Of Mice and Men: Justifying George's Actions and Analyzing the Characters' Relationships, Lecture notes of English Literature

Download Of Mice and Men: Justifying George's Actions and Analyzing the Characters' Relationships and more Lecture notes English Literature in PDF only on Docsity! Vanthan ENG 227: Of Mice and Men 1. Discuss George’s actions at the end of the novel. How can we justify what he does to Lennie? How can we condemn it? In the last moments from Of Mice and Men, we can justify what George did because if he didn't kill Lennie, Curley would have. At best, Lennie would be sent to prison which, for Lennie, would be a fate worse than death. If Curley had gotten to Lennie first, his death would have been cold and violent. Realizing this, George knew that he would give Lennie a more peaceful death. This is why he tells Lennie about their future (the farm, the rabbits, etc.) one last time, so Lennie has a heartwarming peaceful image before he dies. Lennie is innocent enough but he has such potential for destruction. Note that they end up at the pool by the river which is where they began. The implication is that the cycle repeats. They will find new jobs, Lennie will be pressured into some predicament, someone might get hurt, and Lennie and George will once again retreat and regroup. This is another reason we can justify what George does. The cycle doesn't seem to break. Even under George's supervision, Lennie gets into some trouble and hurts someone. It is difficult to condemn what George does because of the reasons stated. However, one criticism might be that George, although doing what he thought was a humane thing, was feeling frustration. Part of George's motivation could be selfishness. Had he not been saddled with Lennie, he may have had that farm by now. But, the argument justifying what George did is stronger than an argument condemning him. Just before he shoots Lennie, George says, "No, Lennie. I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know." George realizes that Lennie will face a worse fate with Curley and he realizes that even if they escaped again, it is likely that (despite his innocence) Lennie would unintentionally do something destructive again. 2. Why did George take so much trouble for Lennie? George simply loves Lennie. Steinbeck paints a picture of a very lonely world where men travel alone from place to place looking for work. Loneliness pervades this novel. Lennie is the guy who gives George a sense of purpose and companionship even though he causes trouble for him. 3. Why does the novel of mice and men begin and end at the pond? The pond probably represents the simplicity of life without interference from the 'outside world' (the opportunities, temptations, dangers, etc. of dealing with others who are different than we are). 4. Why does candy say that he should have shot his own dog? Candy realises that he should have taken responsibility for his friend and made the humane gesture to shoot the dog himself. He regrets the fact that the dog's last moments were with Carlson, who did not care for him, rather than together. Vanthan He feels that he let his friend down, and that perhaps he should have made the decision earlier. The dog was old, blind and had no teeth. Its quality of life had been limited for some time. 5. Was Curley's Wife to blame for Lennie's death in 'Of Mice and Men'? In a way yes but there were other people like George, Curley and Lennie himself that were to blame for his death. Curley was the one who made his wife act the way she did by treating her like an object for so long and never really listening to her. George knew what Lennie was capable of from what happened in Weed and so shouldn't of left him on the ranch alone whilst everyone else, other than Curley's wife, played horseshoeing. However if Lennie had of done what George had told him to do, leave her well alone, then he wouldn't of been anywhere near her and he wouldn't of killed her and so wouldn't of been killed himself. 6. What is the meaning of the title of the book ''Of Mice and Men''? Of Mice and Men can be interpreted in any ways. The title comes from Robert Burns's poem, "To a Mouse," in the line, "The best laid plans of mice and men often fo awry." The most common interpretation I've heard is that mice refers to weak people, such as Lennie, Crooks, and Candy, and men refers to strong people, like George and Slim. In all essence, the book is a story of weak and strong people, and follows the quote from the poem exactly. 7. Do migrant workers have any options for a better life in the book Of Mice and Men? In the novel Of Mice and Men, the migrant workers were doomed to a life of wandering and toil in which they are never able to reap the fruits of their labor. They were poor and homeless with no other options. 8. What is Steinbeck saying about dreams? Should we all just give up and stop dreaming? 9. What is the relationship between candys dogs death and lennies death? The death of Candy's dog foreshadows Lennie's death. There are lots of parallels: the dog is a faithful friend to Candy and Candy doesn't want to lose him. It's the others who urge him. He gives in when they convince him that otherwise the dog will only suffer. Later he admits to George that he should have shot the dog himself. That's what George then does to Lennie. 10. Why does George have to give up the idea of the dream farm once Lennie kills Curley’s wife? George had to give up the dream of the farm because once Lennie killed Curly's wife, he realized that that dream wasn't real. He always told it to George to make him happy and maybe to even persuade him to not do bad things, but once he realized that Lennie would never learn, he knew it was gone. I think he knew it was gone because he knew he had to kill Lennie and that once Lennie was gone so was there dream.