(OLD) Of Mice and Men Quotes

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,"

description of crooks bunk

“Crooks' bunk was a long box filled with straw,”

description of the barn

“the straw piled in the mangers."