Emma Hanmer

Emma Hanmer
Of Mice And Men
John Steinbeck
Historical Fiction
Just Finished
Just Right

1. I just finished the book Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck. This book had a very surprising, twisted ending. After I read it though, I went back and noticed all of the foreshadowing that led up to it.
The end starts out with all of the guys being in town. Lennie was left at the ranch with one of Slim's pups, which he had accidentally killed because of how strong he was. Curley's wife sat and talked to him about her dreams. She let him feel her soft hair, which Lennie feel head over heals for. He grabbed her hair and wouldn't let go. She struggled, and tried to scream but his hand had clasped over her mouth. All he was thinking about was that he wasn't going to be able to tend the rabbits if someone heard them. Curley's wife died a few seconds later. He had broken her neck by shaking her so much. Lennie knew this was an extremely bad thing, so he fled to the clearing by the river where George had told him to go if he ever got into trouble. When George, Lennie's closest thing to family, saw the lifeless woman, he knew exactly who had done it and where he was. George also knew that Curley would kill him if he found him, but George couldn't run away with Lennie because this was something very bad that he had done. George knew what he had to do. He took Carlson's luger and headed for the clearing, unnoticed. He talked to Lennie and made him feel comfortable before he peacefully ended his life. It was an extremely difficult thing to do, but he did what had to be done. George did all that he could to try to help his friend, but in the end he was too much of a danger to all that surrounded him.

2. Overall I liked this book. I really respect books that don't have the everything's perfect and everything worked out kind of ending. I like the ones that leave you pondering and puzzled. When George killed Lennie I was astounded! I thought that they might actually get the little place with the rabbits and chickens, but that just shows the reality of the people back then. The American Dream was just a fantasy for everyone. For all of the books that I can basically guess the ending and it can bore me a lot of the time. This book was totally different and new and exciting because I had no clue that George would give up and end Lennie's path of destruction. John Steinbeck is an author that I've never read before but I'm definitely interested in reading more of his work.

3. A strong theme that I see in this book is love and sacrifice. I see this through the characters in the novel. At the end of the novel George has to sacrifice Lennie's life for the safety of others even though he loved him. It was something that had to be done or else Lennie would have endangered everyone around him. George and Lennie were a non-traditional family, depending on each other and being there for each other, and they loved each other very much. George basically sacrificed Lennie because he loved him. Lennie wasn't a murderer, he was just thinking about the rabbits when he was with Curley's wife and then he had just shoved her too hard so she died. He didn't want to kill her, it just happened. Still though, it wasn't right and Lennie almost knew it because he went to the clearing. George did the right thing, even though it was painful. Another example of love and sacrifice was Candy and his dog. Candy and his dog had grown old together, and were best friends. His dog was in a lot of pain at his old age and it was getting to the point where he couldn't provide for himself anymore. Candy reluctantly agreed to put the dog out of it's misery because he had had it since it was a puppy. He had to sacrifice the dog, because he knew it wasn't right to keep him living through his pain.

4. My favorite character in the book is George. He is a kind and protective little man! The way he agreed to take Lennie in, care for him, and guide him is heart warming. He always says that he could have so much more and be so much better if he didn't have Lennie, yet he never leaves him. That shows that he's a devoted and loving person. He formed a family-like relationship with Lennie, making them like brothers traveling on the road together. When I think about George I think about a nice guy that's generous and giving. He's also a very mentally strong person because he was able to make the decision of ending Lennie's dangerous ways.


  5. My least favorite character in the novel is Curley. He is a jealous, ungrateful person. It seems like anytime he's around anyone who's bigger than him he's trying to pick a fight, even if the guy has done nothing wrong. He's the boss's son, so if he picks a fight the other men are cheering him on, but when someone fights back the men go on Curley's side. I don't like it when people get everything they want whenever they want, which is basically who Curley is. He's also ungrateful because he has a family and lives with them, while the other men don't even know what being in a family's about. He doesn't pay any attention to and is mean to his wife, who gets left out and hated. The other men can't even meet a girl because they are working so much. Family is a very large part in this book, and I don't like how it is taken advantage of by Curley.

6. The ending of the book was nothing like I expected. The author took me by surprise when Lennie ends up dying, and it made me really interested to go back and find what led up to it. I originally thought that George and Lennie would get the house with the little piece of land, but Candy would die after he gave them the money. I've always anticipated that it's all going to work out in the ending (like I've been brainwashed by reading holiday books). When I went back I could see how the real ending could have happened. First, in Weed Lennie starts out with a small dress mishap. Then, it escalated to killing the mice. His strength was too much for animals, even the puppies. At the ranch he killed the pup that Slim gave him, because he whacked him too hard. Right after killing the pup, he accidentally killed Curley's wife. The problems got bigger and bigger in the story until finally the worst thing possible could have happened, human death.