Of Mice And Men

Two men emerge from the path along the Salinas River that runs a few miles south of Soledad, California. Traveling to a nearby farm for work, they were let off by the bus driver several miles away. The two men walk in a single file path down to a deep pool near the river. Both men, George Milton and Lennie Small, wear denim trousers and coats. George is small and quick, dark of face with restless eyes and strong, sharp features. Every part of him is defined. Lennie, who walks behind him, is an enormous man with wide, sloping shoulders. Lennie drinks long gulps from the pool, and George admonishes him, telling him that he will get sick again, for the water may be dirty. George warns him that he should never drink water that isn't running. Lennie imitates the way that George wears his hat. Lennie, who is mentally deficient, asks George where they are going, and George in turn scolds him for forgetting. Lennie claims that he remembers about the rabbits, the only part of their plan that he can ever remember. George notices that Lennie has his hands in his pockets, and asks what he has. It is a dead mouse, that Lennie kept to pet with his thumb as they walked. George explains to Lennie that they are going to work on a ranch like the one in Weed from which they came, and tells Lennie not to speak when they get to the ranch, for their boss will think that Lennie is insane. He also warns him not to do the things that caused them to be run out of Weed. George makes Lennie hand over the dead mouse, and tells him that he might get him a live mouse if he can take care of it. Lennie remembers that a woman (whom George identifies as his Aunt Clara) would give mice to him, but George reminds Lennie that he always killed them. They eat cans of beans for dinner, and Lennie tells George that he likes them with ketchup. George, angered at what he perceives to be Lennie's complaint, tells Lennie that without him he could do whatever he wanted, but Lennie gets him fired from every job they take. They were run out of their previous job when Lennie wanted to feel a girl's dress, and she screamed, accusing Lennie of attempting rape. Lennie feebly apologizes. George tells him that at the first chance he gets, he will get Lennie a puppy, which he will find harder to kill than a mouse. Lennie asks George to tell him about the rabbits. George tells him the story which he has told Lennie many times: men like George and Lennie that work on ranches are the loneliest in the world, with no family and no home, but they have each other. Someday they're going to raise enough money to have a small farm. They will live off the fat of the land and have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch. George makes Lennie promise that he will not say a word, and tells him that if there is any trouble like last time, he should hide in the brush until George comes for him.

Analysis:

Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men deals with the plight of migrant laborers in California during the Great Depression, with the focus on two random migrant workers, George and Lennie. The first chapter sharply establishes the relationship between the two primary characters. George is by necessity a rational realist who must care for the simplistic and child-like Lennie. George consistently scolds and reprimands Lennie for his actions, while Lennie strives to please and placate George.

The arguments between the two characters reveal a great deal about each of them. George is careful and controlled; he formulates a plan for every situation and acts to prevent any dire occurrence. His careful planning stems primarily from past experience; Steinbeck implies that Lennie has placed George into so many precarious situations that he must now consider every possible tragedy that might occur. Although George and Lennie are similar in age, George serves as a parental figure. He guides the simplistic Lennie through almost every situation, supplying the common sense that Lennie lacks. Yet in this parental role George is weary and often dissatisfied. He quickly tires of Lennie's constant questions, having likely answered them many times before, and harshly dismisses Lennie when he behaves oddly. George, like an overtaxed parent of a small child, has reached the point where diplomatic behavior is useless and thus forgoes tact when dealing with Lennie. Within George there is a core of regret. He realizes that he has given up the life of an unattached man and its relative ease to care for Lennie, as well as the numerous opportunities he has lost because he cares for his friend.

However, if George realizes what he has given up for Lennie, he nevertheless judges the merits of his travels with Lennie to be greater than the solitude of an aimless man. George admits to Lennie that his situation is far superior than that of the lonely migrant workers, for he has a companion who cares about him and whom he can care about. Furthermore, George's sharp rationality operates concurrently with a sense of idealism and hope. George retains hope for a middle-class life; the speech that he recites to Lennie about owning a small farm together remains palpable for George, despite the hard circumstances that he now faces.

Lennie, in contrast, demonstrates none of the despair and rationality that marks George, partially because his mental disability limits his ability to formulate broad and complex plans or ideas. Significantly, while George has a detailed picture of the farm that he hopes to have, Lennie can only remember one detail of this plan, the rabbits. Despite his large stature, Lennie is the archetypal gentle giant, who cares for small animals and can focus only on simple pleasures such as ketchup. It is Lennie's innocence that makes him dangerous rather than any malicious intent. He is unable to control his massive strength, frequently killing mice when he tries to play with them. He operates on the basis of his desires rather than on any conception of propriety. He grabbed the woman's dress at their previous job not to harm her, but rather because he wanted to feel her soft dress.

The first chapter foreshadows many of the events of the novel. George warns Lennie several times to remain silent when they meet the boss at their next job, a certain indication that Lennie will disobey George's order. Steinbeck establishes that George and Lennie move from job to job because Lennie behaves foolishly, a pattern that the novel will certainly continue. George's plan for Lennie to hide in the brush indicates that the two men may run into trouble once again. Also, Lennie's inability to physically control himself will prove an important plot point, as he moves from exerting his strength on small mice to actual persons. This foreshadowing is compounded by the recent calamity that George and Lennie