OMAM themes Flashcards
Violence - George
“So you forgot that awready, did you?… Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy bastard!”
loss of patience and verbal abuse
“You gonna give me that mouse or do I have to sock you?”
uses threats of violence to get Lennie to comply
Violence - Curley’s wife
“I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny”
Violence - Lennie
“I’d pet ‘em… I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead” (mice)
“I made like I was gonna smack him… An’ then he was dead.” (puppy)
‘The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line’ + ‘her body flopped like a fish’
Violence - Curley
“His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists”
“I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts.”
‘Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier.’ - a type of dog known for its fearless and relentless pursuit
Violence - Curley and Lennie’s fight
“You God damn punk… You’re yella as a frog belly”
- Carlson
“Come on, ya big bastard. Get up on your feet.”
- Curley
‘He slashed at Lennie… smashed down his nose… slugging him in the face’
- Curley physically harming Lennie
Relationship - Lennie and George
“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you”
- Lennie
“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world… but not us”
- George
Relationship is out of the ordinary and used as an escape from loneliness that consumed American society at the time
“We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.”
- George
“Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy.”
- The Boss
Their bond is so rare that the boss thinks George only takes care of Lennie because there’s something in it for him
Relationship - general observations
“I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone… They don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean.”
- George to Slim
“Ain’t many guys travel around together… Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”
- Slim
Relationship - Curley’s wife
“I get lonely… I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad.”
- Curley’s wife to Lennie
Longs for friendship and someone to confide in
“I’m glad you bust up Curley a little bit… Sometimes I’d like to bust him myself.”
