"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck.

Essay by heckyJunior High, 9th grade November 2002

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Of mice and men

I will be writing this essay on "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. This book is about a couple of friends called George, the leader and Lennie who travel together. They work at ranches, but because Lennie always mucks it up, as you will see, they have to keep on moving from ranch to ranch.

The novel is set in America, South of California, in a place called Solidad. Solidad means loneliness in Spanish. The characters in the book are: George, Lennie, Candy, Candy's dog, Curly and his wife, Crooks, Slim and Carlson. Their lives are full of loneliness, hatred, and only thinking about number one. The characters that are lonely are: Candy, for a little bit, Curly and his wife, Crooks, Slim and Carlson. They are lonely because they have no dreams, nothing to look forwards to and no hope.

They all have their different personalities and style.

George is "dressed in denim trousers and denim coat with brass buttons" he had a black, shapeless hat and carried a blanket rolled over his shoulder. George was "small and quick, dark of face with restless eyes and sharp, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose." Lennie was dressed the same as George but he was huge "behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders, he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws." Lennie's arms are described as "his arms did not swing at his side, but hung loosely and only moved because the heavy hands were pendular." I think George is a born leader because all through the story he is in charge of Lennie, telling him when to speak and when not...