MH and OMAM Comparative Literature

Prep for end of year exams

“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you” - George

Theme of friendship and mutual dependence; cyclical sentence structure emphasizes equality and emotional bond in a lonely world.

“I can still tend the rabbits, George?”

Childlike repetition and simple diction reveal Lennie’s innocence and tragic lack of understanding; symbol of the dream

“I ought to of shot that dog myself.”

Foreshadowing of George killing Lennie; parallelism highlights responsibility and mercy killing

“Every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a God damn one of 'em ever gets it.”

Colloquial language and repetition emphasize the unattainable American Dream and cyclical failure

“They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they had never really believed in was coming true.”

Short sentence and shared reaction show rare hope; dramatic irony as reader knows dream will fail

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.”

Inclusive pronouns and blunt tone highlight universal loneliness and lack of belonging

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

Repetition and possessive language show Crooks’ isolation and desire for control in a racist society

Candy’s dog

Symbol of weakness, aging, and foreshadowing of Lennie’s fate

The dream farm

Symbol of hope, escape, and the American Dream; ultimately unattainable

Setting (ranch/Great Depression)

Reflects economic hardship and isolation; natural imagery contrasts harsh human reality

Foreshadowing (OMAM)

Repeated hints (Candy’s dog, Lennie’s actions) build inevitability of tragic ending

Cyclical structure (OMAM)

Novel begins and ends in same setting, reinforcing inevitability and lack of progress

Loneliness (OMAM)

Central theme shown through Crooks, Curley’s wife, and ranch workers

Power and hierarchy (OMAM)

Shown through race, gender, and physical strength (Curley, Crooks, Lennie)

Dream vs reality (OMAM)

Characters cling to dreams to escape harsh reality but fail

“There's no collisions out there, Hally… To be one of those finalists on that dance floor is like... like being in a dream about a world in which accidents don't happen.”

Extended metaphor of ballroom dancing represents ideal society without conflict; contrast to apartheid reality

“It was a “Whites Only” bench.”

Symbolism of bench represents segregation and lost innocence; dramatic irony as Hally was unaware as a child

“It’s a bloody awful world when you come to think of it.”

Exclamatory tone shows Hally’s frustration; contrast between intellectual discussion and real suffering

“The sheer audacity of it took my breath away. I mean seriously what, the hell does a black man know about flying a kite?”

Rhetorical question and racist diction reveal internalized prejudice and societal conditioning

“I don’t know. Would have been just as strange, I supposed, if it had been me and my dad…cripple man and a little boy. Nope! There’s no chance of me flying a kite without it being strange.”

Juxtaposition of Sam vs father highlights conflict and Hally’s shame; fragmented thoughts show confusion

“Sam” (Hally spits in his face.)

Stage direction as shocking climax; physical action symbolizes destruction of relationship and acceptance of racism

“He’s little boy, Boet Sam, little white boy. ”

Repetition emphasizes Hally’s immaturity and societal conditioning despite age

Kite symbol (MH)

Represents freedom, hope, and temporary escape from harsh reality; also highlights racial barriers

Bench symbol (MH)

Represents apartheid segregation and social division

Ballroom dancing (MH)

Extended metaphor for harmony and ideal society without conflict

Apartheid context

System of racial segregation shaping all relationships and power dynamics

Power and inequality (MH)

White dominance over black characters despite emotional bonds

Loss of innocence (MH)

Hally’s transformation shows how society corrupts individuals

Friendship vs society (MH)

Relationship between Hally and Sam undermined by systemic racism

Compare: friendship (OMAM vs MH)

OMAM shows fragile but genuine friendship; MH shows friendship destroyed by societal forces

Compare: society’s impact

OMAM focuses on economic hardship (Great Depression); MH focuses on racial oppression (apartheid)

Compare: dreams

OMAM dreams are unattainable but shared; MH dreams (kite/dancing) are symbolic escapes from reality

Compare: power

OMAM shows power through strength/race/gender; MH shows power through institutionalized racism

Compare: endings

OMAM ends in mercy killing (tragic but compassionate); MH ends in emotional betrayal and loss of humanity

OMAM Quote 1 - Friendship - “I got you to…”

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

OMAM Quote 2- Dream - “I can still..”

“I can still tend the rabbits, George?”

OMAM Quote 3 - Foreshadowing - “I ought to of…”

“I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”

OMAM Quote 4 - Vivid imagery - ““At about 10 o'clock…”

“At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out of the beam flies shot like rushing stars.”

OMAM Quote 5 - American dream - “They come, an’ they quit…”

“They come, an' they quit an' go on; an' every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a God damn one of 'em ever gets it.”

OMAM Quote 6 - Dramatic irony, American dream - “They looked at one another…”

“They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they had never really believed in was coming true.”

OMAM Quote 7 - Loneliness - “Guys like us…”

““Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place.””

OMAM Quote 8 - Isolation - “You got no right…”

“You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.”

MH Quote 1 - Ballroom metaphor - “Theres no collisions…”

“There's no collisions out there, Hally… To be one of those finalists on that dance floor is like... like being in a dream about a world in which accidents don't happen.”

MH Quote 2 - Harsh life - “They make you lie down…”

“They make you lie down on a bench. One policeman pulls down your trousers and holds your ankles, another one pulls your shirt over your head and holds your arms”

MH Quote 3 - Segregation - “I couldn’t sit down…”

“I couldn’t sit down there and stay with you. It was a “Whites Only” bench.”

MH Quote 4 - Inequality - "Its a bloody…”

“It’s a bloody awful world when you come to think of it.”

MH Quote 5 - Racism - “What the hell”

“What the hell does a black man know about flying a kite?”

MH Quote 6 - Relationship conflict - “If it had been me and my dad…”

“If it had been me and my dad…cripple man and a little boy. Nope! There’s no chance of me flying a kite without it being strange.”

MH Quote 7 - Destruction of relationship - “Sam…”

“Sam” (Sam stops and looks expectantly at the boy. Hally spits in his face.)

MH Quote 8 - Social conditioning - “Hes a little…”

“He’s little boy, Boet Sam, little white boy.”

OMAM Quote 9 - Bunkhouse description - “small…”

“small, square windows” and a “solid door.”

OMAM - “small, square windows” and a “solid door.”

By presenting the ranch as a stark, inhuman environment, Of Mice and Men argues that economic exploitation reduces the poorest workers to the level of prisoners or draft animals.

OMAM - “live off the fat of the land,”

They want a place of their own where they call the shots, raise their own animals, and grow their own food—where they “live off the fat of the land,” as Lennie puts it, which seems like an impossible dream during the Great Depression.