Quotation Flashcards
“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.”
Speaker: Lennie
Significance: First, this does show us how strong of a friendship George and Lennie have. They are willing to stick together and lean on each other. This was very rare during this time period and very valuable to their overall happiness. It also shows us that they were the lucky ones because, during this time, men were lovely. They moved around so much and had little to call their own. It is easier to face hardship and obstacles when you have someone by your side.
“This is the thing: People pay a lot of money to live like that. To live in the present tense.”
Speaker: Christina Lee
Significance: We can have this desire to not have to think about the past mistakes or trauma that we experienced, the same goes for the decisions that we will have to make in the future. Many of us crave the ability to just live in the moment, to focus on the people who are around us and not worry about anything else. However, when it is forcibly and suddenly taken away from you, you feel differently. You realize that this can be a gift.
A conversation is a slippery creature. A conversation is a risk… that’s why conversations are so difficult: You risk changing yourself, admitting you were wrong, coming to appreciate the other person’s perspective.
Speaker: Narrator of “first kiss, first lesson”
Significance: Having an honest and truthful conversation with someone is risky. There is always the chance that things will not work out and the situation will worsen due to this conversation. you are putting yourself in a situation where you may need to take the blame for something or explain to someone why they messed up. This involves asking someone to see things from your point of view or doing the same for them. It is not something that is ever going to be easy but it is something that is absolutely necessary for growth, healing and progress.
“And it’d be our own, an’ nobody could can us. . . . An’ if a fren’ come along, why we’d have an extra bunk, an’ we’d say, ‘Why don’t you spen’ the night?′ An’ . . . he would.”
Speaker: George
Significance: This shows their desire for freedom(american dream) they want nothing more than to be able to make their own decisions and have their own space. They want to live by their own rules and not have to answer to other people. Also important to note that this entire dream is what motivates them throughout the book. It is what makes all of the moving/ difficulties worthwhile because they believe that in the end, they will get the money and make a home for themselves.
“The best-laid schemes of Mice and Men / go oft awry”.
Speaker: Robert Burn (to a Mouse)
Significance: Even when we have everything figured out, things do not always go the way that we want it to. As much as we want to think that we are superior to animals, we do have this reality in common.
“Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?”
Speaker: Carlson
Significance: They are completely unable to see the magnitude of what George has just done. He killed his best friend and this is something that will plague him for the rest of his life. However, people who are used to loneliness and who do not understand meaningful friendship, don’t see how this is such a big deal that George has lost someone. It is just another person gone.
“I felt like I was seeing the houses and the trees and the world for the first time.”
Speaker: Narrator of First Kiss First Lesson
Significance: Young love has a huge impact on you and has a lot of influence. It was after she had her first kiss with Jon that she felt like she was truly living and seeing things for the first time. It is a reality that when you ‘fall in love’ with someone, everything changes around you and this can happen even at a younger age.
“…if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush… Hide in the brush till I come for you.”
Speaker: George
Significance: This speaks to how George fights to give Lennie a better life and always tries to find what to protect him. This shows that one of George’s top priorities is making sure that Lennie is safe. He also takes responsibility for himself to clean up any of Lennie’s messes.
