Worksheet Chapter 6 Of Mice and Man

 
1. Read p. 112 (beginning) – p. 113 l. 5) What happens to the first snake? The second
snake?
What is the significance of this opening scene about the little snake and the heron?
How does it relate to the rest of the novel?

2. Did you expect George to shoot Lennie?

Do you agree with George’s decision?
 
3. Does anyone realize that George planned to shoot Lennie?
 
4. The following is the poem by Robert Burns where the title of the novel has been taken
from. See if you can make sense of it.
To a Mouse
BY ROBERT BURNS
On Turning her up in her Nest, with the Plough, November 1785.
Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie,
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickerin brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee
Wi’ murd’ring pattle!

I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion

Has broken Nature’s social union,
An’ justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An’ fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;

What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave
’S a sma’ request:
I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave,
An’ never miss ’t!

Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!

It’s silly wa’s the win’s are strewin!
An’ naething, now, to big a new ane,
O’ foggage green!
An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin,
Baith snell an’ keen!
 Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste,
An’ weary Winter comin fast,
An’ cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro’ thy cell.

That wee-bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble

Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou’s turn’d out, for a’ thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the Winter’s sleety dribble,
An’ cranreuch cauld!

But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,

In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!

The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!

https://www.rcsdk12.org/cms/lib/NY01001156/Centricity/Domain/3732/to-a-mouse-
translation.pdf

What does the title indicate about the novel? What does it indicate about Steinbeck’s
attitude to the American Dream?

Comment: The voices came close now. George raised the gun and listened to the voices.
Lennie begged, "Le's do it now. Le's get that place now. "
"Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta. "
And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back
of Lennie's head. p. 120

 
5. In your EE / mini EE you will be assessed on methodology, i.e. your ability to analyse a novel
using the literary tools mentioned below and employed in such a way that they address your
research / thesis question.
The 5 tools are: ‘plot, character, conflict, theme, setting’. How would you describe the
conflict? What conflict is there? Who / what are they up against?

Are there any tools we have left out? (There are) For more on 'Methodology' see Contexts
'Toolbox' on p. 244 'How to read a Novel'. You will also be expected to ‘bring in other authors’
i.e. address literary criticism. 
Literary Criticism

Read the following two comments and decide if you agree.

Comment I Symbolism: The meaning of Nature

Steinbeck shows the world of nature to be a beautiful and peaceful one but threatened by the actions
of men.

The beginning of the novel sets this pattern, as the creatures at the pool are disturbed by George and
Lennie's approach.

The ranch and its buildings, being created by men, are in contrast with the natural world. Notice that
the bunkhouse, for example, is quite bare and stark.

Even more unnatural is that Candy and Crooks are both deformed and unnatural in appearance.
Contrasted to these two characters is Lennie, who almost seems a part of the natural world as he is
described in animal terms.

In fact, one of Lennie's dreams is to go and live by himself in a cave. Maybe this would be the only way
in which the natural world of Lennie would not come into conflict with the world of men.

http://www.newi.ac.uk/englishresources/workunits/ks4/fiction/ofmicemen/smallheath/themes.html
(not accessible any more)

Comment II Theme: Dreams versus Reality

The clash between the lure of dreams and the harshness of reality is a major theme in Of Mice and
Men.

Lennie and George hold on to their version of the American dream: owning their own piece of
farmland.

Steinbeck shows how the American dream is an ideal that is impossible—or at least very hard—to
attain. For Lennie and George, their shared dream dissolves when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s
wife.

However, the dream is present throughout the novella, attracting the most isolated and desperate
characters to begin, if only momentarily, to imagine a better life for themselves. Candy, who is
physically disabled, aged, and almost useless on the ranch, takes comfort in George and Lennie’s
dream and even offers to put his life’s savings toward it. Crooks, who is alienated for being an African
American, takes comfort in the dream and imagines himself working alongside others. Lennie and
George’s dream is to “live off the fatta’ the lan.’”

Such land ownership and control of natural resources stands at the very core of the American dream.
Last, for Lennie, the ideal future is one in which he owns rabbits on the land that he can take care of
and pet, which is his strongest desire throughout the novella.

This dream also stands in juxtaposition to the Great Depression. The Great Depression was marked by
a dire scarcity of land and wealth for the majority of Americans. For Lennie and George, life as
itinerant workers means unsteady pay, unsteady work, and an unsettled life. It is hard for these two
men to create savings with the low wages they are given.
 

https://www.enotes.com/topics/of-mice-and-men