Of Mice And Men :: Chapter 1 Notes

Summarization:

The first chapter introduces two men named Lennie and George. They appear to be scouring for jobs, everything they own is on their backs and the only people to rely on are each other. Lennie seems to have been born with some sort of disability, he is ill-educated and does not know right from wrong. "His huge companion dropped his blankets and flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse" (page 3). After a scolding from George, the two continue their for mile trek for a while, until Lennie asks where they are going, apparently again. Here, I think that the author is trying to tell his readers why George and Lennie are in the middle of nowhere and what they are doing through the words of George on page 4. Next, Lennie confesses to have been keeping a dead mouse in his pocket to stroke as they walked. "'A mouse? A live mouse?' 'Uh-uh. Jus' a dead mouse, George. I didn' kill it. Honest! I found it. I found it dead.'" (page 5). If you read between the lines you could figure out that Lennie had not found it dead, he had actually pet it to hard and accidentally killed it. Awhile after the mouse conflict, The two, mostly Lennie, talk about the future: owning a nice house with acres of land, lots of pigs and cows, a garden, having money, and of course rabbits. The chapter ends with George and Lennie falling asleep under the stars.


Questions:

Characters: George and Lennie
Where/When:                

Why does George still stay with Lennie even though he could do much better on his own? Is it pity? Are they friends?

Why does Lennie have a mental disability? Is it hereditary?

Why does Lennie lie about the mouse in his pocket? Is he afraid that George will be mad at him?


Prediction:

I predict that they are actually very far from the ranch they are trying to reach and that they might not even ever get there. "'Jes' a little stretch down the highway.' he says. 'Jes' a little stretch.' God damn near four miles, that's what it was! Didn't wanta stop at the ranch gate, that's what. Too God damn lazy to pull up. Wonder he isn't too damn good to stop in Soledad at all. Kicks us out and says, 'Jes' a little stretch down the road.' I bet it was more than for miles. Damn hot day.'" I believe that what George says here foreshadows my prediction that theyu may not even be close to this ranch and the story will take another turn entirely.