Analysis of Of Mice and Men

Analysis Detail

From his first paragraph, John Steinbeck sets the scene in Of Mice and Men through his use of imagery as he describes the natural world as a parallel to later events in the novella."The Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green." Runs deep means strong solid foundation goes beyond. Green means young, fresh, healthy vegetation. Runs deep symbolizes George. Green symbolizes Lennie."Slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains." Strong means to have a strong foundation. Rocky means to have a shaky foundation. Mountains means obstacles. Strong symbolizes George. Rocky symbolizes Lennie. Mountains symbolize the obstacles Lennie and George will face."Under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp." Leaves lie deep means to have roots in. So crisp stands for new people coming in. Under trees means where an occurrence is. Leaves lie deep symbolizes Curley.So crisp symbolizes Lennie.Under trees symbolizes the safety that Curley feels because of the fight being where he has roots. "The limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it." Limb worn smooth means to wear something down until it breaks and smoothes. Who have sat on it means someone has pushed someone until they break.Limb worn smooth symbolizes the torture Lennie has endured because of Curley. Who have sat on it means Curley pushed Lennie until he broke. The author used detail to adequately symbolize and get his message across.

Analysis Of Point of View

The third-person objective point of view solidifies the solitary lives these men lead. "It was Saturday night. Through the open door...came the sound of moving horses, of feet stirring, of teeth champing on hay, of the rattle of halter chains."(pg. 67) This might indicate the troubles of the times and, the horses getting all worked up.This might foreshadow the events of Lennie petting Curley's wife and ending up killing her. "Crooks did not see him...on raising his eyes...a scowl came on his face." This might be because he keeps to himself and has no people friends.Crooks likes his privacy probably because he does not want to be viewed as weak and also because he is the only black person on the ranch."Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends." (pg.68) This might indicate that Lennie is lonely and wants to make friends that are people. Lennie wants friendship, this is hard for him because he hurts just about everyone he comes in contact with."Lennie was in a panic. His face contorted.She screamed then, and then Lennie's other hand closed over her mouth and nose." Lennie is in a panic due to the screaming of Curley's wife. Her reaction was to scream. Her screaming caused Lennie to use more force.Lennie would not have attacked Curley's wife most likely if she had not screamed. When she screamed that made his reaction worse."She struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she writhed free; and from under Lennie's hand came a muffled screaming." (pg. 91)This may indicate that she struggled because of the pain of the attack. Also she was panicked because of Lennie smothering her.Curley's wife struggled because pf the attack she had endured by Lennie's hand. She struggled till she got free. She screamed from under his hand to be able to try to get help. The author used the previous quotes to reflect his point of view.
Analysis of Tone

The obligation and sorrow, tones in Steinbeck's passage reflect the troubles that are faced by the main characters, Lennie and George, in the book, Of Mice and Men. The tone word number one is obligation. "No-look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie.'Cause I want you to stay with me. Trouble with mice is you always kill 'em." He paused." Tell you what I'll do, Lennie. First chance I get I'll give you a pup. Maybe you won't kill it. That'd be better than mice. And you coulc pet it harder."(pg. 13)The quote, on page 13, shows George's obligation to Lennie because George tells Lennie he wants him to stay when Lennie makes the comment that he can go to a cave leave George. Also it shows that George cares for Lennie because he explains he will get Lennie a pup instead of a mouse to pet.'George stepped close."Couldn' we may bring him in an' they'll lock him up? He's nuts, Slim. He never done this to be mean."(pg.97)The quote, on page 97, show the obligation George has for Lennie because George feels like Lennie should be locked up and not killed, for killing Curley's wife.'George shook his head again. "No," he said."I want you to stay with me here."(pg.104)The quote, on page 104, shows the obligation George has for Lennie because he tells him he wants him to stay with him when Lennie offers to leave. The second tone word is sorrow. "Oh! Please don't do none of that,"Lennie begged. "George gonna say I done a bad thing. He ain't gonna let me tend the rabbits." (pg.91)The quote, on page 91, Lennie's sorrow because 'George gonna say I done a bad thing. He realized that now that he killed Curley's wife George would not let him tend the rabbits and that made him sad."I done a real bad thing," he said."I shouldn't of did that. George'll be mad. An'... he said... an' hide in the bushes till he come. He's gonna be mad. In the brush till he come. Tha's what he said."(pg.92)The quote, on page 92, show the sorrow felt by Lennie because he seems all frazzled about the bad thing he did and thought George would be mad at him. He also kept repeating that he should hide in the bushes and that George would be mad. It is easy to tell that he feels like he will make George mad because of his killing Curley's wife. The tone words obligation and sorrow are adequately represented in the above quotes.

Analysis of Theme

We are our brother's keeper. " I wisht I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an' let you have fun."(p.11) George said this to Lennie. When he said this he suddenly had no anger and he felt ashamed of hisself. This shows how George is Lennie's keeper because he cannot stay mad at Lennie and he wants what is best for Lennie."Lennie was jus' scairt," he explained. " He didn't know what to do. I told you nobody ought to never fight him. No, I guess it was Candy I told." (p.65) This proves that George is Lennie's keeper because he is defending George. When you are someone's keeper you defend them. This all proves that we are our brother's keeper.