a tart
Describe the appearance of Slim
He is tall with long back hair and “he moved with the majesty of royalty and gravity of manner”
What did Carlson want to do with Candy’s dog? Why?
Carlson wanted Candy to shoot his dog to put it out of its misery because the dog smelled and he couldn’t get any sleep with the dog in the same room as him.
At the end of chapter two, what is George afraid he might do
He’s scared that he’s gonna “tangle” with Curley
What comments did Slim make about Lennie’s first day of work
He may not be bright, but he’s a very hard worker — nearly killed his partner
Explain how George treated Lennie at first. How did Lennie react?
George used to play jokes on Lennie, but Lennie wouldn’t react or do anything about it
What incident made George decide to change the way he treated Lennie?
George told Lennie to jump into the Sacramento River, and he did, but he couldn’t swim and almost drowned and George saved him
Why did George decide to tell Slim so much and himself and Lennie
He feels that he can trust Slim
Why did George insist that Lennie return the pup to the barn
He didn’t want Lennie to kill it since it was just born. The pup needs its mother for warmth and milk
Describe the condition of Candy’s dog
Very stinky, no teeth, half blind, and has rheumatism
Who was Crooks, and why did he come to the bunkhouse door to ask for Slim
Crooks is the stable buck and he wanted to let Slim know that the tar was ready for his mule’s foot
Where were the ranch hands planning to go on Saturday night
Old Susy’s Place — a brothel
What does George mean when he says “Me and Lennie’s rollin’ up a stake”?
Idiom; meaning to save money
Describe the place George dreamed of owning, and the kind of life he wanted to have
Ten acres, little windmill, a little shack and a chicken run, a kitchen, orchard, cherries, apples, peaches, ‘cots, nuts, a few berries, place for alpha, plenty of water to flood it, and a pig pin.
Explain how Candy wanted to help them get the farm
He wants to pitch in and go in their deal
How much money do they need so they can buy the farm
$600
How much money could Candy give them
$350
How much money had George and Lennie saved
$10
What was Candy really sorry for about his dog
He was sorry that he hadn’t shot the dog himself
Why did Curley come into the bunkhouse
He was looking for his wife (as always)
Describe the fight between Lennie and Curley
Curley punched Lennie in the nose and Lennie started bleeding
Lennie tried to get away but Curley punched him in the stomach
George told Lennie to get him
Lennie grabbed Curley’s hand and started squeezing and “the next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line[…]”
What did Slim suggest to Curley after the fight
He wanted Curley to tell everyone that his hand was caught in a machine
Explain the reason why, according to George, Lennie crushed Curley’s hand
Lennie was scared and didn’t know when to stop
George told him to “get him” and Lennie always listens to George
How did Crooks react when Lennie came into his room
At first he didn’t see him, but once he did an angry expression came across his face
In what ways did Crooks tease Lennie
He kept calling his nuts when he would talk about the rabbits and he kept “assumin’” that George was hurt
Who else came into Crook’s room
Candy
What did Crooks think about George and Lennie’s dream plan
He thought it was never gonna happen; he had seen the same thing wanted by other guys and it never happened
Why didn’t Curley’s wife want to stay in the house?
All she hears about is what he’s going to do to the guys he doesn’t like; the ol’ one-two
In what ways did she threaten Crooks
“You know what I could do to you if you open your trap?”
She said that she could have him lynched so fast it wasn’t even funny
Explain what happened to Lennie’s puppy
He play smacked him after the pup play bit him and he smacked too hard so the pup died
What did Lennie expect George to say about the puppy, and why did he get angry?
He thought George wasn’t gonna let him tend the rabbits and he got mad because the pup was killed so easily just like a mouse
Why didn’t Lennie want to talk to Curley’s wife
George told Lennie that he can’t tend to the rabbits if Lennie talks to her or anything
What things does Curley’s wife tell Lennie that she has not told anyone before
She tells him her back story about how she was gonna be in the moves and that she doesn’t even like Curley
List, in order, the events that led to the death of Curley’s wife
She told him to feel her hair
She thought he would mess it up so she started yelling and pulling away
He grabbed on even tighter to her hair
He grabbed her mouth to keep her quiet
She kept screaming because she was afraid
Lennie broke her neck
In what way did Curley’s wife look different in death
The meanness and the planning and the ache for attention were all gone from her face
She was very pretty and simple; her face was sweet and young
Who finds the body, and what does he do
Candy finds the body so he goes and he gets George
Why did George go back to the bunkhouse and pretend he didn’t know about Curley’s wife
He doesn’t want the other guys to think he was in on it
Why does Candy object when George suggest they find Lennie and lock him up
He thinks that Curley will have him lynched and that locking up a guy like him won’t do him no good
What excuse does Curley give for wanting to shoot Lennie instead of capturing him
He has Carlson’s Luger so they had to defend themsleves; he was a murderer and a stealer
Describe Lennie’s imaginary conversations
They are him thinking that he should’ve been better to George and how George is gonna be mad at him
What does George realize about himself and his dreams
George realizes that he was being foolish and that his dreams are never going to come true
Why does George ask Lennie to look across the river
He asks him to look so he won’t see him holding the gun
What does Lennie want George to talk to him about
He wants George to talk about the place they’re gonna get and the rabbits
How does the story end
Slim tries to comfort George and they walk off to get a drink
What event foreshadows the death of Curley’s wife
Whenever Lennie kills the pup and she sees him with it
What event foreshadows the death of Lennie
When Carlson shoots Candy’s dog
Who was the author of “To A Mouse” the poem that the title of “Of Mice And Men” comes from
Robert Burns
What era did this story take place in
1930s
Great Depression
Dust Bowl era
The Great Depression
Began Black Tuesday in 1929
Stock market crashed
Hundreds of thousands of people out of work
Lasted until WWII
Causes of the Great Depression
Unequal distribution of wealth
High tariffs and war debts
Over production in industry and agriculture
Stock market crash and financial panic
Effects of the Great Depression
Widespread hunger Poverty Unemployment Worldwide economic crisis Democratic victory in 1932 election FDR's New Deal
Itinerant Farm Workers
Moved from farm to farm to work at harvest
Huge farms depended upon this labor
Hated to travel alone so they sometimes did it in pairs
Often homeless and starving while they waited for crops to ripen
Constantly moving
Paid poorly
Often mistreated
John Steinbeck
Born in 1902 in California
Itinerant farm worker after dropping out of Stanford University
Witnesses many workers being mistreated
Won the NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE
based Lennie on an actual worker he saw kill a ranch foreman who had stuck a pitchfork through the stomach of his traveling buddy
Teleological Thinking
“Is thinking”
Seeing and accepting life as the way things are
OMAM is meant to be read with this
Point of View
OMNISCIENT pov is used in omam
“all-seeing” point of view
Themes
Loneliness
Hopes and dreams
Dignity and pride
Morality
Loneliness
All main characters suffer from this
Hopes and Dreams
George and Lennie’s place of their own
Curley’s wife and being a movie star
Candy not staying on the farm forever
Dignity and pride
Lennie’s pride in George
Curley has little in himself
Crooks’ makes him inaccessible to others
Curley’s wife hopes to become someone some day
Morality
George’s sense of morality makes him regret the pranks he played on Lennie
Lennie’s makes him know whenever he does a “bad thing”
Candy’s makes him regret not shooting his own dog
George’s makes him take care of Lennie so other’s wouldn’t hurt him
Slim’s makes him comfort George after he had to shoot Lennie
