Summary and Character Analysis of “Of Mice and Men”

Of Mice and Men is a novella by John Steinbeck and is one of his most well-known works. Published in 1937, the book is set in the then-ongoing Great Depression and captures the mood and struggles of the era. A heavy and tragic tale, it focuses on friendship, the hardships endured by most Americans during the harsh economic times, and the nature of hope and planning.

The book was adapted into a three-act play by Steinbeck himself in 1937. A few movies have also been made based on it. In particular, the 1992 movie of the same name starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise received wide critical acclaim.

John Steinbeck is one of America’s most famous authors. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (two of the highest honors in literature), his works are now considered classics of American fiction. He realistically captured the experiences of the common American and his narratives frequently discussed justice and fate. Besides Of Mice and Men, his notable works also include The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Cannery Row.

Of Mice and Men: A Summary

Two men, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, arrive at a clearing near a riverbank in California. They are dressed identically in clothes usually worn by farmhands. However, they are otherwise very different in appearance: George is short and slim, while Lennie is giant-like—tall and awkward. 

When Lennie begins to drink from the river, George reminds him not to drink too much as the water may cause him to fall ill. As they continue to talk, it is revealed that they are traveling to a ranch where they are due to begin work soon. At the same time, it also becomes clear that Lennie is mentally disabled and that George frequently takes care of him.

After a while, George realizes that Lennie is holding a dead mouse. This upsets him and he snatches the rodent and throws it away. While Lennie likes to touch and pet soft things, he is also incredibly strong but doesn’t know his strength and can’t control it. In fact, the two friends had to leave Weed, the previous town they had worked in, because Lennie had stroked the material of a girl’s dress and then refused to let it go. The townspeople assumed that he had assaulted her and ran him out of town; George left with him.

The strength of the friendship between Lennie and George and its nature is established early in the book.

George decides that they will spend the night at the clearing and begins to prepare dinner. Lennie recovers the dead mouse his friend had thrown away earlier, causing George to get angry with him. When Lennie asks him for ketchup with his food, George complains about how ungrateful he is. 

Once George calms down, he apologizes and talks to Lennie of the dream the two of them share—they hope to one day own their own farm where they can grow their own food and raise their own livestock. This reminder makes the pair happy. As they begin to fall asleep though, George tells Lennie that if any trouble comes up at the new ranch, then Lennie should return to his clearing and wait for him.

The next day, they arrive at the bunkhouse of the ranch. The first person they meet there is Candy, an old swamper. Candy owns an old sheepdog that he raised from when he had been a puppy. He tells them that the boss, the owner of the ranch, is angry with them because he had been expecting them to arrive the previous evening. 

This proves true when the boss does arrive. George blames the bus driver who lied to them about how far the ranch is from the place he dropped them at. When asked about their previous work experiences, George answers for both Lennie and himself. This provokes the boss’ suspicion and he wonders why George is possessive of Lennie. He inquires about their last job and why they left. George lies to him, saying that the work at that farm was over. This pacifies the boss a little, and he leaves after assigning them to work under another ranch hand, Slim, warning them to not attempt to deceive him.

They are then introduced one by one to the others who work on the ranch—the ill-tempered Curley (who is also the boss’ son), Slim, and Carlson. Slim’s dog has recently littered, and Carlson wonders if they can convince Candy to shoot his old dog and adopt one of the puppies instead. The idea of owning a puppy excites Lennie as well. 

They also meet Curley’s wife. She is pretty and flirts with the men who work on the ranch, making Curley a lot more quarrelsome. George warns Lennie to stay away from the couple but is afraid that he himself may end up in a scrape with Curley. Lennie feels uncomfortable and wants to leave, but George reminds him that they need to earn enough in order to buy their own farm. 

Later, Slim gives Lennie a pup of his own. George thanks Slim for the gift, and the latter comments on the strong bond between George and Lennie, wondering about its origins. Feeling that he can trust Slim, George relates the story of how he found himself in charge of Lennie. They are from the same town, and while they are not actually related, George assumed a caretaker position for Lennie when the latter’s Aunt Clara died. He also confides in Slim about the real reason the pair had to leave their previous ranch. 

Candy and Carlson then arrive, arguing about Candy’s old dog: Carlson wants him to put the ancient dog out of its misery (due to old age) and replace it with one of Slim’s pups. He offers to shoot the dog himself, and after a great deal of argument, Candy agrees.

The fate of Candy’s dog becomes a symbol of the callousness of the times, especially toward old age.

Crooks—a black farm hand—then enters the bunkhouse, letting Slim know that he has heated the tar for the mule’s foot and that Lennie is in the barn petting the puppies too hard. Slim leaves to take care of the situation.

Another worker, Whit, approaches George, commenting on Curley’s wife. He says that she is too provocative and asks George if he’d like to go to a brothel. George declines, saying that he needs to save up his money instead. 

Lennie then arrives and begins talking to George about their dream farm. Candy overhears them and offers to contribute his own savings in exchange for being allowed to live with them. They agree, and George tells him that there is, in fact, a farm that he and Lennie have seen and hope to buy. 

Meanwhile, Curley interrupts the men several times, looking for his wife. Slim gets annoyed and yells at him. In retaliation, Curley attempts to pick a fight with someone and targets Lennie. At first, Lennie doesn’t retaliate. But when Curley punches him hard enough to draw blood, George encourages him to hit back. Lennie promptly breaks Curley’s hand. The other men tell Curley that he shouldn’t attempt to get George and Lennie fired as it was him who had instigated the fight.

On Saturday evening, most of the men on the ranch go to the nearby town. Crooks is alone in the stables, where he sleeps, when Lennie comes in looking for some company. He is hesitant about letting the giant in but eventually relents. Lennie, in his forgetfulness, starts talking about his dream farm. Crooks doesn’t believe him, thinking that this is a fantasy that Lennie has dreamed up.

Loneliness is a prominent theme in Of Mice and Men.

He then tells Lennie about his childhood. Growing up, his was the only black family in the area. Sometimes, white children from the neighborhood played with him, but Crooks’ father frequently instructed him to stay away from white people. Now, he understands why his father told him so. But it doesn’t stop him from feeling lonely. 

Candy comes in and asks Crooks if he can join the two men. At first, there is an awkwardness, but Candy soon settles into the conversation and he confirms Lennie’s claims about the farm. He even reveals that they have saved up most of the amount needed to purchase the land and may soon be able to leave. Crooks asks if he, too, can join them and that he is willing to do odd jobs around the farm.

At this point, Curley’s wife comes in looking for her husband. Upon seeing the three, she taunts them but then admits that her marriage is not a happy one and she feels very lonely—lonely enough that she is seeking companionship with Candy, Crooks, and Lennie.

However, she swings back to teasing them, asking them about what happened to Curley’s hand and telling them that she doesn’t believe that he hurt himself while using a machine on the farm (an excuse that Curley had given her and the three men back). She notices Lennie’s bruises and guesses that he fought with her husband and presses him for an answer. 

Crooks, then, tries to drive her away, threatening her that he will complain to the boss about her. She counters with her own threat: she can easily have him lynched. The rest of the men return to the farm, and when she hears them, Curley’s wife leaves.

The idea that Curley’s wife can so easily provoke a lynch mob against Crooks reveals the inherent racism of the time.

George finds Lennie, Candy, and Crooks and is told that Crooks knows about the farm. He becomes angry, and his obvious displeasure prompts Crooks to change his mind about joining them on the farm.

The next afternoon, Sunday, Lennie is sitting alone in the barn, stroking his now dead puppy. He asks the dead animal how it died when it wasn’t as small or as delicate as a mouse. He worries about George’s reaction and buries the body in the hay to try to hide it. But Lennie realizes that it is futile and that George will know anyway. Now angry, he throws the pup’s body across the barn. He then grows remorseful and begins stroking it again.

Curley’s wife comes into the barn and Lennie tries to hide the pup from her. When she realizes what it is, she tries to comfort Lennie, telling him that it was just a mutt. Once again, she complains about her loneliness on the ranch and starts talking about her childhood. 

Her mother prevented her from joining a traveling show when she was younger. But at the age of  fifteen, she got an opportunity to go to Hollywood when she was spotted by a talent scout. It, however, didn’t work out, and she ended up married to Curley.

The revelation of Curley’s wife’s own shattered dreams make her a more sympathetic character.

Throughout her narrative, Lennie is quiet and then tells her that he likes touching soft things. She responds that she likes doing so too, and that if he wants to, he can touch her hair which is soft. He just needs to take care that he doesn’t mess it up.

Lennie starts stroking her hair. He does mess it up, and she demands that he stop. Lennie begins to panic, and instead of letting go, he holds on tighter, pulling her hair. Curley’s wife tries to scream, but Lennie covers her mouth with his hand. She starts to struggle, and the more she does so, the tighter his grip gets until he breaks her neck.

Realizing that he has killed her, Lennie starts to panic. He tries to cover her body up with the hay, and then picking up the dead puppy, he leaves for the clearing that George had told him to go to in case of trouble. 

Later, Candy discovers Curley’s wife. He tells George, who immediately guesses what has happened. He also understands that their dream of owning a farm by themselves is now dead. He hopes that Lennie will be treated benevolently by the authorities but realizes that it is an empty hope. More urgently, he is concerned that due to his closeness to Lennie, he too will be blamed for the murder. 

George tells Candy that he should be the one to break the news of the death to the other men. George himself will pretend not to know of it. When he leaves the barn, Candy turns to the dead body and curses it for ruining the dream farm.

When the other men find out what has happened, Curley demands that they form a mob and search for Lennie. He intends to kill him, and most of the others agree. They take Crooks’ shotgun and set out. 

In the meantime, Lennie has returned to the clearing. As he drinks from the river, he has visions. In one, his Aunt Clara is scolding him about causing so much trouble for George. In another, a huge rabbit promises him that George is mad at him and that he will beat Lennie and leave him.

Just then, George himself appears. Lennie tries to apologize and offers to run away and live in a cave to free George of the burden of taking care of him. George is quiet and does not yell at him. Instead, he talks about how most people are alone in the world, but George and Lennie are not because they have each other.

Then, at Lennie’s request, he begins talking about the farm. Lennie is eager to go get it now and turns to go. In the background, the sound of the approaching mob grows more apparent. At this point, George shoots Lennie in the back of the head.

The sound of the shot attracts the mob. They find a grieving George next to Lennie’s body. He lies to them, claiming that he got into a fight with Lennie and had to steal the gun from him. But Slim recognizes the lie. He also understands why George did it and tries to assure him that he had no other choice. He helps George up, and the two walk away.

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men: The Title

The title of the book Of Mice and Men was derived from a verse in the Robert Burns poem To A Mouse. 

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet in the mid-1700s. He captured the regional identity of the Scots, writing about traditional and farm life and the dynamics of class in the area. He was hailed as a people’s poet and, even today, is regarded as the Scottish national poet.

To A Mouse was written after Burns inadvertently destroyed the nest of a mouse on a farm. He is apologetic but also philosophizes how frequently men, like mice, are subject to the whim of forces much larger and stronger than themselves. He bemoans:

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men

Gang aft agley,

An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, 

For promis’d joy!

The poem shares themes with Of Mice and Men: the harshness and uncertainty of life. These lines of the poem, in particular, capture the painfulness of hope. Often, the best laid plans, which are based on hope, crumble apart and leave in their wake “grief an’ pain” at the loss of the joy that the planner believed was promised to them (by the very plan itself). 

In the story, George and Lennie (and later, Candy) are steeped in their dream plan of one day owning their own farm. Having formulated it, they frequently remind each other of its fantasy as a means of getting through the unpleasant situations they encounter. It is what they worked for and was the source of the hope that gave them the courage and strength to go on. But in the end, it all came to nought, leaving George not only without a plan but also friendless and alone.

The poem also compares mice and men. Though the two could not be more different, the mouse is a dumb creature while a human is the peak of animal intelligence—they can both be rendered helpless. Lennie, with his mental disability, may seem to have an obvious handicap that prevents him from achieving any goals he may form. George, on the other hand, is intelligent and sharp and appears to have all the faculties to aid him toward his dreams. However, in the end, George ends up no different from Lennie; he is just as helpless and unable to fulfill his dreams.

Analysis of the Characters in Of Mice and Men

Lennie: Lennie is probably the most poignant character in the novella. A large, lumbering man with a mental disability, he falls in the stereotype of the gentle giant. Over the course of the story, Lennie undergoes no change at all, and it is this constancy that cements the inevitability of the story’s end. 

In the story’s opening, an anticipation is established in the reader that the end Lennie is likely to meet is not a happy one. He guzzles down water from a river and has to be reminded by George not to overdo it. He recalls little about what has happened to him and is ruled by his emotions and urges. He fixates on the dream farm that makes him feel good and frequently asks George to repeat it to him.

Even from the picture that George paints for him about life on their very own farm, it is mainly one particular element that fascinates Lennie—the unlimited access he will have to soft rabbits that he can touch and feel. Lennie is obsessed with touching soft objects. The feel of the texture drives many of his actions. At the same time, he is also unable to comprehend the consequences of his actions. This is obvious at various points throughout the story.

The very reason George and Lennie had to leave their previous job was Lennie’s obsession. Fixated on touching something soft, he cannot understand the inappropriateness of feeling the fabric of a girl’s dress. When he receives a negative reaction to this, he panics and worsens the situation. This incident is a mirror image of the final encounter between Lennie and Curley’s wife, with the latter scene having a much more fatal consequence. Instances with animals such as the mouse and the puppy also showcase this obsession, while also foreshadowing the brutal death.

Innocence is also a central aspect of Lennie’s character. It is this innocence that, in spite of his giant-like physicality and disability, renders him defenseless. He may feel fear but cannot correctly judge the threat posed by those around him. In the same vein, it blinds Lennie to the danger that George (to whom he is devoted) can be to him. 

George: George, too, is a devoted friend. But unlike Lennie, George is forced to change over the course of the story. He has to face up to certain harsh realities and react accordingly. Lennie’s reasons for blissful ignorance do not apply to George.

The nature of the relationship between George and Lennie is a clear one. George is Lennie’s protector and caretaker, while Lennie’s simplicity and innocence serve as the source of George’s hope for a better future. 

Early in their friendship, George may have exploited Lennie. However, that is clearly not the case now. He may frequently be bossy, short, and irritable with Lennie, but it is obvious that he has Lennie’s best interests at heart. He is even willing to uproot his life and leave a stable job in uncertain times for the sake of looking out for his friend.

However, the role of protector forces him to see and react to the dangers lurking in their surroundings. George ends up in the position of having to take his friend’s life in order to protect him from the infinitely more unpleasant revenge that Curley’s mob would have rained down on him. But in doing so, he has to destroy his own hopes and dreams.

Curley: The son of the ranch owner, Curley is a thin, aggressive young man. He is an amateur boxer and frequently tries to pick fights with those around him. 

Curley fills the role of the villain in Of Mice and Men. He represents the land-owning class, their attitudes and temperament, and the mechanisms they employ to keep the poor poor. He is ill-tempered and full of false bravado. Curley wears high-heeled boots to mask his short stature and constantly clashes with the men around him. When he cannot provoke the desired reaction from the leader-figure, Slim, he targets Lennie, who is arguably the weakest link. 

Curley is married to a beautiful woman but treats her as his possession and is unable to keep her happy. The dismal state of his marriage becomes just another excuse for his hollow belligerence. 

Curley’s Wife: Curley’s wife, the sole female character in the book, is nameless and bereft of any significant personal identity. She is characterized as a temptress, who flirts with men she is not attracted to, and becomes a source of conflict on the ranch. She is also blamed for the destruction of Lennie and George’s dream, even though it is she who has met a violent death.

While largely one-dimensional, there is a moment where she is allowed some nuance and development. As she reminisces to Lennie about her lost dreams and hopes for life, an image finally emerges of a more sympathetic woman plagued by loneliness. Her dreams of entering show business have come to nought and, in this, she is like George and Lennie. 

Candy: Candy is the first ranch hand that George and Lennie meet when they arrive at their new place of work. The old man is the owner of an old dog and, in many ways, the fate of the dog is a reflection of the fate of its master. 

Soon after the character’s introduction, it is established that he is concerned about being tossed aside by the ranch’s owner due to his age. His future is uncertain without much in the way of prospects. His dog, too, faces a similar future. Candy’s coworkers repeatedly argue for the dog to be “put out of its misery.” He wonders how long it will be before the same argument is made about him.

Lennie and George’s dream farm provides him with brief respite from these haunting thoughts. However, this alternate future, too, is violently snatched from him when Lennie kills Curley’s wife. His desperation pushes him to argue for it a little, but it is clear that George will be unable to move forward with it. He ends the story as he began it—an anxious old man.

Crooks: Like Curley’s wife, Crooks is the only representation in the story of another marginalized group—African Americans. He becomes the vessel through which Steinbeck explores the dynamics of race during the Great Depression. 

Slavery has long been abolished, and California, where the story is set, is not a Jim Crow state. While segregation is not legally enforced, it is certainly in practice as evidenced by Crooks’ separate sleeping quarters and Candy’s discomfort upon entering them. During his childhood too, Crooks had been cautioned to keep away from white people, and his experience of life has caused him to recognize it as sage advice. It does not, however, stem his loneliness. 

Like Candy, Crooks too gets swept away by George and Lennie’s farm fantasy and hopes to join them. However, unlike Candy, he soon realizes that it is not a realistic option for him, primarily due to his race.

Slim: Though not the boss himself, Slim is the natural leader figure among the ranch hands. His character is the opposite of Curley’s. His decency and authority are evident to the men around him, and he is conferred a position that might otherwise have gone to Curley. This leads to Curley frequently attempting to engage Slim in a fight. But Slim doesn’t respond, further revealing his intelligence and upright character.

Slim is also the only character to correctly understand George’s actions at the end of the book (shooting Lennie) and see that he had no other option.

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