2. They had walked in single file down the path, and even in the open one stayed behind the other. Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders. The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose. Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely.

3. Social and Historical Context 1929: The Wall Street Crash The end of the American Dream and the beginning of the Great Depression.

4. The Plot Chapter one Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter five Chapter six Camping, mice and ketchup Intro to the ranch The dog and the fight Making friends with Crooks That nasty business in the barn George shoots Lennie

5. Themes Fate and Destiny Dreams and Reality Pessimism or optimism? ProtestLoneliness Myth and Nobility The Working Man

6. Fate and Destiny The title is taken from a poem by Scottish writer Robert Burns The poem explores how “the best laid schemes of mice and men” often go wrong We are free to dream but must accept that we are highly unlikely to achieve our dreams We need plans and dreams to survive however they may hurt us Mice suggests something small and puny against the thwarting and shattering forces over which people have no control The mice in the novel are nothing to do with this really – they are more a symbol of Lennie’s vulnerability Dreams and Reality The ranch is a dream of independence It is powerful enough to draw in Candy and the cynical Crooks A dream common to many itinerant workers CW dreams of being a movie star Whit (and others) dream of being heroic cowboys (the magazine!) Ties in with the concept of The American Dream A land of opportunity - a new frontier – where a man was answerable only to himself!

7. Pessimism or optimism? By 1900 there was no new frontier – the dream was over The hope of freedom rather then being a cog in wheel is there in the novel So is the pessimism because the dream dies with Lennie at the end The ending is sad but this is not a pessimistic novel: George cares for Lennie, Lennie adores George, Slim is widely admired and respected. Lennie dies in trust, happy, painlessly, free, in the open, believing in his dream. It is an act of kindness not vengence Protest Racial prejudice – a sub-division of the theme of loneliness – Crooks Ageism – Candy – a man who has outlived his usefulness The farm worker who never reaps what he sows. Not concerned with governance etc.

8. Loneliness G and L stave it off It embitters Candy and Crooks It kills CW Is a part of the human condition The sadness and emotional power of the novel comes from our realisation that things cannot and will not change Myth and Nobility The idea is that we are all a bit obsessed with King Arthur The knight and his squire – leadership and service – remind you of anyone? Quest (dream) and betrayal (killing Lennie) Suggests the nobility of the working man The Working Man Immense diversity of personality and character on the ranch George – quick-witted and loyal Lennie – slow Slim – natural dignity and leadership Crooks- ingrowing cynicism Carlson –brutality Whit – superficial Candy – sad fatalism The skills of frontier man were not in a book!