Context

- Published in 1937.
- Set in Soledad (Spanish word for “loneliness”)

- Set during Great Depression.

Significant poverty and unemployment.
Great Depression following wall street crash in October 1929.
Affected world’s economy.
- Farmers less affected as they were able to grow their own food.

- Ranch workers often moved from one place to another as jobs on ranches would be
temporary and seasonal.
- Without work, people would have no way of supporting themselves.
This is why the dream was so important.
Sense of safety and independence.

- African Americans were affected the most.

By the end of 1932, 50% of black Americans were unemployed.
- Racism increased during Great Depression, although crooks had a stable job, his
character reflects the discrimination that many black Americans had received.

George
“… I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you…”

Frustration with Lennie:

“So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do i?”
- George’s reactions to Lennie when he makes mistakes can be short-tempered and
angry.

Grateful for his friendship with Lennie:

“With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn
about us.”
- George recognises that he and Lennie are different to other men because they have
each other, which means they are not lonely.

Caring:

Lennie said, “I thought you was mad at me, George.”

“No,” said George. “No, Lennie, I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing
I want ya to know.”
- George is protective of Lennie and tries to look after him. When he kills Lennie, he is
trying to protect him from Curley and the other men.

Lennie
George’s opposite:
“Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with
wide sloping shoulders;”
- Lennie is described as a very large, slow man.

Lacking control:

“He was so little,” said Lennie. “I was jus’ playin” with him .. an’ he made like he’s gonna
bite me … an’ I made like I was gonna smack him … an’ … an’ I done it. An’ then he was
dead.
- Lennie has no awareness of his own strength and cannot stop himself from hurting the
animals he pets, which leads to him accidentally killing Curley’s wife.

Innocent:

Lennie covered his face with huge paws and bleated with terror. He cried,
“Make ‘um stop, George.”
- Lennie is kind and innocent and so does not understand other characters’ cruelty and
angry properly.

Sweet-natured:

“tha’s good,” he said. “you drink some, George. You take a good big drink.” He smiled
happily.
- Lennie is cheerful and kind most of the time, quickly forgetting things that make him
unhappy.

Curley’s wife
Lonely:

“I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.”

- Curley’s wife looks for company throughout the book, but never finds it because none
of the other characters are willing to speak to her.
Isolated:

“-Sat’iday night. Ever’body out doin’ som’pin’. Ever’body! An’ what am I doin’? Standin’
here talkin’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs-”
- Curley’s wife is made to feel alone on the ranch because the men do not speak to her
and she has a bad relationship with her husband, whom she dislikes.

Makes the men uncomfortable:

“I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be.”
- The men talk about Curley’s wife defensively, worried that she could get them into
trouble.

Candy
Feels useless:

“You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They say he wasn’t no good to himself nor
nobody else … I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs.”
- Candy feels that without a job, he has nothing to offer society.

Isolated:

“Candy looked for help from face to face.”

 - Candy is alone in his sadness about the dog being shot; no one will stand up for him
and say that his dog should be allowed to live.

Searching for friendship:

George half-closed his eyes. “I gotta think about that. We was always gonna do it by
ourselves.” Candy interrupted him, “I’d make a will an’ leave my share to you guys in case I
kick off, ‘cause I ain’t got no relatives or nothing…”
- Candy is desperate to be involved in George and Lennie’s dream of owning their own
farm because it will give him a place to belong, even when he is old and unable to
work.

Crooks
Bitter:

“Crooks’ face lighted with pleasure at the torture.”

- Crooks takes place in mentally hurting Lennie because he has been hurt by so many
people before.

Discriminated against:

“This is just a ****** talkin’, an’ a busted-back ******. So it don’t mean nothing, see?”
- The racism directed towards crooks is very obvious and not hidden by the other
characters on the ranch.
Lonely:

“A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.”

- As the only black man on the ranch, crooks is completely isolated from the others and
does not receive any companionship.

Slim
Respected:

“Slim’s opinions were law.”

- Slim is looked up by all of the other men on the ranch, who look to him for approval
and ask for his opinion.

Autoreactive:

“His authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love.”
- Slim does not demand authority but is revered by the rest of the men on the ranch
because of his natural influence.

Empathetic:

“You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.”

 - Slim is the only character who shows understanding of how George feels after he has
killed Lennie.

Curley
Cruel:

“Seems like Curley ain’t givin’ nobody a chance.”

- The other men on the ranch see him as a behaving unfairly and treating people badly
because he has power over them due to being the boss’s son.

Aggressive:

“[Curley’s] eyes passed over the new men and he stopped. He glanced coldly at George and
then at Lennie. His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists. He
stiffened and went into a slight crouch. His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious.”
- Curley quick behaves aggressively when meeting George and Lennie for the first
time, even though they have not done anything to threaten him.

Violent:

“He backed until he was against the wall, and Curley followed, slugging him in the face.
Lennie’s hands remained at his sides; he was too frightened to defend himself.”
- Curley picks on Lennie and attacks him violently, despite the fact that Lennie has just
been smiling and has not done anything wrong.