1. Of Mice and Men
Chapter 2

2. Author’s Style Setting
Chapter 1 began with a beautiful, calm nature scene. Chapter 2 begins with the ranch, which immediately brings a sense of danger (mostly in the form of Curley and his wife), and highlights sad characters who seem to have been beaten down by life.
Steinbeck creates a contrast between the freedom of nature and the harsh realities of a ranch hand’s life.

3. Motif – Strength and Weakness and the Cruel, Predatory Nature of the World
“Survival of the fittest”
The ranch-hands' world has limited resources, and only the strongest will survive.
Carlson's belief that Candy should replace his old dog with a healthy newborn puppy signals a world in which the lives of the weak and debilitated are considered unworthy of protection or preservation.
As Slim, who voluntarily drowns four of his dog's nine puppies, makes clear, there is little room or tolerance for the weak, especially when resources are limited.

4. Character Insight: “You Two Travel Together?”
On three different occasions, characters express suspicion of Lennie and George traveling together.
This repetition of the same question serves two purposes:
First, the fact that the two men traveling together is unusual reinforces that the life of a migrant worker in the 1930’s agricultural world is one of loneliness and rootlessness.
Second, it provides insight into each of the characters asking the question…

5. Character Insight: “You Two Travel Together?”
The boss:
Assumes that George is taking Lennie’s pay. This shows him to be a man of business, interested solely in the bottom line.
Curley:
Insinuates that the relationship is a sexual one. This shows him to be vulgar and cruel.
Slim:
Says, “Ain’t many guys travel around together… I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” This shows him to be the only one with the compassion to understand how traveling together might help the loneliness.

6. Curley’s Wife
The only female character who plays an active role in the book.
Women have one of two roles in this book: They are either a caretaker of men (Aunt Clara), or a troublemaker and prostitute.
It is significant that Steinbeck never names Curley’s wife, and identifies her only in reference to her husband.
George immediately sees the danger of Curley’s promiscuous wife, and his first reaction is anger. He calls her a “tramp,” “bitch,” “jailbait,” “poison,” and a “rattrap.”
Although Lennie is fascinated by her beauty, he seems to sense some danger as well. Right after Curley’s wife is introduced, Lennie gets a bad feeling and says, “I don’t like this place, George. This ain’t no good place. I wanna get out of here.”

7. Candy and Crooks
Candy and Crooks are both alienated from the others, Candy by his old age and his handicap of only one hand, and Crooks because of his race.

8. A Microcosm of Society
The characters on the ranch are often referred to as “a microcosm of society” by literary critics.
A microcosm is “a miniature representation of something, especially a unit, group, or place regarded as a copy of a larger one.”
How does this definition fit this novel’s characters?