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Of Mice and Men Chapter 1 Analysis (Please take notes on the analysis). Eden & Idealization. Clearing where they wander-evokes Eden in its serenity and beauty Opens with Idyllic scene-creates a background for the idealized friendship between the men
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Of Mice and MenChapter 1 Analysis(Please take notes on the analysis)
Eden & Idealization • Clearing where they wander-evokes Eden in its serenity and beauty • Opens with Idyllic scene-creates a background for the idealized friendship between the men • Introduces the romanticized dream they share of farm life • Opening pages-establishes sense of purity & perfection which the world, with its cruelty, will be unable to sustain.
Characters • Establishes relationship between George and Lennie • Uneducated laborers • But emotionally rich • Lennie-sweet, innocent, has a mental disability, undying devotion to George, habit of petting soft things • George-rants about how life would be easier without Lennie, but his speeches always end by revealing his love for and desire to protect his friend. • They symbolize the downtrodden in the society of the depression
Importance of the Farm-The American Dream • George-constantly tells of the farm they will one day own • This piece of land represents a world in which the two men can live together just as they are, without dangers and whithout apologies • No longer will they be run our of towns, or subject to demeaning work • As novel progresses, their situation worsens • George and Lennie’s desire to attain the farm grows desperate • Vision-so powerful it will eventually attract other men • George’s story of the farm and the mutual devotion between George and Lennie lay the groundwork for one of the novel’s themes-the idealized sense of friendship among men
Tragedy • True to the nature of a tragedy, the vision of the farm is so beautiful and the bond so strong, that the fall will be that much more devastating • From the beginning, the fall is foreshadowed • The clearing where they stumble may resemble Eden, but danger lurks at every turn • The rabbits that sit “Like gray sculptured stones,” hurry for cover at the sound of footsteps, hinting at the predatory world. • The dead mouse in Lennie’s pocket serves as a potent symbol of the end that awaits weak, unsuspecting creatures. • Despite Lennie’s great physical features, his childlike mental capabilities render him as helpless as a mouse.
Animal References & Lennie • Repeated comparison between Lennie and animals (bears, horses, terriers) reinforces he impending sense of doom. • Animals in the novel all die untimeley deaths. • The novel’s tragic course of actions seems even more inevitable when one consideresLennie’s troublesome behavior that got George and Lennie chased out of Weed. • Anticipates that problems will arise wherever they go.
