Of Mice and Men

In the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there are different atmospheres introduced. The atmosphere of the ranch is mostly negative. A quote from the book says, “He glanced coldly at George and then at Lennie.” This quote shows that because of how Curley looks at George and Lennie, he could be mad that there are newcomers starting to work in the ranch.

In the bunkhouse the atmosphere is surrounded by gossip. Lennie and George learn new things about different characters by Candy telling them. In the book it says, “He had drawn a derogatory statement from George. He felt safe now…” This quote shows that Candy could tell George more about the people who work here because of his remark. I think that because of what George said, Candy could trust him with more information by judging how he says things or how he replies. With this information, George and Lennie could use it to see who to stay away from and who to kind of trust.

I believe John Steinbeck is trying to send the message of importance or class by not giving Curley’s wife a first name. Even though Curley’s wife is described as good looking, she is still a woman and many women during that time period were not as important. A quote from the book says, “I seen her give Slim the eye. Curley never seen it.” This quote is showing that people don’t look at Curley’s wife as anything but a flirt which gives her a bad personality.