Dicussion about Of Mice and Men

[Chaim]

Well I just finished this book called "Of Mice and Men" and was hoping if someone would like to have a discussion about it.

I was hoping if someone got any com-prehending questions, something that they would like to discuss about, and maybe especially the last chapter.

For example: Chapter 3: What was significant about Whit and the letter from the magazine?
It was significant because it shows the loneliness Whit felt, and how he showed everyone the letter. He wouldn't let go of the page he was on, knowing he had lost a close friend.

Another example is Chapter 5: Why did Lennie run away?
And this could easily be answered by saying "Because George told him so," but to think more indepth, it would be "Lennie felt that he was in trouble, and throughout the book he has followed George's orders, like the time when George told him to attack Curley when he didn't want to, he obeys George."

One more could be: Who is Slim?
An obvious answer was he was a character working on the farm where many liked him
An indepth answer is: Slim is the person who "brings out" people. As George always wanted to get away from Lennie, Slim was the connecting point where he could be free, having drinks (where George explained that he would want to go out and hang if he didn't have Lennie at Chapter 1). Slim is the leader throughout the farm, trustworthy, honest. People look up to him, because all the other characters have dreams, but they were failed dreams.

[Artdude]

1) The letter from the magazine symbolises something a lot more interesting, actually. It symbolises his connection with the outside world; one of the only characters to do so. This kind of abstraction which the ranch is created from doesn't allow anyone to be let out. It's a sinister, cyclical place: symbolic of unemployment and desperation during 1920's American depression. The letter is not just about loneliness.

2) The chapter 5 example makes no sense: you say it is because "george told him so." Then you continued to say that the 'in depth' version was the same, with more words. You don't need to think more in depth about Lennie - he cannot think in depth, he is mentally both a child and a servile animal, and it is simply because George told him so that he left - of course. He rarely has any rational thought of his own - let alone about something he doesn't understand like being hunted for murder.

3) Slim is a deeply uninteresting character, but he is - as you said - trustworthy and honest. The 'in depth' answer lies not in the idea that he "brings out" people - if that means anything at all. Who does he bring out? Maybe Lennie, but then a puppy brings him out, so why does that make Slim special? Perhaps he 'brings out' Curly, but then he would have fought anyone. What are you trying to say....

[MichelleIsenhoff]

Wow! I haven't read this one since high school. I remember I really liked it. I'm going to have to reread now.

[apeman]

Of Mice and Men is essentially a novel of social protest. Discuss! But, Sir, it's more than that; it a philosophical discourse on the meaning of life. Whatever, it's a great little novel about a handful of men fighting for survival.

[Artdude]

Of Mice and Men is essentially a novel of social protest. Discuss! But, Sir, it's more than that; it a philosophical discourse on the meaning of life. Whatever, it's a great little novel about a handful of men fighting for survival.

No chance.

Philosophical discourse on the meaning of life. Absolutely no way! One piece of evidence for that and I shall be bowled over. As we say in England - "My arse."