Of Mice and Men Innocence Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph) Though Steinbeck did not originally include chapter numbers with the text, most editions are broken into six sections, based on day and time of day: Thursday evening = Chapter 1; Friday day = Chapter 2; Friday evening = Chapter 3; Saturday night = Chapter 4; Sunday afternoon = Chapter 5; Sunday evening = Chapter 6.

Quote #7

The stable buck went on dreamily, "I remember when I was little kid on my old man's chicken ranch. Had two brothers. They was always near me, always there. Used to sleep right in the same room, right in the same bed—all three. Had a strawberry patch. Had an alfalfa patch. Used to turn the chickens out in the alfalfa on a sunny morning. My brothers'd set on a fence rail an' watch 'em—white chickens they was." (4.58)

Talk about an innocent childhood. Crooks' memories involve tumbling around with his brothers, tending strawberries, and watching chickens. What, no Call of Duty?

Quote #8

Lennie went back and looked at the dead girl. The puppy lay close to her. Lennie picked it up. "I'll throw him away," he said. "It's bad enough like it is." (5.59)

Lennie knows he's done a "bad" thing, but he's so innocent that he somehow thinks throwing away the puppy is going to make it look better. Well, fair enough. It is always worse when the dog dies.

Quote #9

And when they were gone, Candy squatted down in the hay and watched the face of Curley's wife. "Poor bastard," he said softly. (5.112)

Not "poor girl," but "poor bastard." We get the feeling that Candy knows who the real victim is here: not Curley's wife, who he thinks brought it on herself, but poor, dumb, innocent Lennie.