NAME:_____________________________________



NAME:_____________________________________

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Study Guide

• CHAPTER 1

1. What is the setting of the story?__________________________________________________

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2. Lennie and George are the two characters first introduced. Describe each.

Lennie:_______________________________________________________________________

George:_______________________________________________________________________

3. Why is George so upset with the driver?___________________________________________

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4. What is Lennie hiding in his pocket?______________________________________________

5. What appears to be wrong with Lennie?___________________________________________

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6. Who did Lennie live with before he started traveling with George?______________________

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7. What problem did the men have in Weed?_________________________________________

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8. What is their dream? Describe what they want physically and symbolically.______________

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9. What will be Lennie’s job in that dream?__________________________________________

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10. George gives Lennie some instructions in case there is trouble. What is his advice?

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THINK

1. What does Lennie and George’s dream tell us about them? What do they want from life? What is important to them?

2. Leonard means “like a lion.” How does this relate to Lennie? With what other animal imagery is he described? Why?

• CHAPTER 2

1. Why was the boss annoyed with Lennie and George? ________________________________

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2. Why didn’t George want the bunk that was given to him? What problems did he have with it?____________________________________________________________________________

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3. What excuse did George give for not arriving earlier?________________________________

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4. Why does the boss think George is speaking for Lennie?_____________________________

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5. How does George explain Lennie’s slow abilities?__________________________________

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6. What’s wrong with Candy?____________________________________________________

7. What does the boss do each Christmas to make the men think he is a decent guy?__________

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8. What kind of person is Curley?__________________________________________________

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9. Why does Curley always pick on guys who are bigger than him?_______________________

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10. What do the men think about Curley’s wife?______________________________________

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11. What does Lennie want George to get for him?____________________________________

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THINK

1. What is Lennie’s last name? How is this ironic? (Remember, IRONY means that there is a difference between what appears to be and what really is.)

2. What might Lennie’s request to George (regarding Slim) foreshadow later in the novel?

• CHAPTER 3

1. What does Slim find unusual about Lennie and George’s relationship?__________________

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2. How does George explain the relationship?________________________________________

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3. What incident made George stop playing jokes on Lennie?____________________________

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4. Why were Lennie and George forced to leave Weed?________________________________

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5. What does Lennie bring into the bunk house that annoys George? Why?________________

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6. Why does everyone complain about Candy’s dog?__________________________________

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7. What is Carlson’s solution to the problem about the dog?_____________________________

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8. Who is Crooks? Why doesn’t he sleep in the bunk like the rest of the men?______________

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9. Why does Curley start a fight with Lennie?________________________________________

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10. What are the results of the fight?_______________________________________________

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11. What excuse is given to cover up the results?______________________________________

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THINK

1. How are Candy and his dog alike? Who else in the novel could be described in these ways?

• CHAPTER 4

1. What are Crooks’ living quarters like?____________________________________________

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2. Why does Lennie go in to talk to Crooks?_________________________________________

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3. Where are the other men?______________________________________________________

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4. How does Crooks try to scare Lennie?____________________________________________

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5. What does Crooks say about George and Lennie’s dream?____________________________

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6. Why does Curley’s wife come in the barn?________________________________________

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7. What does she say is Curley’s main topic of conversation?____________________________

8. What does Curley’s wife tell them about Curley’s recent accident?______________________

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9. When Crooks asks her to leave, how does she react?_________________________________

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10. Why is George so upset with Lennie when he returns?_______________________________

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THINK

1. George plays cards a lot. What could be the symbolic meaning?

• CHAPTERS 5 and 6

1. What was Lennie doing in the barn?______________________________________________

2. What problem was he trying to cover up?__________________________________________

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3. How did it happen?___________________________________________________________

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4. Who discovers Lennie in the barn?_______________________________________________

5. What do they talk about?_______________________________________________________

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6. Explain the accident that then happens.____________________________________________

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7. Who discovers this accident?____________________________________________________

8. What plan do the men have for Lennie?___________________________________________

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9. To whom is Lennie talking by the pond before George arrives?________________________

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10. What does George do to Lennie? Why?__________________________________________

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THINK

1. From what we learn about her in her discussion with Lennie, how is Curley’s wife like Lennie and George and even Candy and Crooks?

2. Why doesn’t Curley’s wife have a name?

4. Why does Lennie “talk” to the figures he does towards the end of the novel? What could they symbolize?

5. What is the meaning/significance of the last line of the novel?

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