Of Mice and Men: One-Pager - Kezia Daniels

Of Mice and Men

"I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog."

By John Steinbeck

Motivation The characters main motivation was to be able to create a place where they could find solace and comfort in; escaping the cruel realities of the economic and political state of the world around them. In not acheieving this, they were able to support one of the underlying themes of powerlessness.

Plot I could connect the plot to the end of the road because the story comes to such an abrupt end. It also represents the end of an era.

“...small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features” (Steinbeck 2).

MOOD

Pace The pace was rather fast, but that was due to the length of the book and the duration of the time that the two men stayed on the farm, which can be assumed to be a little over a week. It most definitely relates to the distraction of work to make up for their inevitable lonliness.

“...huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes,, with wide sloping shoulders…”(Steinbeck 2).

Point of View The story is told from the third-person which allows us to view each character and situation without bias. Although, this also keeps the audience out of the know, which leaves the reader with many questions about certain characters, left to their own assumptions. It prevents the audience from knowing what truly runs through the minds of these chracters and does not allow a more personal connection between the character and reader. This contributes to the lonliness that is mentioned many times throughout the novel. Even as a reader you are left in the dark; alone as you are left make your own personal judgements and come to your own conclusions

Character Conflict Both Lennie and George suffered internal conflicts. For George, it had to do with his obligation to provide for Lennie, and serving as a caretaker for the much bigger man. For Lennie, it was his underdeveloped thought process which often made him seem childlike at times. Besides what they dealt with inside themselves, they also faced the judgment of society for both traveling as a pair and for the way Lennie acted, despite not being able to help something like that.