5 min read ⌚ 

Here goes an unusual and heart moving story of a friendship.

You want to get on this literary ride, trust me.

Who Should Read “Of Mice and Men”? And Why?

“Of Mice and Men” is a story about two migrant laborers and friends, George and Lennie, who are each other’s support and family, and share a dream of owning their own farm. However,  things soon go wrong.

We recommend this gripping tale to everyone! It is impossible not to love it.

John Steinbeck Biography

John Steinbeck is a prolific American writer, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize Winner.

Plot

Meet George and Lennie.

They are migrant workers, one of them (George) small and dark, with sharp features on his face, while the other (Lennie) a giant man with a, as Steinbeck puts it, “shapeless” face.

At the moment, they got off a bus in the middle of nowhere, far away from California, where they should start working.

To make matters worse, they are thirsty.

Thankfully, there is a pool and a clearing where they can camp, and they decide to do so, for the upcoming night.

During their night together, they get into a conversation, from which it is clear that Lenny is dependent upon George, since he has a small mental disability, so he needs someone to protect him.

At one point, George finds out that Lennie has all along been carrying a dead mouse with him. He has this thing with soft things – he pets them, but accidentally kills them afterward.

Lennie does not realize the mouse is dead and continues stroking him.

George is mad and throws the mouse away with anger. He exclaims that everything would be easier if he were not responsible for Lennie.

But, we do not believe him, since you can see that he cares for his friend deeply and that he is only afraid that he will get some disease from the dead animal.

Then, we find out that their friendship is also connected by the shared dream of buying land to farm and keeping rabbits on it.

Their night ends with George telling Lennie a story about how great life would be at their dream place.

When the sun goes up, the men go to the nearby ranch, trying to find a job. In order to do that, George decides to lie about Lennie’s mental condition, and he insists on being the one that does the talking.

As it turns out, the lies work, and they are hired.

They meet the boss’s son Curley and his wife, whom he is possessive of, as well as the old handyman Candy.

It seems that Curley is jealous for a reason – his wife is of flirtatious nature, and as soon as Lennie and George stay alone in the house, she appears and tries to seduce them.

Lennie finds her attractive, but George immediately warns him to stay away from that woman.

Soon, when the people return to the house, they also meet the mule driver called Slim. He is fascinated by the kind of friendship that George and Lennie share.

By saying that he creates a feeling of trust, and the next day George decides to come clean and tells him that he and Lennie are actually friends and not cousins like he lied to the boss.

Then, he starts telling him about all those moments when Lennie got him in trouble.

When he stays alone with Lennie, they discuss their plans of buying a piece of land, a conversation which the old handyman Candy overhears, and wants “in.”

They tell him that he can join, but if he keeps quiet about it. In the meantime, Curley is searching for his wife, and not knowing whom to blame, picks a fight with Lennie.

Slim stands in his defense, saying that he should not try to get them fired unless he wants to become a laughingstock.

The next day, most of the men decide to head for the local brothel. Lennie is left behind.

Curley’s wife uses the opportunity and flirts with him, further amused by the cuts she sees on Lennie’s face, which she can sense are a result of her husband’s jealousy.

She leaves when the other men arrive, but finds him the next day again, when he is vulnerable because he accidentally killed his puppy, just as he usually does with animals.

She tries to console him and tells him her dream of becoming a movie star, which never did and never will come true. But, she wishes she followed it, she tells him.

In that conversation, Lennie tells her that he has a thing for soft things, so she offers him her hair, to touch it.

However, just as he sometimes does, he grabs it too tightly, and she screams.

Trying to silence her, he unintentionally breaks her neck and kills her.

Of Mice and Men Epilogue

Lennie is afraid of what he did, and he escapes back to that camping place that George pointed as a meeting spot if someone of them ever gets into trouble.

And, oh boy, is Lennie in trouble!

The men in the house discover what has happened, and so does George, so he hurries to meet Lennie at the designated place.

Surprisingly, George does not seem to be mad at him for doing such a bad thing. Instead, he starts to tell him their story of the idyllic life they will lead once they get the farm they want to buy.

As the sound of the approaching men gets louder, George takes out his gun and shoots his friend in his head.

Everyone else arrives and is surprised by the view.

George lies to them, saying that the gun was Lennie’s and that he took it away from him and shot him in self-defense.

Only Slim, who seems to understand their kind of friendship, seems to know that what George did was not out of anger, but out of mercy.

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“Of Mice and Men PDF Quotes”

Our Critical Review

Why did I have to read this?

I cried so much in the end.

These characters made me love them, laugh with them, and cry for them. They made me dream about their rabbit farm, and cheer for them.

And in the end, they hurt me so badly!

This book is amazing! But, if you are like me, and tend to connect with the characters too much if they let you get prepared to be hurt too.

Emir Zecovic

Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.