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Of Mice and Men

OVERVIEW: Many stories can be read on two levels. One level is quite basic; this one solely depends on plot summary and main themes. Critics refer to this reading of a story as the literal interpretation. In Of Mice and Men, the literal interpretation revolves around the concept of loneliness and the friendship between George and Lennie. The other level of a text is much more sophisticated; this level discusses the symbolism and allegoric meaning of the characters and the setting. For example, many critics believe that the ranch in Of Mice and Men is a microcosm* of the larger 1930’s American society and that the characters symbolize broader populations of this society. In today’s lesson, we will be analyzing Of Mice and Men’s characters to decide their allegoric meanings.

*a little world; a world in miniature

LITERARY DEVICE:

Allegory – a story in which the characters and sometimes the settings represent abstract concepts different from the literal meaning of the story. The underlying meaning usually has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and the characters are often personifications of abstract ideas such as charity, hope, greed and so on. (THINK “TORTOISE AND THE HARE”)

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following chart by:

1. identifying specific characteristics (physical, social, and/or mental) for each character with evidence from the text.

2. deciding if each character is flat or round and static or dynamic.

3. determining the ALLEGORICAL significance of each character.

Character Characteristics Allegoric Significance

|Lennie |Physical – strong (unaware of his own strength); given animal traits (bear, horse, bull…) |Lennie is symbolic of people who are mistreated and |

| |“huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders.” |discriminated against because of their mental |

| |“walked heavily, dragging his feet a little…” |handicaps. |

| |“His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely.” | |

| |“strong and quick” | |

| |“He’s sure hell of a good worker. Strong as a bull.” | |

| | | |

| |Mental/Social –handicapped doesn’t know how to control himself; childlike (gets into trouble/Lacks understanding of | |

| |social norms) doesn’t know his own strength | |

| |Not capable of socializing. | |

| |LAST NAME IS SMALL— ironic – he is very big | |

| |symbolic –small in society/small mind | |

| | | |

| |Flat or Round & Static or Dynamic: | |

|George |Physical – opposite of Lennie |George is symbolic of "the everyman" – the type of |

| |“small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features.” |normal, average person who is found everywhere and |

| |“small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose.” |whose feelings and actions are neither exceptional |

| | |nor terrible. He is the character with whom most |

| |Mental/Social - Can be bossy and short-tempered, he is caring but conflicted towards Lennie because he feels a |readers will identify, as he symbolizes the |

| |responsibility to take care of him, but finds him difficult to care for. |difficulty of trudging through the everyday world |

| |“I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail.” |(and extraordinary situations) when you’re just an |

| |“Well I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy.” (Slim) |ordinary guy. |

| | | |

| | |George symbolizes the working man's need to escape |

| | |from reality through vice. His reckless spending on |

| | |alcohol and prostitutes may prevent him from ever |

| | |raising enough money to finance his dreams of owning |

| | |his own farm. |

| | | |

| |Flat or Round & Static or Dynamic: | |

|Candy |Physical: |Candy is symbolic of people who are undervalued and |

| |crippled |discriminated against because of their age. |

| |“stick-like wrist, but no hand” | |

| | |Candy symbolizes elderly abuse and discrimination. He|

| |Mental/Social: |also symbolizes those who finish their lives in |

| |old - Has an old dog (symbol – represents what happens when one becomes older.) |poverty and misery. |

| |“tall, stoop-shouldered old man | |

| | | |

| | | |

| |Flat or Round & Static or Dynamic: | |

|Crooks |Physical |Crooks is symbolic of people who are discriminated |

| |African American (Only black character) |against because of their race. |

| |Crippled (crooked back) | |

| |“lean negro head, lined with pain” |Crooks symbolizes those forced to be outsiders based |

| |“body bent over to the left” |on race. |

| |“eyes lay deep in his head… glitter with intensity. His face was lined with deep black wrinkles, and he had think, | |

| |pain-tightened lips which were lighter than his face.” | |

| | | |

| |Mental/Social: | |

| |Isolated | |

| |Likes to read | |

| |Teased because of his race (center of games) “crooked back where a horse kicked him” | |

| | | |

| |Flat or Round & Static or Dynamic: | |

|Curley’s Wife |Physical: |Curley’s wife symbolizes the objectification of women|

| |“full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled |and broken dreams. She is superficial. |

| |clusters, like sausages.” | |

| | |Curley’s wife is symbolic of Eve – the female |

| |Mental/Social: |character who, in the Biblical story, brings sin and |

| |“Tart” “Tramp” |death to the world. She is also symbolic of women |

| |Lonely |everywhere who are repressed by male-centered |

| |Has big dreams, but doesn’t work for them |societies. |

| |“I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her.” –George | |

| |She doesn’t have a name, which means she is not one specific woman – she could be any woman. | |

| |Flat or Round & Static or Dynamic: | |

|Slim |Physical: |Slim is symbolic of the archetype of the hero, king, |

| |“tall… long black hair” |or leader. He represents those few who, in their |

| |“moved with a majesty … gravity in his manner” |wisdom and strength, seem larger than life. However, |

| |“his hatchet face was ageless” |these people don’t tend to be the actual leader of |

| |Masculine |the people. |

| |Large and lean, but delicate hands | |

| | |For some, Slim is meant to be a symbol of the |

| |Mental/Social: |American Dream even though he works for the boss. |

| |His traits are associated with royalty: majesty, prince, master |Why? |

| |Natural leader/commands a presence | |

| |Friendly tone of voice/shows understanding | |

| |“His ear heard more than was said to him.” | |

| |Slow, thoughtful speech, “calm eyes” | |

| | | |

|Curley |Physical: |Curley is symbolic of "small" people who may feel |

| |“thick young man with a brown face, with brown eyes and ahead of tightly-curled hair” |inferior and overcompensate by inflating or flaunting|

| |“Slim don’t need to wear no high heeled boots to get on the grain team.” –George (Curly wears high heeled boots to |their power and status. |

| |look taller.) |(Napoleon syndrome) |

| | |Curley is a bully and symbolizes those in society who|

| | |use their status (he's the boss's son) to hurt |

| |Mental/Social: |others. |

| |Tough | |

| |Quarrelsome | |

| |Jealous | |

| |Feels he needs to prove himself all of the time (Napoleon Complex) | |

| |“I don’t want trouble Lennie warned. I never done nothing to him.” -Lennie | |

| |“Well that won’t do you no good if Curley wants to plug himself up for a fighter.” –George | |

| |This Curly guy sounds like a son-of-a-bitch… I don’t like mean guys.” –George | |

| |Physical |Carlson is symbolic of people who are oblivious to |

| |“powerful, big-stomached man” |the feelings of others, and who can only be concerned|

| |“thick-bodied” |about something if it affects them personally |

|Carlson | | |

| |Mental/Social: |Carlson works. He symbolizes blue collar workers who |

| |racist (racist environment, but Carlson seems more aggressive than the others) |think little. They show up, do their job, and give |

| |appears emotionally cold yet practical/rational (w/regard to the dog and THE DEATH OF LENNIE [last page of novel]) |little thought to the future. |

| |“Why don’t Candy shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups to raise up.” –Carlson | |

| | |PURELY EVIL AS WELL |

|The Boss |Seems like a fair guy |The boss symbolizes business owners who generate |

| |Suspicious about George and Lennie BECAUSE he accepts the lie |passive income. He doesn't have to do much to make |

| |“little stocky man” |money. |

| |“he wore high-heeled boots and spurs” | |

| |“short quick steps like a fat-legged man” | |

| |“I got my eye on you. Why did you quit Weeds… “ | |

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