Isobel Morrison

Isobel Morrison
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
Realistic Fiction
Just Right
Finished


1.  The ending of the book surprised me very much.  I knew Lennie was going to be killed but I didn't think George was going to shoot him himself.  Lennie does bad things that he doesn't have control over.  For example when Curley's wife let Lennie feel her hair because he liked soft things it only lead to bad things.  Lennie killed Curley's wife and he knew that he was going to get in trouble with George and George wasn't going to let him tend the rabbits.  The same thing goes for when Lennie killed his puppy.  He was going to hide it and not tell George just so he could tend the rabbits, the thing he wanted most badly.  George immediately thought this was Lennie with know question when he saw the dead dog and the dead wife on the ground covered with hay.  George knows that Curley will go find Lennie and shoot him himself so before he does that George goes and finds Lennie.  They talk about their farm and how well Lennie will tend the rabbits and just the comfort and relief of owning a farm.  As George eases Lennie into a state of content he takes Carlson's Luger and shoots him right in the back of the head.

2.  I didn't really enjoy reading Of Mice and Men.  It wasn't the kind of book that intrigued me, it wasn't one of the books that you never wanted to put down.  I think that because there was a lot of unnecessary scenes in the book and the plot overall was just unusual.  Although I think Steinbeck did a good job writing it in terms of literature, I just wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.  As I was reading the book I realized that there was no big problem or obstacle George and Lennie had to overcome as well as there was no protagonist or antagonist.  I believe that the reader doesn't have anything that they learned or the was no real meaning or message to this book.

3.  I think there are many different themes in this book and one of those many is isolation.  One of the biggest things that isolates Lennie from everybody else is his mental disability.  He doesn't do anything with the guys because they never want him around because they automatically think he will mess everything or at least something up.  George usually tells him to stay somewhere and not speak to anyone because George knows that something will go wrong and Lennie will be in trouble with him.  The only person Lennie really talks to is George.  Curley's wife is isolated because Curley doesn't want her to talk to any other guys because she might flirt with them.  She flirts with people because Curley never gives her enough attention or spends time with her.  He is always with the guys or just never wants to be around her.  Crooks is isolated because of his race.  He is not allowed to go out with all the guys/workers.  Crooks can't play cards either also nobody ever really socializes with him because of his race and because of that he chooses to keep himself isolated.  Candy is also isolated from the guys/workers because of his old age.  Also because he is unable to do the things the other men do because he only has one hand to work with.

4.  My favorite character in the book was Lennie.  He was my favorite character because he was so unpredictable and you never knew what his next move would be.  At one point in the book Lennie stopped by Crooks and tried to make friends with him eve know during the time period of the book whites and blacks were not treated equally.  But, Lennie did it anyways.  Even know Lennie did many bad things I still think he had a big heart, especially for George.  He would always keep George in mind and he was so kind to him, he also would listen to everything George told him to do.   I always wanted him to succeed and have George be proud of him and to finally have George trust him. Even though this would have been hard to do because of Lennie's metal disability I always wanting Lennie to gain George's trust back.

5.  My least favorite character in the story was Curley.  He had a small temper and all he cared about was money not even his wife.  Curley assaulted Lennie because he was just being happy,  I have grown to realize that Curley does not like anybody with even the slightest bit of happiness.  Curley knew that Lennie had disablities but still chose to pick on him.  He would always take advantage of him and would never treat him like the other guys.  Again going back to the theme Curley was the biggest reason why Curley's wife was isolated from everyone.  He didn't want her talking to anyone because he wanted her all to himself.  His meanness made everyone start to not like him and made everyone realize he was a very rude short guys who discriminated and hated against anyone who was tall (Lennie).


6.  The ending of this book was not expected by most people.  I thought that George would go find Lennie before Curley did and they would go somewhere and hide.  Hide from the people that were coming to shoot Lennie and start their farm with rabbits.  I would have never thought that George himself would shoot Lennie.     I also think one of main reasons George killed Lennie was because he was the one who had the biggest connection with him throughout the book.