Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men Questions

Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.

  1. Of Mice and Men has an allegorical quality, with each character possessing a specific trait that represents something or some group in society. Interpreted closely, the book could read as a heavy-handed treatise about people’s chief wrongs against each other, including ageism, racism, sexism, and discrimination against those with disabilities. Are all of these wrongs treated as equally evil? Does the author mean to create a laundry list of mankind’s bad habits? Do we then believe in the characters as real, individual people, or are they merely types/symbols?
  2. The setting here is very specific. Do the events of the story only apply to this particular place and time, or can the novella be thought of as universally applying to humans everywhere?
  3. Why does George have to give up the idea of the dream farm once Lennie kills Curley’s wife? Was the farm ever a real possibility?
  4. How are the deaths of Candy’s dog and Lennie related? Why do the two have to die? Is it fair to draw a comparison between these two events? Are Candy’s dog’s death and Lennie’s death just different degrees of the same kind of thing?
  5. Is there any character who is not the victim of prejudice? Is there any character who is not prejudiced? Given everyone’s interaction with each other, how does prejudice actually operate in the novella? Is prejudice just a codeword covering for some larger human failing and tendency towards suspicion and isolation?
  6. Does George have the right to kill Lennie? Legally? Ethically? How does Steinbeck’s treatment of Lennie’s murder color the way the reader interprets the event? What does George’s action suggest about justice – within the play and in the world as a whole?
  7. Why does the story begin and end in the same place? The natural world is often described as beautiful and peaceful in the book, though it’s tempered with all sorts of awful occurrences. What role does the natural world actually play in the novella?
  8. How are the notions of power and shifts in power important here? Who has power and why? Are there different types of power?
  9. What is Steinbeck saying about dreams? Is the book’s take-home message an inherently pessimistic one?

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