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Characters · 9
Candy
Candy is an aging, one-handed handyman on the Soledad ranch in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
character
Carlson
Carlson is a ranch hand in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, representing a stark and unsentimental practicality that contrasts sharply with the novel's themes of loyalty and compassion.
character
Crooks
Crooks is the Black stable buck on the ranch in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, named for his crooked spine, a consequence of a horse's kick.
character
Curley
Curley is the antagonistic son of the ranch boss in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, representing the most immediate human threat in the story.
character
Curley's Wife
Curley's Wife is the only woman on the ranch in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, and she remains unnamed throughout—this choice highlights how the male-dominated world of the novel reduces her to a possession defined solely by her husband.
character
George Milton
George Milton is the practical, quick-witted main character in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
character
Lennie Small
Lennie Small is one of the two main characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
character
Slim
Slim is the jerkline skinner at the Soledad ranch in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, serving as the story's moral compass and unofficial judge of character.
character
The Boss
The Boss is a minor yet structurally significant character in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, acting as the owner of the ranch where the main events take place.
character
Key quotes · 12
“A guy needs somebody—to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you.”
This line comes from Crooks, the Black stable hand, speaking to Lennie in Chapter 4 of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937).
Crooks · Chapter 4
“I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an' on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an' that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head.”
This line is spoken by Crooks, the Black stable-hand, to Lennie (and later Candy) during the crucial bunkhouse scene in Chapter 4 of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
Crooks · Chapter 4
“An' live off the fatta the lan'.”
This phrase is spoken by Lennie Small and eagerly repeated by George Milton in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937).
Lennie Small (also George Milton)
“You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.”
This line is spoken by Slim to George at the very end of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937), right after George has shot Lennie to protect him from a violent mob lynching.
Slim · Chapter 6 (final chapter)
“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.”
This line is spoken by Lennie Small to George Milton in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937).
Lennie Small · Chapter 1
“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place.”
This line is spoken by George Milton to his companion Lennie Small near the beginning of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937), as the two men camp by the Salinas River before starting work at a new ranch.
George Milton · Chapter 1
“She's gonna make a mess. They's gonna be a bad thing.”
This line is spoken by Candy in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, probably in Chapter 4 or 5, when Curley's wife enters the bunkhouse or the stable buck's room where Lennie, Candy, and Crooks are hanging out.
Candy · Chapter 4
“I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”
This line is delivered by Candy, the aging handyman on the ranch, near the end of Chapter 3 in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
Candy · Chapter 3
“Tell me about the rabbits, George.”
This tender, recurring plea is voiced by Lennie Small, the large, intellectually disabled farmhand, to his companion and caretaker George Milton throughout John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937).
Lennie Small
“With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.”
This line is spoken by George Milton to his friend Lennie Small in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937), early in the novella as they camp by the Salinas River while heading to a new job on a ranch.
George Milton · Chapter 1
“Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?”
This line is delivered by Whit, a ranch hand, towards the end of Chapter 3 in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
Whit · Chapter 3
“Lennie—if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush.”
This line is delivered by George Milton to his friend Lennie Small near the beginning of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937), while the two men take a break by the Salinas River before heading to the ranch where they will work.
George Milton · Chapter 1
Symbols · 5
Candy's Dog
In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Candy's dog represents the fate of the old, the weak, and those no longer deemed useful in a harsh world.
Curley's Wife's Hair
In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Curley's Wife's meticulously styled hair reflects her deep desire for identity, beauty, and a life beyond the confines of the ranch.
Mice
In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, mice represent the illusion of safety and the vulnerability of those without power.
Rabbits
In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, rabbits represent Lennie's dreams, innocence, and the delicate nature of hope.
The Farm / Dream of Land
In Of Mice and Men, the dream farm that George and Lennie envision captures the hope and the American Dream for those facing society's toughest challenges.
Literary devices · 10
Symbolism
The rabbits that Lennie dreams of taking care of serve as the novella's most persistent symbol.
Motif
The act of stroking soft things appears repeatedly as a key theme.
Imagery
Steinbeck begins and ends the novella at the same pool on the Salinas River, using rich descriptions of nature—like 'willows fresh and green,' 'deep and green' water, and a heron standing 'in the shallows'—to create a serene setting that the harsh realities of ranch life disrupt.
Dramatic Monologue
George's repeated retelling of the dream — "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world... but not us" — serves as a dramatic monologue within the dialogue.
Allegory
The novella serves as a social allegory for the Great Depression and the American Dream.
Juxtaposition
Steinbeck contrasts Lennie's massive physique with his innocent mindset, which creates the central emotional depth of the novella.
Irony
The novella's deepest irony lies in its structure: the closer the dream gets to realization — thanks to Candy's money making it financially feasible — the more inevitably it is shattered.
Personification
The Salinas Valley landscape is subtly personified throughout the text.
Simile
Steinbeck employs simile to quickly establish character.
Extended Metaphor
The dream farm serves as a powerful metaphor for the American Dream throughout the novella.
Vocabulary · 20
itinerant
Traveling from place to place without a permanent home, typically to find work wherever it is available. George and Lennie are itinerant ranch hands who move on whenever trouble finds them.
adjective · Chapter 1
wiry
Lean and thin in body but tough and strong, like a wire — not bulky, but not weak either. It describes a person whose strength is not obvious from their size.
adjective · Chapter 1
swamper
An odd-job worker on a ranch who does the dirtiest, most menial chores — sweeping, cleaning, and general maintenance — often an older or disabled hand kept on out of charity.
noun · Chapter 2
bunkhouse
A plain, shared sleeping building on a ranch where the hired hands live together, furnished with simple wooden bunks and little else in the way of comfort or privacy.
noun · Chapter 2
burlap
A rough, coarse woven fabric made from jute or hemp, used here as cheap mattress covering in the ranch bunkhouse rather than softer, more comfortable material.
noun · Chapter 2
stake
A personal interest, share, or investment in something — here used to question why George would care about or take responsibility for Lennie's welfare and wages.
noun · Chapter 2
rouged
Colored with rouge, a red or pink cosmetic applied to the cheeks or lips to make them look brighter. Here it signals that Curley's wife is heavily and deliberately made up.
adjective · Chapter 2
rolled clusters
Sections of hair that have been curled and set into tight cylindrical coils, styled to look neat and fashionable, here compared to the shape of sausages.
phrase · Chapter 2
gravity
A serious, weighty dignity in a person's manner that commands attention and respect without any need for force or loud speech. It is a quality of calm authority others instinctively respond to.
noun · Chapter 2
profound
Extremely deep or intense — here describing a silence so complete and powerful that it causes everyone around to stop talking the moment Slim opens his mouth.
adjective · Chapter 2
mule skinner
A driver of mule teams, responsible for hauling heavy loads with a team of mules. On a ranch the mule skinner is a skilled worker who manages the animals used for hard labor.
noun · Chapter 3
on my tail
Following closely behind someone, watching over them, or being a constant burden and responsibility. George uses it to mean that Lennie is always there, slowing him down and complicating his life.
phrase · Chapter 1
belong no place
To have no community, home, or group that claims you as a member — to be rootless and unwanted everywhere you go, which is the common fate of migrant ranch workers.
phrase · Chapter 1
look after
To take care of and protect someone, watching out for their safety and well-being. George and Lennie each claim this responsibility toward the other as the bond that sets them apart from other lonely men.
phrase · Chapter 1
ranch hands
Hired workers employed on a ranch to do physical labor such as feeding animals, repairing fences, and harvesting crops. They are typically paid low wages and move from ranch to ranch.
noun · Chapter 1
takin' his pay away
Controlling or pocketing another person's wages, implying exploitation. The boss suspects George of cheating Lennie out of his earnings because Lennie seems too simple to manage his own money.
phrase · Chapter 2
ought to of
A spoken, non-standard form of 'ought to have,' expressing a moral obligation or duty that was not fulfilled. Candy regrets that he should have been the one to shoot his own dog rather than letting a stranger do it.
phrase · Chapter 3
cynicism
A bitter distrust of other people's motives and a disbelief that good things will ever really happen, born from long experience of disappointment and being excluded from opportunity.
noun · Chapter 3
rendezvous
A pre-arranged meeting place that two or more people have agreed to return to. George and Lennie had agreed to meet at the riverbank if anything went wrong at the ranch.
noun
lynch mob
A group of people who take violent punishment — usually killing — into their own hands outside of any legal process, driven by anger and a desire for immediate revenge.
noun