Chapter 6 Response

This is a picture I made using Photoshop, showing a rabbit that popped up in Lennies head. It was a cruel and mean rabbit who shouted at Lennie using foul language because he relies on George too much and doesnt help him and things like that. The rabbit speaks in Lennies voice. It has waggling ears, and a crinkled nose.


Chapter 6 Response

The story ends in a sad way but I think without that ending it wouldn't have been as interesting as it was. As the ranch-hands are looking for Lennie to kill him because he had killed Curley's wife, he ran into the woods and met George there. Lennie asks George to talk about their farm and how everything will be okay soon. And as George talks about the farm and animals and how he will get to tend the rabbits, he takes out his gun and shoots him in the back of the head. This part was extremely shocking as I thought Lennie would be the one who survived since he was one of the main characters. George wanted him to be happy and he didn't want the others to kill him, so he wanted Lennie to die happy thinking about the wonderful things he had wished for. In the end, I had realised how every person in this book is lonely and has pretty much a problem. The theme of this book is loneliness and how all of them had troubles and dreams. Lennie and George only had eachother. Candy was getting old and useless, also living without his dog he raised since he was a puppy. Curley's wife, who disliked her husband and wished to be a star which she could have become. Crooks, the black man who was not allowed to go out of his little room and who was segregated from the whites, as they were very racist. These are only a few examples of the lonely people in this story. I think Steinbeck is a great author with great ideas in how to get a reader thinking. He really made the story have an excellent meaning to it and I am glad I had the opportunity to read and understand the true meaning of the book.

To summarize chapter 5, basically what happened was Lennie ended up breaking Curleys wife's neck in the barn as he was stroking her hair and wouldn't let go because she was screaming. As soon as the ranch hands found out, they wanted to kill Lennie. In the previous chapters, Steinbeck explains Curleys wife to be the flirty type of person who cheats on her husband but in chapter 5, the author really expresses how she really feels. He shows her sense of loneliness and how much she wasn't enjoying her life in the position she was in with her husband whom she disliked. I think that in this story, George was to blame for Lennies actions because everything Lennie did wrong, they would look at George because he was supposedly responisble for him since he was disabled. I also think Crooks was blamed in this story. Blamed for being black which is the racism in this story. He wasn't allowed to do what the white ranch hands could do and he had to stay in his little room. I think that the movie and the book have differences because in the book, Steinbecks descriptions and details of the story adds to the story alot however, the movie, the the person watching tends to focus on the plot without really understanding the importance or the theme of the story. An example of a little difference is of Curley's wife; in the book, she's described differently then how she looks in the movie. Thats a slight difference that I caught.

Chapter 5 Response Of Mice and Men

I Am Much Too Alone in This World, Yet Not Alone


I am much too alone in this world, yet not alone

enough

to truly consecrate the hour.

I am much too small in this world, yet not small

enough

to be to you just object and thing,

dark and smart.

I want my free will and want it accompanying

the path which leads to action;

and want during times that beg questions,

where something is up,

to be among those in the know,

or else be alone.

I want to mirror your image to its fullest perfection,

never be blind or too old

to uphold your weighty wavering reflection.

I want to unfold.

Nowhere I wish to stay crooked, bent;

for there I would be dishonest, untrue.

I want my conscience to be

true before you;

want to describe myself like a picture I observed

for a long time, one close up,

like a new word I learned and embraced,

like the everday jug,

like my mother's face,

like a ship that carried me along

through the deadliest storm.

Rainer Maria Rilke
(1875 - 1926 / Germany)

As I searched onto google, I found this poem that demonstrates a story about loneliness and it really made me think of the book "Of Mice and Men." As I read every line of it, I would try to picture how much of it was similar to the story. In the poem, where it said : "I am much too alone in this world, yet not alone enough." made me think of the story and how all of them were basically lonely and in their heads, that could have been what they were feeling. This poem had many words which also made me think of the story, like when it mentions the word "old" it makes me think of Candy and how old and useless he was getting. Also when they mention the word "crooked" it reminded me of Crooks in the story who had a crooked back.

Image for Loneliness

This is a picture I found that seemed to fit the theme of the story which was "loneliness" because it shows that every umbrella is the same and the red one is the one which stands alone and which is different. It also demonstrates that the person under that umbrella could be lonely because he doesn't fit in with the others also because the umbrella is the only one who has to try to interact with the others.

Chapter 3 Pictures and Response

This is a photo i chose to use for Whit, a normal man that worked at the ranch. The book doesnt really describe much of Whit but this is what I found.

This picture represents Crooks in the book although this is a photo of a much older man, it just shows the similarities between them. They are both the same skin color and both tend to be lonely. Crooks has a hunch-back and thats where he got his name from; crooked back.

This picture represents Curley's wife in the book. She has a flirtatious, fancy look and she is the only women in the story. Curley's wife is very lonely even though she has a husband, they always fight. She wants a better life.

Chapter Response

Before I write much about what happened, I wanted to mention how much of an exciting and insightful chapter of the book it was. It really had me gripped because of how the author's usage of drama and detail. I realised a pattern in the book that kept repeating and I hadn't noticed it until it began to happen more than once. Lennie really loved soft things yet every soft animal he petted, he killed, which was pretty confusing. Something even more surprising is when he was feeling Curley's wife's hair, he ended up choking her to death. He didn't understand the strength he had. Carlson shoots Candy's old dog in the back of the head, this foreshadows how Lennie gets killed. When George shoots him at the back of the head. Reading these first three chapters and it has got me attached to this book so far!

Of Mice and Men

Chapter 2 Pictures and Response

THE BOSS! I chose to use this picture because it makes me think of a big important man. And in this case, he is the man in charge of the ranch. He isn't really mentioned in this book alot but by what I read, he seemed to be a fair minded man.

I chose this photo which represents Candy, as he is an old man in the story. He had lost his hand in an accident and he's scared that his age is making him useless in working on the ranch although he is still living in a good but lonely state since he has also lost his dog.

This is a picture of an old dog that represents Candy's dog in the book. It shows that his dog is also getting old and ready to die, even though Carlson shot him.

This is a picture I chose to represent Curley, the son of the boss. Curley is a mean, aggressive young man who seems to start with fights with larger men. He is also suspicious and jealous of his recently married flirty wife.

I found this picture and decided to use it to represent Carlson because it shows and exact picture of a man shooting a dog and its the same situation where complainy Carlson shot Candy's Dog.

This is a picture I found of Superman, I chose it to represent Slim because in the book, it clearly explains how much of a good, insightful, skilled man he is, who gives good advice and who many look up to.

Chapter Response

In this chapter, Lennie and George reach the ranch bunk house late and Candy warns them that the Boss will get mad and he did. Candy introduces them to Curley and since Curley likes to mess with larger guys then him, he has something against Lennie. There was foreshadowing that I caught during this section and that was when George worned Lennie to stay away from trouble with things and also with Curley because it would cost them their jobs. Then obviously, it makes the reader think, "Hmm, I have a feeling something will go on between Lennie and Curley" and it turns out that something did happen. This is what we will find out in the next chapters. Candy's dog is also introduced in this section and Carlson, one of the workers at the ranch, suggests to shoot his dog because he was becoming useless and worthless and that they can raise a new puppy instead. This part of the book was the beginning of where trouble could start and where it began to grip the reader most, because of wanting to know what will happen next from all the foreshadowing revealed.

Of Mice and Men

Chapter One Pictures and Response

This is a picture of John Steinbeck who is the author of the book "Of Mice and Men."

This is the picture I chose to use for George Milton because it shows similar characteristics between the two, such as his serious sharp featured face, but also very calm at the same time. He is tough and strong and he is the man who looks after Lennie and his mental disabilities.

I chose to use this picture for Lennie because it somewhat reminded me of him. Both having a dumb look and are both large. I also chose it because the stuffed animal symbolises how Lennie loved soft things (The dress, Mice, dogs, rabbits) in the book.

The setting of the story was in Soledad meaning lonely. This picture shows a village in a big area that is empty and "lonely".

Chapter 1 Response

From reading the first chapter of the book, I noticed Steinbeck's use of details and imagery in his writing. The first page really shows his style in writing especially with his use of words and descriptions that painted an accurate clear picture in my head of the setting. In the first section of the book, it introduces some of the characters and that really gave me an understanding of the type of book it was going to be. By reading pages and pages of Chapter 1, i realised that even if Lennie and George were completley different people with different personalities, Lennie depended on George and George was devoted to Lennie. I noticed alot of foreshadowing in section and one example is when Lennie touches Curley's wife's dress and that gives the reader an idea of him maybe being a touchy person, but because he likes soft things, not for any other reason =P.