Of Mice and Men
At the novel's outset, Steinbeck takes great pains to familiarize us with the setting, using poetic imagery to describe the "golden foothill slopes" (1) of the Salinas River Valley and a particular pool on the banks of which "the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them" (1). Some rabbits sit in the sand. The novel begins here, in the cool of the sycamores among the golden shadows of a California evening, with a path in the forest leading to the sandy river's edge. One thing is missing: people. Here we are introduced to the landscape in which the novel is to take place, the Salinas Valley in the early 20th century, as well as the author's particular style, which, in Steinbeck's case, tends toward the Romantic.The idyllic peace of the initial scene is disrupted as the novel's two main characters emerge from the woods. The rabbits scurry into the shrubs (we should pay special attention to rabbits in light of what is to come) and a heron flies from the edge of the still pool before George and Lennie enter the clearing. The pair are physical opposites, George being "small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features" (2) while Lennie is described
George, whose own eyes have clouded over with dreamy delight at the thought of his future farm, interrupts his monologue impatiently ("Nuts! I ain't got time for no more" (16)) and returns to more practical matters: eating dinner, reminding Lennie not to talk to the boss tomorrow, and getting some rest. His final order to Lennie is one that we sould remember: George tells him to come back to the exact same spot where they are sitting and hide in the brush until George comes for him should anything go wrong at the ranch. Night falls on the end of the first chapter.
Some topics in this essay:
Lennie George,
George Lennie,
Slim Lennie,
Crooks Candy,
Aunt Clara,
Lennie George's,
George George,
Curley George,
Curley Lennie,
Soledad George,
curley's wife,
george lennie,
lennie george,
george tells,
bunk house,
tells lennie,
george tells lennie,
grows angry,
curley lennie,
dead wife,
aunt clara,
curley's dead wife,
dream farm rabbits,
bunk house george,
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Approximate Word count = 5323
Approximate Pages = 21 (250 words per page double spaced)
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