Quotes on the themes: LONELINESS, AMERICAN DREAM, FRIENDSHIP, POWER AND POWERLESSNESS, AND FATE.
Loneliness - George
"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world."
Loneliness - Candy
"I ain't got no relatives nor nothing."
Loneliness - Curley's Wife
"I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely."
Loneliness - Crooks
"A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody."
Loneliness - Curley
"Seems like Curley ain't givin' nobody a chance"
Dreams and hope - Curleys Wife
"I coulda been in the movies..."
Dreams and hope - George
" We're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres..."
Dreams and hope - Lennie
"I get to tend the rabbits"
Dreams and hopes - Crooks
"nobody gets no land."
Dreams and hopes - Candy
"S'pose I went in with you guys..."
Friendship - George
"I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you!"
Friendship - Lennie
"Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why"
Friendship - Slim
"Ain't many guys travel around together..."
Friendship - Candy
"I shouldn't ought to have let no stranger shoot my dog."
Friendship - Crooks
"I'd come an' lend a hand..."
Friendship - Slim
"Slim's opinions were law."
(absence of ) Friendship - Curley
"He hates big guys...he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy."
(absence of) Friendship - Curley's wife
"I can't talk to nobody but Curley...How'd you like not to talk to anybody?"
Prejudice and Discrimination - Crooks (racism)
"A colored man got to have some rights even if he don't like 'em."
Prejudice and Discrimination - Curley's wife (racism)
"Listen, N*gger... You know what I can do if you open your trap?"
Prejudice and Discrimination - Candy (ageism/ablism)
"As soon as I can't swamp out no bunkhouses they'll put me on the county."
Prejudice and Discrimination - Curley (sexism)
"Well, nex' time you answer when you're spoken to."
powerlessness - Lennie (lack of control over strength)
"I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead... I don't know why..."
powerlessness - Curley's wife (lack of control over how people treat her because of her gender)
"Think I don't like to talk to somebody ever' once in a while?
Powerlessness - Candy (lack of control over his own circumstances and his own life)
"I shouldn't ought to have let no stranger shoot my dog."
Powerlessness - Crooks (lack of control over how he is treated because of his skin)
S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black...
Power - Crooks ( everybody desires power and authority)
"Ever'body wants a little piece of lan'."
Power - Slim (Respect)
"His authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject,"
Power - Curley ( Wants control over people he believes are inferior, like his wife, so that he can maintain power/authority on the ranch)
"You seen a girl around here?... What the hell you laughin' at?"
Fate - Candy (He believes that his old age and physical limitations have predetermined his future. His quote reflects a belief that he has no control over the circumstances that befall him.)
“I won't have no place to go, an' I can't get no more jobs”
Fate - George (he describes the fates of the ranch workers who are alone)
"I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone…After a long time they get mean.”
Fate - Slim ( He suggests that George's actions were inevitable and predestined. The quote implies a belief in fate and a recognition that certain events cannot be avoided.)
"You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.”
Friendship Slim to george
"Hope you get on my team,"