Chapter 3 Notes
Summarize:
George and Lennie are now staying at the bunkhouse. Candy's dog ends up
being killed because Carlson feels that he's suffering and there's no point in
him living anymore. As the chapter goes on, George and Lennie start to talk
about this lovely dream house they both wish to own one day. Candy offers to
help buy this amazing house with them and he wants to join in this dream also.
Then, Curley comes in furious because he can't find his wife once again. While
Lennie is actually smiling about this wonderful dream house they will soon have,
Curley thinks Lennie's laughing at him. Curley gets into a fight with Lennie
that turns into something bigger than I expected. George screams out for him to
fight back but Lennie is so frightened he's not sure what to do. When Curley
tried to throw a punch, Lennie grabbed his fist and clenched it into his own
hand. Meanwhile, George is yelling at him to let go of his hand because Lennie
won't let go until he is told to. Lennie had blood all over his face but he
finally let go of Curley's hand. I can only imagine that his hand has a few
broken bones in it because of Lennie's strength.
Question:
On page 62 and continuing on page 63, there is a huge physical fight
between Curley and Lennie. Curley couldn't find his wife and Lennie just so
happened to be smiling about the dream house disscussion. Curley got angry at
him because he thought he was laughing at him. During the fight, George was
yelling at Lennie to fight back. I wonder why none of the other guys in the
bunkhouse got involved in the fight or tried to help out Lennie or Curley? Also,
once Lennie did do something why did George tell him to stop right away? I think
Lennie has the right to show he's not just a weakling that everyone portrays him
as and Curley beat him up pretty bad so I think he's allowed to just break a few
bones in his hand.
Prediction: My prediction is that Curley will
finally understand to just leave Lennie alone because he's harmless. Also, I
think Lennie, George, and Candy will actually leave the bunkhouse or start
saving to leave. I have a feeling that Lennie might get into some trouble this
coming chapter by the clues they have already provided us. The author told the
reader that he is known for getting in trouble and George has been telling him
to hide in this bush whenever something goes wrong.
Question: The entire chaper basically George wasn't allowing Lennie to talk and when he did, he scowled at him. I wonder why can't Lennie talk? I feel that that'll just get both of them in trouble for lying that Lennie doesn't talk much.
Why does George choose to stay in such an uncomfortable environment? He knows Curly doesn't like him because of the altercation about his wife and he doesn't like Lennie because he's a big guy. I would think that any person would want to leave that type of environment
Summarize: In chapter 2, Lennie and George find their new job and tart to get
settled into the bunkhouse. They keep using the term "bucking and barley" and
since George said they knew how to do this, I'm guessing it has to do with
farming. George and Lennie arrived at the bunkhouse and already got in trouble
because they came later than expected. At first, the place was pretty nice and
the people were also fairly nice. The boss tells them after there talk with him,
that he's going to keep an eye on them. Towards the end of the chapter, they
meet a few people and they all tell them about the place. Finally, they come to
meet the boss' son, which he's not the nicest guy on the planet. Right of the
back, the boss' son, Curly doesn't like guys like Lennie because he's a big guy.
George doesn't like Curly very much and I can see this already as being a
conflict.
Questions: In the frist chapter why does Goerge bring Lennie
instead of a girlfreind? Does Lennie have a connection with mice, if so what is
the signficatins. What naitionally are they? What did Lennie do so bad at Weed
that Gorge doesnt want him to do again? Does Lennie have memory loss
?
Summarize: In chapter 1 Of Mice and Men , Goerge and his
bestfreind Lennie are on the road look for a new place to work. Gorge is small
and quick and has strong features. Lennie is the total opposite of Goerge , he
is a big man, who had sloping shoulders and walked heavily. Also he is mentally
challenged. They are walking on a road and stop , to rest. Geroge finds that
that lennie has dead mice in his pockets. Gorege doesnt not want Lennie to do
what he did at his lost farm house. Gorege tells Lenie a story about the rabbits
and had the convorestion until late and they fall
asleep.
Reflect: I think the authour reason for writting this book
is for the readers to see how diffucult life was in the 1930s , around war time.
Also maybe for us to be greatgul for what we have, because they didnt have much
back than. no there isnt any themes i recongizes just yet. Yes i do like it but
its not my type of Genre. it could make this more intersting by placing the
charcter in a segration farm an dthey being bully because hey dont fit in.
Literature is often a reflection of the time period in which it was written or,
in the case of historical fiction, of the time period it is focused on. Authors
will often find sneaky little ways to demonstrate the dominant characteristics
of the time period by blending in details, that, at a closer glance, reveal
these hidden themes.
In class, we viewed several videos (in the
LitByFleming blog video bar) that gave us a look at some major events and common
themes or characteristics of the 1930s. John Steinbeck certainly considered
these elements when writing Of Mice and Men. In fact, it might be said,
his writing style intentionally made use of naturalism in order to capture and
expose some of the attitudes and characteristics of the American
1930s.
Let's see if you can make
the connection! Think about some of the naturalistic elements we identified in
class (Chapter 1). What aspects or characteristics of the 1930s are being
demonstrated to us at those moments in the text? What do you believe John
Steinbeck was trying to show us or expose about the way people, life, or society
was during this time in American history?
Some naturalistic elements include: Characters bing
ill-educated and lower class whose lives are governed by hereditary, instinct,
and passion; Setting plays a huge part, wheather it is an urban setting or a
rural setting; themes: the "beast within, survival, violence, environment vs.
heredity, passion, instinct, and taboo.During class we discussed naturalistic
elements and how they were related to the text and came up with four for the
first chapter. The first example was "Behind him walked his opposite, a huge
man, shapeless of face, with large, heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws." This
man is being compared to a bear or has "human beast" characteristics. "Lennie
dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in
little splashes." Lennie's hand is being compared to a bear's paw. This is also
an example of a "beastly" characteristic. "He pushed himself back, drew up his
knees, embraced them, looked over to George to see whether he had it just
right." This shows that Lennie is ill-educated so he's not sure if he's doing it
right so he looks up to George to make sure.
Anger and
frustration is demonstrated throughtout the first chapter. The reader can tell
that George is very frustrated on page 11 because he blows up on Lennie when
Lennie says he likes ketchup on his beans. I don't necessarily believe George
was angry at Lennie because he likes ketchup on his beans; but I think the whole
stress of getting to California for a better life is getting to him and he took
it out on Lennie. It's understandable for a person in that situation to get
angry, because you don't have work and you are trying to get a better life in
San Francisco or California but you don't even know if that's going to work
out. I believe John Steinbeck was trying to show us
the true reality of what was actually going on in the Great Depression. The
heart-wrenching feeling of being depressed, angry, frustrated all the time
because people weren't living the lives they wanted to. Society was suffering
from people not having work and work was only being found by California and San
Francisco. It was even more depressing to maybe have to leave your family
because they weren't able to travel with you all the way to California. John
Steinbeck makes it clear that it was a cruel reality people had to live in the
1930s. As a reader, it hurts to think people went through times like these
because society should never come to the point where everyone is unhappy and
things are just getting worse and worse.
Think about this section from the beginning of the
book: For a moment the place was lifeless, and then
two men emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green
pool.
They had walked in single file down the path, and even in the open
one stayed behind the other. Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim
coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight
blanket rolls slung over their shoulders. The first man was small and quick,
dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him
was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose. Behind him
walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with
wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the
way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung
loosely. The first man stopped short in the clearing, and the
follower nearly ran over him. He took off his hat and wiped the sweat-band with
his forefinger and snapped the moisture off. His huge companion dropped his
blankets and flung himself. Sound
familiar? Kind of like the pictures, right? In writing, compare and contrast
this opening section from Of Mice and Men to the pictures you analyzed in class.
What does the text and the photographs show us about the 1930s? Be
specific!
The text in the story reminds me of the second picture we viewed during class.
The very first sentence draws me to this picture because this man is going down
a never ending road. His feet look as if they are draging like in the text.
These descriptions match how the author descibes the man:Behind him walked
his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide,
sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a
bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung
loosely. The man in the
picture seems to be by himself and is lonely while in the text he describes that
the man has company along with him. The man in the picture also has a similarity
to the text because he has a hat on and the text says He took off his hat
and wiped the sweat-band with his forefinger and snapped the moisture
off.
This picture is trying to tell us back in the 1930s, there was
a time of lonliness and there was a time of depression. A lot of people didn't
have jobs and many farmers were trying to find farms to work on so they decided
to move where they could all find work. The sadness continued as there was a
drought going on and the economic situation was not its best.
