Quotes from Of Mice and Men (to memorise)

+ my own additional interpretations

“Jus’ a dead mouse…”

“Jus’ a dead mouse…”: mice represent American society. They are not important, but they are greedy. They chose happiness (cheese) but they still remain unsatisfied. They keep chasing their dreams till they die and it is over.

“Off the fatta the lan’”

“Off the fatta the lan’”: society was built on money. Happiness was achieved through money so if Lennie and George had their own farm, they would benefit a lot financially.

“George studied the cards”

“George studied the cards”: the workers played solitaire/euchre a lot to escape hard work, the opposite of the American Dream.

“Old Candy turned slowly over. His eyes were wide open. He watched George carefully”

Candy is listening to their plan. This shows that everyone wants to be part of the American Dream.

“If me and Lennie work a month an’ don’t spen’ nothing, we’ll have a hundred bucks.”

George is willing to sacrifice his free-spending for the future dream but it requires money.

“Sell eggs an’ stuff like that”:

This depicts how all happiness centres around money and if they do not save their money now, they will never live their desired life.

“High-heeled boots”

This affirms that Curley has the money to afford things that others cannot.

“Don’t tell Curley I said none of this. He’d slough me.”

Curley doesn’t have power because he’s strong. He has power as the boss’s son. He has money which everyone desires to gain joy.

“Nine of ‘em. I drowned four of ‘em right off. She couldn’t feed many.”

Slim talks about his puppies and how even the mother dog struggled. This shows the hard life of America. Life was tough and they had to make sacrifices to achieve their own dreams.

“Repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. ”

George and Lennie discuss their plans for the future farm so many times that they have it memorised. The American Dream gives them a sense of hope and comfort to keep going in life. The American Dream also possessed people’s minds and it is all they know. Without the American Dream, “They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.”

“Ain’t many guys travel around together”

Slim’s weakness is loneliness but he is not the only one. The fact that Slim even had to point out their companionship connotes the extreme isolation at the time of the Great Depression. Companionship puts you in the spotlight. Everyone wanted it.

“You seen a girl around here?”

Curley’s wife pretends to look for her husband but it is Curley who looks for her. Curley looks for respect but his wife looks for companionship.

“Susy’s place”

This place is like a pub where there are social interactions with the opposite gender. This reflects the loneliness of the workers, seeking a place for companionship.

“Being alone”

Crooks is the stable buck. He is always alone and his only company is the animals.

“I ain’t got no relatives nor nothing”

Candy’s loneliness is not just about companionship. The fact that he has no family means that the only work he has is his last chance at survival. If he has family-support, he may not be working as a swamper.

“Work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake.”

The ranch workers have no life, especially when alone. They spend all their money on themselves, feeling lonely and returning to work, yet to spend their earnings on themselves again.

“Glove fulla vaseline”

Curley may have power but he feels insecure because of his loneliness. Due to this, he shows off to the other ranch workers how he has a wife and he has companionship.

Candy and Lennie’s company brought Crooks “pleasure” but he concealed it “with anger”.

This may be because Crooks knows his place; he tries to show that he is okay with being lonely but he actually feels hurt inside. 

“Range of medicine bottles”

“Range of medicine bottles”: a motif is present here. Liniment symbolises crooks' social disease (black skin) as well as the problem with his back.

“Stable buck and a cripple”

“Stable buck and a cripple”: social, emotional and physical disease. He is lonely, faces racism and is the stable buck with a crooked back. His wages were minimal.

“Tattered dictionary”

“Tattered dictionary”: being white meant you were knowledgeable in the 1930s so Crooks tried to learn and educate himself.

“California civil code for 1905”

Crooks wants to understand the law to know where he needs to be and where not to be as an African-American. This emphasises the racism of the time.

“Mr Slim”

Crooks, being a black man, was seen at a lower rank than whites so he had to call Slim “Mr Slim”, unlike the other ranchworkers.

“... had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn”

Crooks sleeps in a segregated area from the other workers, just because of his black skin.

“Yes Ma’am”

“Yes Ma’am”: white men had power over white women but white women had power over black individuals of both genders. Crooks had to address her in such a way and not fight back because of his place in society.

“You got no right to come in my room.”

Crooks claims to have rights but he doesn’t and Lennie walks into his room anyway.

“Stood over him as though waiting for him to move so that she could whip at him again.”

Crooks was a man of strength but was nothing compared to Curley’s wife with her cunning attitude because he had a lower rank than her in society.

“Curley’s new wife”

“Curley’s new wife”: this may imply that Curley had wives before her, showing that he may not be a good husband. Women were seen as an object. They can be replaced with a new one.

“She’s a jail bait all set on the trigger”

Curley’s wife could get the workers fired or in trouble.

“If you can’t look after your own God damn wife, what you expect me to do about it? You lay offa me”

Slim tries to scare Curley to a certain degree after Curley tries to scare Slim. This also brings about the sense of feminism.

“Curley’s wife”

“Curley’s wife”: we are introduced to Curley’s wife. Her name is unknown to show she has no power as a woman.

“Why’n’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs.”

Since she is a married woman, Curley’s wife was expected to stay at home, especially being pushed out of the workforce (to give single individuals further job opportunities). She felt lonely at home and so, she searched for companionship through the other ranch workers.

“Fully rouged lips”

Curley’s wife seemed awfully lonely and often sought companionship from the other ranch workers. She was expected to stay at home as a married woman, hinting at how she was discriminated against, albeit having an unfulfilling marriage.

“Why can’t I talk to you?”:

Curley’s wife talks to Lennie. It is known that Curley was very possessive of his wife so he may have also prevented her from talking to other people.

“Think I like to stick in that house alla time?”

“Think I like to stick in that house alla time?”: as a married woman, she is expected to stay at home for her husband but she still lingers around the bunkhouse. This points to a change in society where women fought against feminine discrimination.

“She got’ a husband”

Candy talks about Curley’s wife in such a way but she is in no position to talk back as she has no power under white men.

“We’d tell about you framin’ Crooks”

Candy tells this to Curley’s wife, indicating how white men had power over white women to some degree.

“He pointed with his toe. ‘Right back of the head. He wouldn’t even quiver.’”

Carlson has no respect or sympathy for the old dog, nor Old Candy who relies on his dog for company as an old man without family.

“Stable buck” and “Crooked back”

Crooks only had the company of the animals and was further discriminated for his injury.

“Leave his things about”

Crooks has no choice but to live alone. To make things seem better than they really are, he makes use of his personal space.

“Got no family”

Candy was old but not retired. Without a welfare system in place to support the elderly during the Great Depression, they would have to rely on their families for survival. However, Candy didn’t have any relatives so he was forced into the workforce with a resentful job as the “swamper.”

“You got no right to come in my room.”

Lennie walks into Crooks’s room, showing that even though he had a mental disability, he still had power over Crooks, having white skin.

“Nobody’d listen to you.”

Candy told Curley’s wife that he would tell the other ranch workers that she framed Crooks. He may have power over her but being old, he is weak to the other ranch workers. Being old, the other workers may think that Candy doesn’t belong with them or fit in. He is underestimated, seen as vulnerable and is disregarded.

“...always killed ‘em”

George tells Lennie how he always accidentally killed mice. Lennie was a man with a mental disability. His behaviour was innocent and childish. This may implicitly point to the fact that a new person in your life may crush your dreams. People craved companionship, letting in the weakest of people in their lives. The fact that Lennie always accidentally killed mice infers an accidental death of a dream further into the novella.

“dumb-dumb”

Lennie was seen as vulnerable, childish and didn't have much of an opportunity at the American Dream.

“I’d make a will an’ leave my share to you guys in case I kick off ‘cause I ain’t got no relatives nor nothing.”

Old Candy was helpless and wanted to give George and Lennie a bit of hope with their dream. The dream, to Candy, was like a second chance at life. In such a hostile environment, it was extremely difficult to survive, so to have a shared dream with his companions brought hope.

“I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you.”

George stays with Lennie so as to not be alone. They acknowledge that their friendship is like no other and other people crave for companionship as such as they are all lonely.

George says that the ranch workers are “the loneliest guys in the world.”

During the tough financial crisis of the 1930s, people often relied on others. The lack of companionship made it harder to survive in such a harsh environment.

“Don’t tell Curley I said none of this. He’d slough me.”

This connotes Curley’s power for being the boss's son. He isn’t powerful because he is “pretty handy” or because “He done quite a bit in the ring.” He has power because he has money – which is what everyone wants for a better life.