Slim

Question 1

“I hardly never seen two guys travel together”

Answer 1

Slim saying this emphasises the closeness of Lennie and George’s and how they almost portray a father-son relationship.

Question 2

‘God-like’

Answer 2

• Steinbeck elevates Slim to the immortal status considering his character represents an ideal of what a man should be like: kind, compassionate and moral.
• Through Slim, Steinbeck promotes his anti-capitalist message.

Question 3

‘all talk stopped when he spoke’

Answer 3

This depicts a clear sign of respect that the workers had for him

Question 4

‘Slim don’t need to wear no high heeled boots’

Answer 4

The contrast between Curley and Slim, as he doesn’t need to wear high-heeled boots to demonstrate his authority, suggests that the economic power of Curley and his father, who are depicted at top of the hierarchy of the ranch workers as they own the ranch, doesn’t outrank Slim’s.

• Steinbeck presents Slim as the ideal man who is of high moral and a contrast to the greed of capitalists that destroyed the agricultural life in 1930s America

Question 5

“you hadda George. I swear you hadda”

Answer 5

• Slim considers the alternatives for Lennie considering he either gets brutally murdered by Curley or he gets admitted into a mental institution.
• He’s able to make rational decisions to navigate the cruel world Lennie lives in.