Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was first published in 1937. I first read the book many years ago.  As my granddaughter is studying the novel this year for year 10 English I read the novella again.

The story is set at the end of the Great Depression in America when many men took to the road to try and pick up temporary jobs on farms. Two of these men are George Milton and Lennie Small who we first meet camping near the road ready to start work the following day. It is soon obvious that George is in charge of arrangements and has made it his business to look after Lennie who is a good worker but has a limited capacity for being aware of other people and coping in social situations. We soon learn that George and Lennie made an early exit from their previous job due to misunderstandings about Lennie's behaviour.

Lennie likes anything that is soft and in the first chapter we learn of his infatuation with mice. Later, all he want to do is to live somewhere where he can look after rabbits. George is trying to earn enough money so they can purchase some land, raise a few animals and become independent - the American Dream. However, whenever it looks as if the plan might succeed something goes wrong, usually due to an unintentional action of Lennie. One of their co-workers is Curley who is against Lennie from the start. George finally takes extreme measures to save his friend from further harm.

Of Mice and Men is a short book comprising of six chapters -120 pages in the edition l read. There are many possible discussion points within the book which is probably why it is still used as a school text, although many of the views in the book are outdated in 2025.

There are many web resources designed to assist students in understanding this work:

 Why Of Mice and Men is Still Relevant - KC Studio

Of Mice and Men - Questions and Answers - Spark Notes

Of Mice and Men Readers Guide - Penguin Books

Of Mice and Men Summaries - Cliffs Notes

Of Mice and Men - pdf