SparkNotes: Of Mice and Men: Quiz

1. Of Mice and Men was first published in what year?

(A) 1919

(B) 1962

(D) 1939

2. What is the name of the town from which George and Lennie are fleeing when the novel opens?

(A) Weed

(B) Soledad

(C) Salinas

(D) The town is never named

3. What excites Lennie most about his dream life with George?

(A) He will learn to farm

(B) He will get to tend rabbits

(C) They will both find “purty” girls and settle down

(D) He will strike it rich panning for gold

4. Why is Candy unable to imagine getting rid of his old dog?

(A) The dog is a fine watchdog

(B) He makes too much money breeding the animal

(C) He promised his wife on her deathbed that he would care for it

(D) He has had the dog since it was a puppy

5. Why does Curley wear a Vaseline-filled glove on one hand?

(A) He wants to keep his hand soft for his wife

(B) His hand was mangled in a piece of farm equipment

(C) He is soothing an old boxing injury

(D) He is incredibly vain

6. Why does Carlson insist on shooting Candy’s dog?

(A) The dog has attacked several people

(B) Carlson is mean-spirited and drunk

(C) Carlson believes the dog is too old and decrepit to be of any use

(D) Carlson hates dogs

7. Whit enters the bunkhouse with a magazine featuring a man he used to work with. Why is the man in the magazine?

(A) He wrote a letter to the editor, praising the publication

(B) He was an undercover journalist, who wrote a piece exposing the difficult working conditions of migrant farmers

(C) He is a fugitive, the subject of a nationwide manhunt

(D) He recently bought a farm much like the one George and Lennie hope to own

8. What is Old Susy’s place?

(A) A restaurant

(B) A saloon

(C) George’s mother’s home

(D) A flophouse

9. Who discovers Curley’s dead wife?

(A) George

(B) Curley

(C) Candy

(D) Carlson

10. What does Curley wear to set himself apart from the other men?

(A) A denim jacket

(B) High-heeled boots

(C) A bull whip

(D) Gloves

11. Who cared for Lennie before George?

(A) Lennie’s aunt Clara

(B) Lennie’s mother

(C) George’s aunt Clara

(D) George’s mother

12. Of Mice and Men is set in which decade?

(A) 1910s

(B) 1920s

(D) 1940s

13. What does Curley’s wife offer to let Lennie touch?

(A) Her dress

(B) Her face

(C) Her hand

(D) Her hair

14. To whom does Candy look for advice before allowing Carlson to shoot his dog?

(A) Lennie

(B) Crooks

(C) Slim

(D) The boss

15. Why do many critics find fault with Of Mice and Men?

(A) They believe that the novel is too short

(B) They find Steinbeck’s portrayal of Lennie excessively sentimental

(C) They wish that the novel had a happy ending

(D) They believe that the novel does not accurately depict life during the Depression

16. How does Steinbeck foreshadow the death of Curley’s wife?

(A) He dresses the woman in fancy red shoes

(B) He opens the chapter in which she dies with Lennie petting his dead puppy

(C) He gives her a moving speech in which she admits her dream of being a movie star

(D) He points out several times that Lennie doesn’t like her

17. How did Crooks get his name?

(A) He was born with it

(B) He has a crooked back

(C) He served time in jail for robbery

(D) He has a crooked smile

18. Before George meets Lennie in the woods in the final scene, whose gun does he take?

(A) Carlson’s

(B) Slim’s

(C) Curley’s

(D) Candy’s

19. What does George say to Lennie before shooting him?

(A) He tells Lennie that he is a bad man and that he deserves to die

(B) He tells Lennie that he has no other choice but to shoot him since it’s the law

(C) He tells Lennie the story of their farm

(D) He tells Lennie he’s sorry that he let him down

20. When Lennie drops down next to the pool of water as the novel opens, what is George’s advice to him?

(A) He tells him to drink up now, because there’s no telling when they’ll find water again

(B) He tells him to bathe

(C) He tells him to wash his hands after playing with the dead mouse

(D) He tells him not to drink too much water to avoid getting sick

21. Who is the only man to understand the bond between Lennie and George?

(A) Crooks

(B) Curley

(C) Slim

(D) None of the men understand their bond

22. After killing Curley’s wife, which of the following pairs does Lennie imagine appears to chastise his behavior?

(A) Aunt Clara and his mother

(B) Aunt Clara and a giant rabbit

(C) George and Curley

(D) George and Curley’s wife

23. Whom do Lennie and George agree to let live on their farm?

(A) Candy

(B) Curley’s wife

(C) Old Susy

(D) Slim

24. Why doesn’t Crooks allow Lennie to enter his room at first?

(A) Because Lennie isn’t much of a conversationalist and Crooks enjoys talking long into the night

(B) Because he fears Lennie’s strength

(C) He says a white man shouldn’t be allowed in his room since he is not allowed in the white men’s bunkhouse

(D) Because he prefers to keep to himself

25. Disappointed with her life, Curley’s wife wonders where she would be if she had followed her dreams and become which of the following things?

(A) A movie star

(B) A schoolteacher

(C) A showgirl

(D) A nurse