Of Mice and Men
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Key Facts
full title · Of Mice and Men
author · John Steinbeck
type of work · Novella
genre · Fiction; tragedy
language · English
time and place written · Mid-1930s; Pacific Grove and Los Gatos ranch, California
date of first publication · 1937
publisher · Covici, Friede, Inc.
narrator · Third-person omniscient
climax · Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife in the barn
protagonists · George and Lennie
antagonists · Curley; society; the cruel, predatory nature of human life
setting (time) · 1930s
setting (place) · South of Soledad, California
point of view · The story is told from the point of view of a third-person omniscient narrator, who can access the point of view of any character as required by the narrative.
falling action · Lennie runs away from the barn; the men return and find Curley’s wife dead; Curley leads a mob of men to search for and kill Lennie; George finds Lennie in the clearing and, while retelling the story of life on their farm, shoots him in the back of the head.
tense · Past
foreshadowing · Lennie petting the dead mouse, Lennie being run out of Weed for the incident involving the girl in the red dress, and Lennie killing his puppy—all of which anticipate Lennie accidentally killing Curley’s wife; the death of Candy’s dog, which anticipates the death of Lennie; Candy’s regret that he didn’t kill his old dog himself, which anticipates George’s decision to shoot Lennie
tone · Sentimental, tragic, doomed, fatalistic, rustic, moralistic, comic
themes · The predatory nature of human existence; the importance of fraternity and idealized relationships between men; the impossibility of the American Dream; the destructive imbalance of social power structures in American society
motifs · The corrupting power of female sexuality; strength and weakness; loneliness and companionship
symbols · The clearing in the woods; Lennie and George’s farm; mice; Candy’s dog; the heron that plucks water snakes from the stream; Curley’s boots; Lennie’s puppy
Point Of View
by x0ellison0x, November 02, 2012
Although most sites will say that the point of view for Of Mice and Men is third-person omniscient, it is really third-person limited. This is when the story is told from the point of view of a third-person limited narrator, who knows only the thoughts and feelings of a single character, while other characters are presented only externally.
31 out of 67 people found this helpful
3Of mice and men
by macbride14, November 28, 2012
Of mice and men is a fantastic book and film, it really shows how hard it was to live back then. George and lennie are your typical migrant workers but lennie has a mental disability, which means george has got to walk him thorugh every day life. They both have this wonderful dream where they own there own ranch amd that lennie gets to tend the rabbits.
32 out of 61 people found this helpful
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