Of Mice And Men Flashcards
Curley’s wife/woman
Subservient to their husbands
Roles were to be wives and mothers
Patriarchal system/society/sphere
Derogatory lexis “tart”
Misogynistic attitudes - men have towards women misogynistic - strong prejudiced views towards women
Prejudiced views/attitudes
Objectified - Curley’s wife - his property
Woman - lack of financial independence and opportunities outside the domestic sphere
Lack of independence/autonomy
Crooks/African Americans/Black people
Suppressed
Oppressed
Racially discriminated
Marginalized
Isolated
Segregated
Lack of equality/unfairly treated
Physically disabled/handicapped
The prejudiced treatment Crooks received is reflective of America at this time and the limited opportunities afforded to him because he is black
George
Dreams of self-sufficiency and land ownership
Reflective of dreams of working class/poor but who would never be able to achieve it
Lennie
Naïve to the cruelties and cynicism of the adult world
Mentally disabled/handicapped
His simple dream of owning rabbits represents that of a child’s and runs parallel to George’s dream of land ownership (burden of responsibility/adult dream juxtaposes Lennie’s simple/child-like dream)
Candy
Physically disabled/handicapped
The prejudiced treatment Candy “old Candy” received is reflective of America at this time and the limited opportunities afforded to him because he is poor, old and disabled
Symbiotic relationships:
A symbiotic relationship is a relationship in which one person is unable to live without the other due to potential struggles/disabilities, whilst the other is fully capable of living by themselves.
The American Dream
It is a fallacy - a lie. It is there to motivate people the majority (the poor) to work but for most, it remains a dream.
Vicious cycle - unable to work their way out of these social positions e.g. land ownership, be in pictures, live with others and not be segregated, exploited, mistreated
Circular narrative proves this as George’s plans and efforts fail and he ends up back where he started. This supports Crooks’ cynical attitude about the dream
Themes: Loneliness in workers
“I seen the guys that go around the ranches alone. They ain’t no good. They don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean”
Ranch workers get so lonely, occasionally they will become violent and aggressive just to have any social connection even if violent.
“Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world”
Throughout the 1930’s migrant workers spent their time hunting for jobs alone, they rarely travelled together as most of the time they moved from ranch to ranch with the farming seasons and never settled down at a permanent job, so they never made friends.
Themes: Curleys wife loneliness
“I get awful lonely”
Since there are no other women on the ranch to socialise with, Curley’s wife relies on the ranch workers to talk to her, but even this is a challenge as most men ignore her including her husband, Curley himself! This is why she dresses flamboyantly, partly because of her dream to become a film star, but also to grab the attention of the workers so she isn’t lonely.
Crook’s Loneliness
“A guy needs somebody- to be near him”
Crooks is isolated from the rest of the workers due to the racial prejudice he receives from them and the fact that there is no other black workers on the ranch he can talk to. This isolation has driven Crooks to dreaming of what George and Lennie both have, companionship.
Candy’s loneliness
“I ain’t got no relatives or nothing”
At first Candy is not lonely as he has his sheepdog for company. However when his dog is shot, Candy is devastated by the loss as it is the only kind of friend or family he has as he has no relatives to turn to, and the temporary presence of ranch workers means he can’t make any friends that will remain with him.
Carlson
“Why’nt you get candy to shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups to raise up”
Carlson is presented as dismissive and heartless, incapable of understanding the emotional attachment Candy has with his dog
“Now what the hell ya suppose is eaten them two guys”
His inability to comprehend the sadness of George and slim over the death of Lennie represents his emotional detachment to others and is also shows his disregard for human life
‘Luger pistol’
Allusion to ww1 and Germany. The Luger pistol serves as a reminder for the millions of people who lost their lives during the naxi regime and how the individual example of savagery seen in the novella is also seen on a much larger scale throughout history
‘you ain’t being kind to him keeping him alive
He is more concerned with the impracticality of keeping the dog alive. which draws a comparison to slim drowning the puppies
‘If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head… he’d never know what hit him’
His method of execution draws parallels with the execution of Lennie at the end of the novella
‘Carl’s right, Candy’
Carlson is listened to by other members of the ranch
‘I’ll kick your god damn head off’
He meets his violence with violence to maintain his dominance over Curley
