Analysis of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

Analysis of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

Chapter One:

Two men emerge from the path along the Salinas River that runs a few

miles south of Soledad, California. Travelling 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, which 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.