Review Quote
An evocative, beautifully rendered portraits of "outsiders" struggling to understand their own unique places in the world.
Clinging to each other in their loneliness and alienation, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie dream, as drifters will, of a place to call their own. But after they come to work on a ranch in the Salinas Valley their hopes, like "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men," begin to go awry.
"A thriller, a gripping tale ... that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick."
The New York Times
According to the American Libraries Association, in 1993, the Mingus, Ariz. Union High School challenged the choice of Of Mice and Men as an appropriate English curriculum assignment because of "profane language, moral statement, treatment of the retarded, and the violent ending."
The Putnam County, Tenn. School Superintendent pulled the same book from a classroom a year later "due to the language in it." He said, "We just can't have this kind of book being taught."
The Loganville, Ga. High School (1994) also challenged its "vulgar language throughout." Herbert N. Foerstel lists Of Mice and Men as the U.S.'s second most frequently banned book inthe 1990s.
Find out about other banned books at this site.
SourceThis information was obtained from the Steinbeck web site maintained by Scott Simkins' at The University of Southern Mississippi.
John Steinbeck and the writing of
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men was originally called Something That Happened. When Steinbeck first thought of the idea for the book he intended it to be for children. Steinbeck told a friend that he was experimenting with a new 'dramatic form'.
In May 1936 he had a written manuscript - but his puppy (a setter called Toby) ate it! This left him with two months work to do over again.
Steinbeck got up at dawn every morning to write, at his oak desk in his small workroom. As he approached the end of a book, he would grow impatient and excited, pressing to the finish and sleeping in the same room as the manuscript. He said of the book:
"It is an experiment and I don't know how successful."
After months of intense work, the novel was finished by the second week in August and sent off to his agent, Elizabeth Otis. Steinbeck said:
"I guess we'll have to pull in our horns financially - I don't expect the little book, Of Mice and Men to make any money."
Shortly before it was published, Of Mice and Men was chosen by the 'Book-of-the-Month' Club, guaranteeing it a large audience and big sales. Steinbeck found the news "gratifying but also frightening". The book was a big success, it was published in early February 1937 and by mid February had sold 117,000 copies.
"That's a hell of a lot of books" said Steinbeck. It leapt into the bestseller lists, and Steinbeck was suddenly famous. He was now a public person - and had to go to New York where there were parties in his honour, but his shyness and need for privacy made this difficult for him. When he finally got away for a well-earned holiday in Europe, Steinbeck wrote in a letter:
"I just need to get away from being John Steinbeck for a little while."
As Of Mice and Men was originally conceived as a play in novella form, it was easily convertible to the stage, and it was not long before Steinbeck was engaged by George S. Kaufman, the famous Broadway playwright and director, to produce a version for the footlights. The play was a hit, running for 207 performances. it was later to become the basis for not one, but two films.
John Steinbeck became a Nobel Prize winner a few years before his death in 1968. Since its beginnings, over 50 years ago, Of Mice and Men has become a permanent fixture of American literature.
Of Mice and Men Main Characters
George Milton: small, quick, dark of face and eyes, restless
Lennie Small: huge, shapeless, pale eyes, slow moving
Candy: old swamper, missing one hand
Whitey: previous bunkhouse occupant, overly clean
The Boss: owner of a ranch below Soledad
Crooks: negro stable buck, had a back injury
Smitty: fought with Crooks at earlier Christmas party
Curley: Boss' son, short, once a welterweight boxer
Slim: jerkline skinner, local authority
Carlson (Carl): a ranchhand
Curley's wife: a tart, tease
Whit: a young laborer at the ranch
Bill Tenner: former pea cultivator operator at the ranch
Susy: owns a house in town; two-fifty a go
Clara: owns another house; three bucks
Al Wilts: deputy sheriff in Soledad
Aunt Clara: Lennie's dead aunt, from his Auburn childhood
SourceThis information was obtained from the Steinbeck web site maintained by Ed Stephan.
Of Mice and Men Chapter Summary
Chapter 1:
Hot Thursday late afternoon. George and Lennie spend the night by the Salinas River, a few miles south of Soledad. They plan to start work the next day and dream of a future farm where Lennie can tend rabbits.
Chapter 2:
Friday morning at the bunkhouse. George and Lennie sign up to buck barley. Curley tries to pick a fight with Lennie. Candy tells George Curley's wife is a tart. George reminds Lennie where to hide if there's trouble. They meet Curley's wife, Slim and Carlson. Lennie wants one of Slim's dog Lulu's pups.
Chapter 3:
Friday evening, George tells Slim Lennie grabbed a red-dressed girl in Weed. Lennie gets a pup. Carlson shoots Candy's old dog with his Luger. Slim goes to the barn to treat a horse. While the rest go to see if Slim's with Curley or Curley's wife, Candy commits his $350 to George and Lennie's $600 dream. When everyone returns, Curley beats on Lennie until George tells Lennie to "get him." Lennie crushes Curley's hand. Slim orders Curley to say is was a machine accident.
Chapter 4:
Saturday night at Crook's room in the barn. All but Candy and Lennie go to town. Lennie drops in on Crooks who philosophizes about companionship. Candy drops by and talks of their dreams. Curley's wife shows up and insults them all. Candy brags of their ranch. She infers that Lennie is the machine which got Curley. She threatens Crooks with a lynching. George arrives and all leaveCrooks' room.
Chapter 5:
Sunday afternoon. While the rest play horseshoes, Lenny kills his puppy in the barn. Curley's wife shows up. Lennie explains his fondness for soft things, and she encourages him to stroke her hair. When she wants him to stop he breaks her neck out of fear. Candy finds her and brings George. When the men find out Curley goes for his shotgun. Carlson goes for his Luger, but it's missing and he assumes Lennie took it. Whit is sent to Soledad for Al Wilt. Candy stays with he body while all go after Lennie.
Chapter 6:
Late afternoon. Lennie comes to the river. His dead Aunt Clara appears and scolds him. A huge imaginary rabbit tells him George will leave him. George shows up and reassures Lennie. While they talk of their dream, George puts the Luger to the base of Lennie's skull and fires. When they see Lennie everyone assumes George took the gun from him and shot him. Slim says "You hadda, George," and takes him for a drink.
SourceThis information was obtained from the Steinbeck web site maintained by Ed Stephan.
Wee sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an chase thee,
Wi murdering pattle!
I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An fellow mortal!
I doubt na whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen icker in a thrave
'S a sma request;
I'll get a blessin wi the lave,
An never miss't!
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
Its silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An naething, now, to big a new ane,
O foggage green!
An bleak December's win's ensuin,
Baith snell an keen!
Thou saw the fields laid bare an waste,
An weary winter comin fast,
An cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro thy cell.
That wee bit heap o leaves and stibble,
Has cost thee monie a wearie nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble
But house or hald,
To thole the winter's sleety dribble,
An cranreuch cauld!
But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes o mice and men
Gang aft agley,
An lea'e us nought but grief an pain,
For promis'd joy!
Still thou art blest, compar'd wi me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An forward, tho I canna see,
I guess an fear!
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
"To a Mouse, On Turning Up Her Nest With the Plough", November, 1785
SourceThis information was obtained from the web site maintained by the San Jose State University Steinbeck Center.
His Works
