Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck
Table of Contents
Plot Summary
The beginning of the story sees George and Lennie, two migrant workers in California, being dropped off by a bus several miles from their destination where they are supposed to start working. George and Lennie are complete opposites. George is a man that is smaller in stature with sharp features, and is smart, clever, and full of wit. Lennie, on the other hand, is a large, lumbering man who is mentally slow and not able to take appropriate care of himself. The two are very tired and thirsty, and so they decide to camp overnight by a small pool in a clearing. The two men have somewhat of an imbalanced relationship, as Lennie is highly dependent on George for guidance and protection. However, both men are truly loyal and devoted to each other.
Lennie loves to stroke soft things, and George realizes that Lennie has been carrying a dead mouse around in his pocket because he likes to feel its fur. The mouse is dead because Lennie accidentally killed it, which is a commonplace occurrence that results from a combination of Lennie’s lack of reasoning ability and his tremendous strength. George fears that the mouse may carry a disease that could be passed onto Lennie, and so George throws the mouse away out of anger and disgust. At this point, George expresses emphatically how his life would be so much easier and better if he did not have the responsibility of having to care for Lennie. However, though it is apparent that even though he complains about Lennie, there is true mutual devotion between the two men. This is especially evident when George describes the idyllic life he envisions, which includes him and George having their own land that they can farm on, where Lennie can spend his time taking care of rabbits. George describes their dream farm to Lennie as their night camping near the pool ends.
The two men finally reach their destination the next day after traveling several miles. Since George is concerned about the kind of first impression Lennie will give the boss, George tells Lennie into leaving all of the talking up to him. The boss finds it curious...
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