Of Mice and Men

Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.09: In a Supporting Role

Oh, don't mind me. I'm just holding up the world over here.
(Source)

Sometimes the best actors play the supporting roles. Steve Buscemi. Stanley Tucci. John Malkovich.

These are some of the great supporting actors of our time, but often they don't get the credit they deserve. John Malkovich isn't even technically the star of Being John Malkovich. Seriously, what's a guy got to do to get top billing around here? He did play Lennie in the 1992 Of Mice and Men film adaptation, though, so he'll always be a star in our eyes.

In this two-day, two-part lesson, we're going to pay homage to the great supporting characters in Of Mice and Men. That means we'll be leaving George and Lennie behind (sorry, John) to hang out with our new friends Candy, Crooks, Slim, and Curley. Well, maybe we're not so much friends with Curley as we are frenemies, but we're still going to spend time with him. All four of these men are in the running for the (completely metaphorical, entirely subjective) award for Best Supporting Actor in A Novel Called Of Mice and Men.

Get ready to cast your ballots, Shmoopers, because you get to decide who wins. Over the next two days, we're going to get to know our play-novelette's Steve Buscemis and Stanley Tuccis well enough to fill out STEAL charts for all of them. Said charts will continue helping us analyze the characters of our beloved "play-novelette" with the utmost rigor, detail-oriented razor-sharp intelligence, and chartiness. With these in hand, we'll then pick one supporting character to win the award.

The prize? You'll just have to wait and find out.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.09a: I Coulda Been in the Pitchas!

This is Hollywood, right? (We mean: our brain space for this lesson is Hollywood. You might actually be in Indiana or Kansas or California [Salinas Valley?!] or New Jersey.) So we should watch a movie. Or part of a movie, anyway. Yup: back to that famous 1992 adaptation of Of Mice and Men we're always talking about.

We'll want you to focus especially on the scene from Chapter Four where Lennie visits Crooks in his room. It starts at 1:11:00 and lasts for a few minutes, but since we'd like you to watch about forty minutes of the film, start your viewing at the 30:00 minute mark and finish after the Lennie/Crooks scene.

Pay attention to the performances of each actor in these parts. Start thinking about whether you think their portrayals capture the essences of the characters as you've experienced them in the book so far. How does this scene in Chapter Four play out on the screen compared to how you imagined it while reading? Does the tone seem different at all? What about the film version strikes you as particularly noteworthy and different from Steinbeck's written Of Mice and Men?

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.09b: Two Mouse-Petting Thumbs-Up

For our next trick, we're going to have you read some reviews of the 1992 Of Mice and Men adaptation you've been jumping around in.

The first will come from the late, great Roger Ebert. The second comes to us courtesy of Vince Canby at the New York Times.

Both critics praised the film for its performances, but it only brought in about five and a half million at the box office. That's, like, less than the CGI budget for Iron Man, right? Good thing it did well at award season.

As you read, consider the following:

• How does the film version of the scene compare to the version you imagined when you read the book? How do they differ, or overlap? Do the characters strike you as similar to the ones you saw and heard in your head? If you'd been in charge, would you have done anything differently?
• What do you think of the reviews of Ebert and Canby? Do you think they capture what's important? Do you agree with their opinions? Why or why not?
• If you had to write your own review of the film (or the part you've watched so far—the first half), what would you say?

You'll be drawing upon your insights for the activities to come, in which you'll get your moment in the sun as a voting member of the National Motion Picture Shmoop-sociation.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.09a: And the Nominations Are…

The time has come, Shmoopers. You're going to fill out your ballots for Best Supporting Actor in a Novel called Of Mice and Men. And by ballots, we mean STEAL charts. (We'll decide who wins in the next activity. And by "we'll" we mean "you'll.")

Step One

In this activity, you're going to create a chart for each of the four characters on the ballot: Candy, Crooks, Slim, and Curley. Unlike our previous STEAL charts, which focused on the friendship between George and Lennie, these are not going to include any additional analysis, meaning you don't have to write one or two sentences explaining the significance of your quotes. Your chart should look something like this:

Make sure to include two to three pieces of textual evidence per category per character.

Step Two

Before we head into the next activity, where we'll be deciding who takes the cake as a top-notch supporting character, let's back up for a minute and do a little written response exercise. Think about the role that supporting characters (or, as they're also sometimes called, "minor characters"—sounds less glamorous, we think) play in narrative works like novels, films, and plays. Start by considering Of Mice and Men in particular: what purpose do these smaller parts serve in the story as a whole? How do they connect to the main characters? It may help to think about other books you've read or films you've seen, and to think about how the supporting characters contributed to those works.

Write a 200 – 300 word expository response telling us, generally speaking, what purposes minor characters play in a story. Connect it to Of Mice and Men in particular, too.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.09b: And the Award Goes To…

You decide, Shmoopers: who's the Best Supporting Actor in a Novel Called Of Mice and Men? Is it Candy, the beleaguered old man who won our hearts by feeding his dog a bowl of milk? Is it Slim, the passively handsome skinner of Curley's nightmares? Is it Curley himself, coming from behind to win it all? Or is it ostracized, Lennie-provoking, room-party-having Crooks?

Once you've chosen the winner, you're going to write a five-paragraph analysis of the character you feel most deserves the award. Your essays should be 500 – 600 words in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced. In keeping with the theme of loneliness that pervades the most recent chapter, you should answer the following questions:

• What separates this character from the others? What makes him different, unique?
• What are his motivations? What does he want, and what is he fighting for?
• How do his dreams affect the story or move the plot forward?
• What role does this character have to play in the narrative?

Using quotes you've gathered in your STEAL chart, cite at least five pieces of textual evidence to support your analysis. If you pick Slim, for instance, you could cite the description we got when we first met him (that there's "a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke. His authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love"). From there you could make the argument that he's the voice of reason on the ranch, the centralizing force that keeps the boys from falling out of line.

"Slim seems interested in doing his job well," you might write. (Though don't actually write that—don't steal our answers, please! Just take inspiration from them. Since, we know, they're so very inspiring.) "Taking care of his men and his horses. Crooks mentions that he comes to the barn several times a night to check on them. He provides a calm and steady force in the narrative…"

If you need any help writing the paper, head over to Shmoop's Essay Lab for more tools and tips to help you get started. And for more on analysis essays, check out this video:

Once you're finished, submit your essay below.

Sample Lesson - Activity