What do mice seem to represent in chapter 1

We meet Lennie Small and George Milton : two guys who are among the poor and the scrambling. These two are dressed nearly identically, but there the similarities end. George is small and smart, Lennie is huge and mentally slow.

We can tell from his dialogue and actions that he's got some major problems. Lennie drops to his knees and drinks from a pool of dirty water, slurping out of it like a horse. George verbally swats him. This is the dynamic of their relationship in a nutshell: Lennie acts like a kid, and George admonishes him like a parent. Make that a parent who swears a lot. The setting in this novel contains the "golden foothill slopes" and the "strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains. The rabbits, lizards, and herons are out in this peaceful setting.

The only signs of man are a worn footpath beaten hard by boys going swimming and tramps looking for a campsite, piles of ashes made by many fires, and a limb "worn smooth by men who have sat on it. The two main characters are introduced first by their description and then with their names. Their physical portrayal emphasizes both their similarities and their individuality.

They both wear similar clothes and carry blanket rolls, and the larger man imitates the smaller. But they are more dissimilar than they are alike: One is huge and shapeless; the other small and carefully defined.

Lennie, the larger man, lumbers along heavily like a bear; George is small and has slender arms and small hands. The men also react differently to the pond: Lennie practically immerses himself in the water, snorting it up and drinking in long, greedy gulps. He fills his hat and puts it on his head, letting the water trickle merrily down his shoulders. George, on the other hand, is more cautious, wondering about the quality of the water before he drinks a small sample. Some critics of the work consider George, and especially Lennie, somewhat flat representations of purity, goodness, and fraternal devotion, rather than convincing portraits of complex, conflicted human beings.

They charge Steinbeck with being excessively sentimental in his portrayal of his protagonists, his romanticization of male friendship, and in the deterministic plot that seems designed to destroy this friendship. Whether or not these issues constitute a flaw in the novella, it is true that Steinbeck places George, Lennie, and their relationship on a rather high pedestal. Nowhere is this more clear than in the story George constantly tells about the farm they one day plan to own.

This piece of land represents a world in which the two men can live together just as they are, without dangers and without apologies. No longer will they be run out of towns like Weed or be subject to the demeaning and backbreaking will of others. Their vision becomes so powerful that it will eventually attract other men, who will beg to be a part of it.

True to the nature of tragedy, Steinbeck makes the vision of the farm so beautiful and the fraternal bond between George and Lennie so strong in order to place his protagonists at a considerable height from which to fall. From the very beginning, Steinbeck heavily foreshadows the doom that awaits the men. The clearing into which the two travelers stumble may resemble Eden, but it is, in fact, a world with dangers lurking at every turn.

Ace your assignments with our guide to Of Mice and Men! SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Why did Steinbeck choose the title Of Mice and Men? Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

The farm that George constantly describes to Lennie—those few acres of land on which they will grow their own food and tend their own livestock—is one of the most powerful symbols in the book.

It seduces not only the other characters but also the reader, who, like the men, wants to believe in the possibility of the free, idyllic life it promises. Candy is immediately drawn in by the dream, and even the cynical Crooks hopes that Lennie and George will let him live there too. A paradise for men who want to be masters of their own lives, the farm represents the possibility of freedom, self-reliance, and protection from the cruelties of the world. Lennie kills the puppy accidentally, as he has killed many mice before, by virtue of his failure to recognize his own strength.