OMAM Test Flashcards
When was John Steinbeck born?
1902
Where was John Steinbeck born?
Salinas, California
Which university did John Steinbeck attend?
Stanford
When was Of Mice and Men published?
1937
What is Steinbeck known for in his works?
Humanizing the working class or “loser” archetype
Naturalism
Rooted in the idea of scientific determinism and threw traditional religious beliefs out of question
What happened to farm crops after WWI?
Drop in market price of farm crops
Where is the ranch in the novel?
Near Soledad
What does Carlson do throughout the novel?
- Shoot’s Candy’s dog
- Helps Curley find Lennie
What happens in Chapter 2?
- George and Lennie go to first day of job
- George warns Lennie to avoid Curley and his wife
- Carlson suggests Candy to shoot his dog
What happens in Chapter 3?
- Slim gives Lennie a puppy
- Carlson eventually convinces Candy to shoot his dog
- Curley confronts Slim about having affair with wife
- Curley starts fight with Lennie and Lennie breaks his hand
- Curley falsely claims his hand got caught in a machine
Who dies along with Curley’s wife?
Her dog
Is George and Lennie’s dream realistic?
It is not a realistic dream, and is merely designed to get them through their hard lives.
What do the hallucinations at the end symbolize?
They reflect Lennie’s insecurities regarding his belief that he is a burden on George. He fears disappointing George and losing him from all the trouble he is causing him.
This also fundamentally comes back down to George believing he is a failure, and not worthy of anything.
Describe George and Lennie’s “dream.”
George and Lennie’s dream is to gather enough money someday to buy their own house and land to farm. Lennie also expressed the desire to take care of the rabbits and other animals.
After Curley’s wife leaves the barn, Crooks changes his mind about joining George and Lennie on the farm. Why?
He realized his dream would never come true because he was black and as a result felt powerless in a society that demonized him, especially after the encounter with Curley’s wife (a white woman), who disparaged him aggressively.
Does George make the right decision regarding Lennie in the final “scene” of the novel?
I believe George did make the correct choice killing Lennie at the end of the novel because Lennie would have suffered a worse fate from Curley shooting him in the guts, one of the cruelest manners of death (it’s not even done to animals).
Using quotations/ideas from the poem, explain the thematic connection between Robert Burns’ poem and Steinbeck’s novel. Explain how this relates to Naturalism.
Of Mice and Men and To a Mouse share similarities because main themes of their stories are about survival of the fittest and laws beyond our control, which are the essence of naturalism.
In “To a Mouse” the narrator says: “But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane, in proving firesight many be vain. The best laid scheme o’Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley.” This is a prime example of struggle with forces beyond our control, because even the best laid plan of the mouse can go awry because of something like the narrator running over the mouse’s house.
In Of Mice and Men, it is similar with the situation of Lennie who is not able to live alone because of his mental disability and so relies on forces which are outside of his control.
What happens in Chapter 4?
- Lennie goes into Crook’s room and they discuss why no one likes him
- Candy comes in and talks to Lennie about plans to buy farmhouse
- Crooks proposes to help
- Curley’s wife comes in and berates and threatens Crooks
- Crooks changes his mind about helping Candy, George, and Lennie with their house
What happens in Chapter 5?
- Curley’s wife comes in and talks to Lennie
- Curley’s wife admits that she doesn’t like her husband
- She says she wants to become an actress
- Curley’s wife lets Lennie touch her hair
- Lennie doesn’t let go and ends up killing her by breaking her neck
- Candy finds body and tells George to let Lennie escape
- Curley finds his wife dead
- Curley rounds up his men to go kill Lennie
- George comes with them and tries to plead with them saying he’s mentally insane and didn’t mean to do it
What happens in Chapter 6?
- Lennie goes to the Brush near the Salinas river where George told him to go
- Lennie feels guilty of causing troubles for George
- Lennie starts hallucinating about Aunt Clara and a giant rabbit
- George finds Lennie and tells him to imagine his dream house
- George shoots Lennie with Carlson’s gun in the head
- Slim reassures Lennie that he had to kill him
Characterization of Curley’s wife
- Young, flirtatious, pretty
- Considered a “tramp”
- Lonely
Characterization of Curley
- Aggressive, mean, rude, possessive over wife
- Wears high heel boots
Characterization of Candy
- Very emotional at times, friendly
- Feels useless beyond work
- Has a strong attachment to his dog
