OMAM quotes characters

Question 1

Steinbeck presents Candy as a victim of ageism, which derives from a culture of prioritising utility over compassion.

Answer 1

“I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs” - Candy

“Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk houses they’ll put me on the county.” - Candy

Question 2

Steinbeck presents Candy as a character who is openly misogynistic and racist on the ranch, specifically towards the characters of Crooks and Curley’s Wife.

Answer 2

“the stable buck’s a n–.” - Candy to George and Lennie

“Well, that glove’s fulla Vaseline.” - Candy

Question 3

Steinbeck presents Candy as a character who is attracted to the dream with means of having a secure life to fall back on.

Answer 3

“This thing they had never really believed in was coming true.” - Narrator

“Candy went on excitedly.” - Narrator when Candy speaks about the dream

Question 4

Steinbeck presents Candy as a victim of ableism on the ranch.

Answer 4

“He scratched the stump of his wrist nervously.” - Narrator describing Candy

“I ain’t much good with on’y one hand.” - Candy

Question 5

Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife as a victim of casual sexism and unequal opportunities for women.

Answer 5

“You give me a good whore house every time” - George to the ranch hands

“You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley.” - Curley’s Wife

Question 6

Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife as a character with high aspirations of becoming a Hollywood actress.

Answer 6

“He says he was gonna put me in the movies.” - Curley’s Wife

“coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me” - Curley’s Wife

Question 7

Steinbeck also presents Curley’s Wife as a character who seeks out greater weakness and vulnerability in others.

Answer 7

“I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” - Curley’s Wife to Crooks

“talkin’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs” - Curley’s Wife to Lennie and Crooks

Question 8

Curley’s Wife admits to feelings of vulnerability and dissatisfaction as well as loneliness on the ranch.

Answer 8

“I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella”. - Curley’s Wife

“I never get to talk to anybody. I get awful lonely.” - Curley’s Wife

Question 9

Steinbeck presents Lennie as being blindly devoted to George and their vision of the farm.

Answer 9

“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you”

“He ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits.”

Question 10

Lennie is also shown to possess incredible physical strength, making him an asset on the ranch but also a danger to others.

Answer 10

“He can put up a four hundred pound bale”

“his fist lost in Lennie’s paw”

Question 11

Lennie earns the reader’s sympathy through Steinbeck’s presentation of his helplessness and innocence.

Answer 11

“He’s awright. Just ain’t bright.”

“stroked it clear from one end to the other”

Question 12

Steinbeck uses animal imagery to convey Lennie’s main characteristics.

Answer 12

“Dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags its paws.”

“like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master”

Question 13

Throughout the novella, Steinbeck shows that Slim is a highly skilled mule driver.

Answer 13

“capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules”

“as delicate in their action as a temple dancer” - narrator describing Slim’s hands

Question 14

Slim is respected by every worker on the ranch.

Answer 14

“all talk stopped when he spoke”

“his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love.”

Question 15

Slim understands the nature of the bond between George and Lennie.

Answer 15

“Ain’t many guys travel around together”

“I can see Lennie ain’t a bit mean.”

Question 16

Slim understands that, sometimes, acts of apparent cruelty are actually acts of kindness.

Answer 16

“I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I get old an’ a cripple”

“You hadda, George. I swear you hadda”

Question 17

Steinbeck presents George as a devoted friend who chooses companionship over short-term satisfaction.

Answer 17

‘With us it ain’t like that. We got a future.’ - George

“If i was alone i could live so easy” - George

Question 18

Steinbeck presents George as someone who is suspicious of women, with the tendency to objectify them.

Answer 18

“I seen ‘em poison before” - George

“You give me a good whore house every time” - George

Question 19

Steinbeck also presents George as a short-tempered man who is capable of cruelty towards others.

Answer 19

“The hell with the rabbits” - George to Lennie

“I turns to Lennie, and says, ‘Jump in’. And he jumps” - George

Question 20

Steinbeck presents George as a character who is enticed by the American dream, but is also doubtful of anyone’s ability to truly fulfil it.

Answer 20

“I bet we could swing her” - George

“I think I knowed we’d never do her.” - George

Question 21

In Steinbeck’s novella, Crooks is presented as a victim of casual racism and enforced racial segregation.

Answer 21

“I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” - Curley’s Wife to Crooks

“Guys don’t come into a coloured man’s room very much.” - Crooks to Lennie

Question 22

Crooks is presented as a lonely individual made bitter by his enforced isolation on the ranch.

Answer 22

“S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ‘cause you was black” - Crooks to Lennie

“You got no rights comin’ in a coloured man’s room” - Crooks to Lennie

Question 23

Crooks is presented as one of the most intelligent characters on the ranch, who has a collection of books and a copy of the 1905 California Civil Code.

Answer 23

“A tattered dictionary […] battered magazines and a few dirty books” - Narrator

“A mauled copy of the California Civil Code for 1905.”- Narrator

Question 24

Despite his cynicism about the American Dream, Crooks briefly considers the idea of living self-sufficiently and free from societal restrictions.

Answer 24

“I ain’t so crippled I can’t work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to.” - Crooks

“Seems like ever’ guy got land in his head” - Crooks