Daniel Yang

Daniel Yang
Of Mice and Men
John Steinback
Realistic Fiction
Just Right
Just Finished 107


1. The ending of the book made me very sad and I wish that it had ended happily. Some books I wouldn't care if it ended sadly or happily, since it wouldn't change much, but this one pulled me in by the time I had read the first 20 or so pages. After Lennie had killed another small animal, a puppy this time, Curley's wife came in and started flirting with Lennie. Lennie says he shouldn't have anything to do with her but she just complains about why everyone thinks she's so bad. Afterwards, Curley's wife noticed that Lennie was trying to cover up a dead puppy. Lennie explained that he was playing with the dog and then it seemed like it was gonna bite him, so he hit it then it died. He also explained that he likes soft things so he likes petting soft animals: like the dog. Curley's wife said that she likes soft things too, she likes stroking her hair sometimes because it's soft. She asked Lennie if he wanted to touch it and he did. But then he started pulling too hard so Curley's wife started to scream. She wouldn't stop causing Lennie got scared and kept pulling harder and told her to stop. He got angry and accidentally broke her neck while trying to get her to stop. The other men found out and went on a hunt for him, George was devastated and knew that Curley was going to do terrible things to Lennie, so it would be better if he just killed him himself He went to the place that which he told Lennie to go whenever he got in trouble, and he was there. George then made Lennie imagine a happy place and shot him with Carlson's gun.

2. I thought the book started to catch my attention maybe after 20 pages or somewhere around that. I feel sad because if Curley's wife had not flirted with Lennie, she wouldn't have been accidentally killed by Lennie. If Lennie hadn't accidentally killed her, he, George, and Candy would still be on their way to the American dream. Even if Lennie had died, I was hoping that George and Candy would at least replace Lennie with Slim. It sounds harsh but that doesn't change my mind. Slim is a smart guy and could've contributed greatly to George and Candy's group. There was a lot of foreshadowing in the book that prepared me for the ending but not enough. I felt that Slim understood George that most which made it hard to choose which one of them I like most. The characters were well built and kept me reading which was one of the reasons I like the book. The only thing that I would change in this book is to end with George, Lennie, Candy, and Slim with George and Lennie's American Dream. I included Slim because he seems like a very logical and understanding person.

3. The theme of this book is "The Will to Survive" because George and Lennie keep having to find new jobs in order to reach their American dream, which is to get their own house with a farm to raise money and have each other as a family. Everyone wants the American dream so they all try to make money and survive in order to do so. No one in the story, except maybe the boss, already has a house to live in with money and a family. For example, Curley may have money and a house but his own wife doesn't even like him. They never spend any time with each other and Curley doesn't even trust her. He is constantly searching around for her and thinks she is running off and flirting with the other men, which she is. Curley may have his dad, the boss, but they didn't spend much time together in the story. Also, Candy may have a lot of money but he doesn't have a family anymore since his dog was shot due to the fact that it was too old. He doesn't have a home either so he wanted to stay at the house George and Lennie were talking about. This way he could have a family (George and Lennie), a house, and money. Everyone wants this so they have to make money and survive to get it.

4. It was hard to depict a favorite character since I liked how Lennie was very kind and how George seemed like he was very logical just like Slim. But in the end, I have to choose Slim. He seems like he has the most experience in everything and is very logical. I feel that he was the one who understood George and Lennie and their friendship the most. But it seemed like he always stayed back unless he was needed or if he was just there (like when he was chatting with George about Lennie). I wish that George had kept his American dream going with Slim and maybe Candy since he has the money needed to achieve the dream. George and Slim would make a good team because they both seem like very knowledgable people who don't make many mistakes. To me, Slim was the "savior" who comforted George after he shot Lennie and understood everyone the most. He was like a friend to everyone but they didn't know.

5. My least favorite character is Curley. He's just a small guy in the group with a short temper and has nothing but money. In other words he's like a spoiled kid with anger issues. He assaulted Lennie just because he was doing what he does best, being happy. Curley hates tall people just because he's small. That's like discrimination, you shouldn't dislike someone because they're different (or better than you at something like being tall). I also didn't like his wife either because she made the whole story end sadly. If Curley and his wife wasn't in the story, then it could've ended ended happily with George, Lennie, and Candy living in their American dream. I wish the story could've ended with them chatting in their new house with the animals and river outside that which they talked about. But Curley had to ruin it all with his short temper and his wife's selfishness.

6. The ending ended how I expected but not how I wanted it to. The reason I knew how it was going to end was because by the time Lennie started stroking Curley's wife's hair, I remembered how everything had ended when Lennie started petting something soft. But I didn't know that Lennie was going to die by George's hand since Candy hadn't killed his dog when it was going to be put down. The book was full of foreshadowing so it basically prepared you for the ending. It helped because if the ending was unexpected, it would have made me dislike the book more since I would've thought it would be a happy ending the whole entire time I was reading. I'm glad that Curley didn't kill Lennie or worse, torture him, because I actually thought that might happen, and was scared to find out. For some reason I thought that Curley might die while searching for him because maybe he might trip on something and fall in a fast flowing river or something similar to that. I don't know why, maybe it's just because I don't like him. It's sad that Lennie died but good that it was for the better and by George's hand.