Of Mice and Men Analysis

Analysis of 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." In this sentence, green represents sickly, jealousy, and new life. Runs deep represents strong and lots of vegetation and life within. Green represents Lennie because he is not a smart as George and runs deep represents George because he is strong and has life within him that he uses to help Lennie.

"The slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains." Rocky means rough, treacherous, or unstable and mountains means hardships and struggles. George is mentally strong and Lennie is physically strong. They both have to use their characteristics to make it through this rocky, mountainous journey they are going to come to.

"Under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp." Trees and leaves lie deep would mean a safe place to hide. The trees and leaves would be your shield from the world. In the story, that is where George told Lennie to hide if there was any trouble.

"A path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway." The path beaten hard means a journey that many have taken. Boys, in this case, means shy or not knowing of and tramps mean rude or seductive. The path beaten hard by many would represent the instances in which Curley's wife would try and talk to the men. The men would tell her to leave because she was just trouble, but she would never listen. The boy represents Lennie and the tramp of course is Curley's wife.

"The limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it." The limb is worn means a path or journey that many have tried, but is useless now because the journey is far away from their grasp. The journey in the story would be that all the men want to own a piece of land, but many do not have the money for the land. Many have talked of having land, but none have actually gained any.

John Steinbeck described what happened throughout the story at the very beginning of the story through paralleling.

Analysis of Point of View

The third-person point of view shows how much Candy looks up to Slim.

"Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal." Candy is worried and troubled. He is anxious for Slim to say something so the men do not kill the dog. Slim is wise and more mature. Candy needs Slim's guidance and back up so that the other guys will not kill his dog. Candy is hopeless and is looking for someone to be on his side and say that the men should not kill his dog. Since Slim is law, Candy thinks that if Slim is on his side then the men will back off and not kill his old dog.

"...And Slim gave him none." Slim was avoiding Candy and he was not going to be the outlet to Candy's problem. Slim was escaping Candy's sorrow so that he would not have to be the way out. He did not want to be the guy to say no. If he had said no, then the other guys might have given him trouble and might have been angry with him.

These quotes are good examples of how Candy looks for Slim's opinion and help, and how Candy respects him more than anyone else on the farm.

Analysis of Tone

In Of Mice and Men, the tones of happiness and sorrow reflect George's mood throughout the book.

"George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again." (pg. 105) George is about to kill Lennie, but before he does, Lennie asks George to tell him about the land they are going to have. George does and when he tells Lennie he is over come with heartache. George knows he has to kill Lennie, but doesn't want to because then Lennie will never get to tend the rabbits like he always wants to. Even though George is telling of the land the both of them have always wanted, he feels his friends pain because Lennie will never get to see the land.

"They sat by the fire and filled their mouths with beans and chewed mightily." (pg.15) George just got done telling Lennie about the land they are going to own and all the good food and nice animals they are going to take care of. They are both delighted and when they sit down to eat, they even chew their food proudly.

Steinbeck use of changing tones makes Of Mice and Men a very complex and deep book.

Theme

Am I my brother's keeper? In Of Mice and Men, this is the question I am faced to answer. With brother meaning man kind and my fellow neighbors, I think that I am my brother's keeper.

I am my brother's keeper because in the point of view analysis Candy is looking for Slim's help on whether or not the guys should kill the old dog. In a way, Candy is considering Slim as a big brother that Candy is looking to for help or advice.

Slim is like the top dog at the farm and is looked up to by all. Candy is more helpless than him. Slim is law so Candy thinks he is the one to look up to. He is looking after everyone on the farm and giving them advice or help.

We have a responsibility to look after the helpless. Even though we might not know who they are, we still should show them guidance and help them.