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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay example

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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck John Steinbeck was born on 27 Feb 1902 in Salinas, California, not far from the area where Of Mice and Men is set. He attended Stanford University, but never settled to one area of study and left without obtaining a degree. In his twenties, he pursued a varied working life, including that of an itinerant ranch worker, similar to the characters portrayed in the novel. His early writings had some success, and established him as an author interested in social problems. 'Of Mice and Men' was first published in 1937, and was immediately successful, earning Steinbeck a wide reputation. Steinbeck enjoyed even greater success with the full-length novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), which won …show more content…

George realises that Curley will undoubtedly cause trouble for them. After the two men are hired by the Boss, they meet Slim, a jerkline skinner. He has a lot of authority and has earned much respect from the men. They also meet Carlson. Later that night, after dinner, Slim gives Lennie one of his puppies. Lennie is delighted by the gift, for he loves to pet things like rabbits, puppies and even mice, although he sometimes accidentally kills the creatures, not knowing his own strength. George confides in Slim, telling him about how Lennie has caused many problems before, like in Weed. A girl thought Lennie was trying to rape her, and they had to flee. Later that night, Candy overhears George and Lennie talking about their dream, and he asks if he could join them. He has quite a bit of money saved up, and they realise that if they combine their money in one month's time, they will have enough to buy the house. All three of them are excited by the prospect of how close they are to fulfilling their dream. Still later that night, Curley attacks Lennie when he sees Lennie smiling when Curley is arguing with Carlson. Lennie does nothing to protect himself until George tells him to fight back. Then Lennie crushes Curley's hand. George is worried because he thinks he will be fired, but Slim convinces Curley to tell people that he got his hand caught in a machine. The next night, (Saturday night) while most of the

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