Section Five Flashcards
“F-t J f”
“Four-taloned Jackson fork”
The opening description of the barn creates a sense of danger.
L: “Y w b e.”
Lennie: “You wasn’t big enough”
Lennie has killed the puppy but blames it not himself. The things he kills in the novel get progressively bigger - nothing ever proves big enough.
C w: “I c t t n b C. E h g m.”
Curley’s wife: “I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad.”
Curley’s wife has learned her place.
C w: “I c m s o m.’ S s d, ‘M I w y.’”
Curley’s wife: “I coulda made somethin’ of myself.’ She said darkly, ‘Maybe I will yet.’”
Although her dreams have been crushed, Curley’s wife is the eternal optimist.
C w: “H s h w g p m i t m. S I w a n.”
Curley’s wife: “He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural.”
Like lots of women at the time, Curley’s wife dreams of becoming an actress. She is so innocent that when a random man says he can help her she thinks her dream is coming true. In reality he was probably just trying to chat her up.
C w: “‘I n g t l,’ s s. ‘I a t m o l s i.”
Curley’s wife: “‘I never got that letter,’ she said. ‘I always thought my ol’ lady stole it.”
Curley’s wife’s dream is crushed. One also gets the sense that she was desperate to escape from an oppressive mother.
C w: “I d l C. H a a n f.”
Curley’s wife: “I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.”
Curley’s wife finally opens up about how she feels about Curley.
L: “O! P d d t. G b m.”
Lennie: “Oh! Please don’t do that. George’ll be mad.”
Lennie apparently doesn’t gauge the fragility of human life and instead is more concerned about what George will think of him afterwards.
“H e w w w t.”
“Her eyes were wild with terror.”
Curley’s wife is killed by Lennie.
“A p f i t t o h d a c a f o a.”
“A pigeon flew in through the open hay door and circled and flew out again.”
More cyclical imagery. Lennie has done another bad thing and now it is time for him to leave the ranch.
“T d a t a f a w a g f h f. S w v p a s, a h f w s a y.”
“The discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young.”
Once she is dead, Steinbeck shows us that she was actually just a young, innocent woman who had been poorly treated by her disrespectful husband and the people around her. She isn’t actually as evil as everyone else made her out to be.
G: “I t I k w n d h.”
George: “I think I knowed we’d never do her.”
Lennie has killed the dream. However, George now tries to say that he never really believed in the dream as much as he made out he did.
G: “I w m m a I t m f b a I s a n i s l c h. […] A t I c b a w a m a I h f b m.”
George: “I’ll work my month an’ I’ll take my fifty bucks an’ I’ll stay all night in some lousy cat house. […] An’ then I’ll come back an’ work another month an’ I’ll have fifty bucks more.”
George has become like every other ranch hand now that the dream is dead. He has given up.
G: “I a g l e h L.”
George: “I’m not gonna let ‘em hurt Lennie.”
Even though the dream is dead George still feels a certain sense of commitment to Lennie. By now he knows what he needs to do.
C: “Y a n g n, y l t.”
Candy: “You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart.”
Even after death, the men refuse to properly respect Curley’s wife.
