of mice and men Flashcards
(53 cards)
1
Q
lennie small
A
- mentally handicapped
- large and very strong
- depends of george
- pleasure of petting soft things
- dreams of owning a farm
2
Q
george milton
A
- protects and cares for lennie
- dreams of someday owning his own land
3
Q
slim
A
- leader of the mule team
- becomes an ally to george
- has compassion and insight
4
Q
candy
A
- the swamper
- old handy man that lost his hand
- afraid he will be fired when he’s useless
- convinces george to let him join their dream
5
Q
crooks
A
- black table worker who cares for the horses
- symbol of racial injustice
- isolates from others
6
Q
carlson
A
- insensitive ranch hand
- wants to shoot candys dog
- owns a luger
7
Q
curley
A
- son of the ranch owner
- mean little guy who picks fights with bigger guys
- married and jealous of any man who talks to his wife
8
Q
curleys wife
A
- curleys possession
- taunts and provokes ranch hands
- portrayed as a female tease
- lonely and restless
9
Q
exposition
A
setting
- salinas valley
- the ranch
- great depression
- george and lennie are travelling the countryside for work. after being run out of weed they receive work cards to work on a ranch
10
Q
initiating incident
A
- we find about the incident in weed
- foreshadowing of the future difficulties when george tells lennie to hide in the brush
11
Q
main character
A
- george and lennie
- story is ultimately about their dream and friendships
- lennie: drives conflict/ remains static
- george: dynamic character when realizes he must kill lennie
12
Q
antagonist
A
- curley: creates conflict by antagonizing lennie and fights him
- society: cruel predatory nature of the strong victimizing the weak
- lennies strength and childlike mind
13
Q
internal conflicts
A
- lennie kills the pup
- george must decide what to do to lennie
- george decides to euthanize lennie
14
Q
turning point
A
- lennie accidentally kills curleys wife
- beyond repair
- lennies actions cause george to abandon the dream and make his hard decision
15
Q
climax
A
- george reunites with lennie at the salinas river
- plan described earlier jncnov
16
Q
falling action
A
-after george kills lennie, the men hurry on to the scene and are impressed but disappointed
17
Q
conclusion
A
- slim consoles george reassuring humans that he had no choice
- curley and carlson are oblivious to george’s emotional state
- death of innocence
18
Q
point of view
A
-third person limited omniscient
19
Q
nature of human existence
A
- slim drowning his pups
- candys dog shot when no longer useful
- lennie killed time prevent suffering
- lennie a pup killed by strength
- crooks and curleys wife’s isolation
- bear vs sheep
20
Q
acceptable use of violence
A
-carlson luger used to prey upon weak
-curleys fights
-ranch hands watch lennie and curley fight
the ranch hands leave to kill lennie
21
Q
victimization of women
A
- curleys wife labelled as a tart
- curley is in town cheating on his wife and sees it as normal
22
Q
friendship
A
- george and lennie form the centrepiece
- lennie and george(travelling and caregiver)
- lennie george and candy (dream)
- candy and dog (caregiver and affection)
- crooks and lennie (ear for crooks)
- slim and george (sympathetic ear for george)
23
Q
power
A
central action in the story
- authoritative: boss, slim, curley, george
- physical: lennie, curley, violence
- influential: slim, george
- powerless: crooks, candy, curleys wife
24
Q
loneliness
A
- curleys wife: seeks attention
- crooks: believes white people want nothing to do with him
- candy: loses his only friend and dream
- george: loses best friend and dream
25
loyalty and sacrifice
-loyalty: george staying beside lennie
protects him and guides him
-candy loyal to his dog
26
dreams
- outlet for characters to rise above troubles is a shared dream of a better place
- ranch: lennie, george, candy, crooks
27
social responsibility
- doing the right thing for the benefit of the person/ animal or for society
- george and candy faced with same decision
28
title significance
-poem by robert burns “to a mouse” about how we should appreciate all life no matter how big or small and to be sympathetic to the outsiders
-even the best of plans often go wrong
mice work and their plans are ruined by humans
george and lennies dream was ripped apart
29
genre
historical fiction and tragedy
30
two dimensional characters
-flat, only know a few things ex: curley, candy, slim
31
three dimensional characters
-round, fully developed, shared emotions ex: lennie and george
32
foil
- character that provides a contrast to the protagonist
ex: george and lennie are foils for eachother
lennie: strong and dumb
george: small and smart
33
6 ways of characterization
action, speech, thoughts, other characters speech, names, direct description
34
dynamic character
- has a significant change throughout the story
| ex: george: realistic, accepting the end of the dream
35
static character
- does not change throughout the novel
| ex: lennie: dreams of the ranch until his death
36
man vs man
-lennie vs curley
37
man vs machine
curley and his incident with the machine which resulted in him losing his hand
38
man vs society
- crooks and discrimination
| - curleys wife’s isolation
39
man vs animal
carlson wanting to shoot candys dog for his own benefits
40
man vs conscience
george deciding if he should kill lennie
41
man vs decision
george deciding if he has to kill lennie
42
man vs moral
george knowing lennie is capable of hurting others
43
foreshadowing
- incident in weed
- lennie petting mice until they die
- hide in brush if anything happens
- slims pups: anything weak shouldn’t have to live
- candy wishing he killed his dog
- curley will get hurt if he messes with lennie
44
motif
dream ranch
- talk about it in the darkest times
- calms lennie
- creates hope and optimism
- thinking about a better life
45
what is to blame for the failure of the dream ranch
- lennies unknowing strength and childlike mind
- never trying to hurt anyone
- liked to touch soft things: hair is soft
- when he’s scared he grabs tighter
- did not understand the consequences
46
was it just for george to kill lennie
yes
- mercy killing: curley was already angry and would pick fights
- curley already creates a plan to make lennie suffer: george killed in a merciful alternative
- lennie is a threat to others: does not know his own strength and will always be a danger
- wanted lennie to die happy, knowing george is not mad
47
lennie sig
- ironic because lennie is a large man and his last name is small
- lennie is small minded, not as intelligent
48
george sig
- milton is a character in paradise lost who gets lost from the garden of eden and wants to get back
- how george wants to veg back to his own dream life
- george likes to dream big
49
slim sig
- he’s quiet and keeps things to himself (slim with what he reveals, when he does speak everyone listens)
- he is the head driver; leader of everyone else
50
crooks sig
- his back is crooked from getting kicked by a horse
| - only black man on the ranch: Crooks is a derogatory term that showed discrimination towards him
51
candy sig
- sweet and kind like candy
- canned because of his age
- discriminated against on the ranch
52
curley sig
- has curly hair
| - wound up tight like his curls: picks fights with bigger guys
53
curleys wife sig
- we don’t know her name: shows how women were discriminated
- curleys wife was alone and isolated
