Of Mice and Men
Notes Wednesday 13/11/2019
Before starting:
Author is known for realistic portrayal of how people spoke.
The atmosphere he creates is typical of that of the American west.
We get different layers of the relationship between Lennie and George. Towards the end we
get a deeper layer. George really cares for Lennie. Complexity of their relationship is
portrayed very well. Lennie was a more likeable character.
Lennie was killed out of love. Emphasize on George’s courage. He did it for his friend, not
himself. It was a self-sacrificing thing.
The ending compounds the realism. A happy ending would feel like a fantasy. A happy ending
would not have had such an emotional impact on the readers.
Author creates complex characters. We feel resentment towards George but he was
compassionate. Slim is a very likeable character. Curly is an unlikeable character. He is there
to be disliked. Curley’s wife isn’t very likeable but we feel pity towards her. She is more
complex than Curley’s wife. She had no name. Maybe because women were oppressed in
that time. Women were never a person individually.
Background of the author (ppt)
Best known for tragic work. Great depression trilogy. Of Mice and Men is one of them. The
Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden are the other two. The last two don’t contain the same
characters. You can read them individually.
Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in 1962 (for lifetime achievement). Nobel Prize committee
publishes letter explaining why an author was picked.
Protagonists are often ordinary people caught up in events they cannot control. Theme of
faith comes into play here. Feeling of inevitability and tension. Idea of ordinary people being
trapped in society and not being able to influence outcome of their own lives. Injustice is
another big theme. Steinbeck was good at observing social systems and applying them in his
work.
Works are known for its realism. There are elements of humor. Keen social perception:
identifying injustice in social systems and criticizes those.
There was criticism because some thought he didn’t deserve it. That opinion has changed
throughout the decades. They felt it was too ordinary. Now he is considered as one of the
greatest American authors.
Acceptance speech:
People who have been defeated in life keep going. “You’re going to fail but it’s not about
when you fail but about how you fail.” Crucial ➔ belief in perfectibility of men. It is possible
Notes Wednesday 13/11/2019
Before starting:
Author is known for realistic portrayal of how people spoke.
The atmosphere he creates is typical of that of the American west.
We get different layers of the relationship between Lennie and George. Towards the end we
get a deeper layer. George really cares for Lennie. Complexity of their relationship is
portrayed very well. Lennie was a more likeable character.
Lennie was killed out of love. Emphasize on George’s courage. He did it for his friend, not
himself. It was a self-sacrificing thing.
The ending compounds the realism. A happy ending would feel like a fantasy. A happy ending
would not have had such an emotional impact on the readers.
Author creates complex characters. We feel resentment towards George but he was
compassionate. Slim is a very likeable character. Curly is an unlikeable character. He is there
to be disliked. Curley’s wife isn’t very likeable but we feel pity towards her. She is more
complex than Curley’s wife. She had no name. Maybe because women were oppressed in
that time. Women were never a person individually.
Background of the author (ppt)
Best known for tragic work. Great depression trilogy. Of Mice and Men is one of them. The
Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden are the other two. The last two don’t contain the same
characters. You can read them individually.
Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in 1962 (for lifetime achievement). Nobel Prize committee
publishes letter explaining why an author was picked.
Protagonists are often ordinary people caught up in events they cannot control. Theme of
faith comes into play here. Feeling of inevitability and tension. Idea of ordinary people being
trapped in society and not being able to influence outcome of their own lives. Injustice is
another big theme. Steinbeck was good at observing social systems and applying them in his
work.
Works are known for its realism. There are elements of humor. Keen social perception:
identifying injustice in social systems and criticizes those.
There was criticism because some thought he didn’t deserve it. That opinion has changed
throughout the decades. They felt it was too ordinary. Now he is considered as one of the
greatest American authors.
Acceptance speech:
People who have been defeated in life keep going. “You’re going to fail but it’s not about
when you fail but about how you fail.” Crucial ➔ belief in perfectibility of men. It is possible
