Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter One:

Steinbeck-

This is a picture of the author of Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck.

George-

(Justin Bartha) George is one of the main characters. He is described as small and quick and of dark face, with restless eyes, and sharp, strong features. He also has strong hands, slender arms, and a thin and bony nose.

Lennie-

(Jack Nicholson) Lennie is the second main character. He is a huge man, with a shapeless face, large pale eyes, and wide sloping shoulders. He travels around with George, and has a mental problem, with the mind of a small child.

The Setting-

The setting is described as a hillside bank, with one side of the river curving up to the Gabilan mountains, and on the valley side, it is lined with trees, willows and sycamores. There is also a path, worn in by people, there are also rabbits which would come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening.

I think John Steinbeck does a great job in describing the setting, and really lets me have a good felling of what it looks like. By describing so thoroughly, I think it was a good way to start the story. I thought the first chapter was a lot like the beginning of the movie, and it really let me compare the descriptions of what George and Lennie look like compared to what the actors look like. Also, although I thought describing the setting was a good way to start off the book, in the beginning of the movie, when George and Lennie are running away made the story seem very exciting. It also made me feel like I saw more of what the conflict was, and what had happened. But in the first chapter, you don’t quite get an understanding of the conflict just yet.

Chapter 2:

The Boss-

(James Cromwell) The boss is Curely's father. He is a little stocky man, and has a square steel buckle, high heeled boots, and spurs.

Candy-

Candy is often referred to as the old man, or old swamper. Only later on do we find out his name. He is described as tall, with stooped shoulders, wrists like round sticks, and has bristly white whiskers.

Candy's dog-

Candy's dog is described as a dragfooted sheepdog, with a grey muzzle, pale blind eyes and a grizzled moth-eaten coat.

Curely-

Curely is described as a thin young man, with a brown face and brown eye, and tightly curled hair.

Carlson-

Carlson was described as a powerful, big stomached man, with wet hair. The book doesn't describe him that much, so either he isn't that important, or we are going to find out more about him later.

Slim-

(James Gammon) Slim is big and tall, with long black damp hair. He has a "hatchet face which is ageless" and he looks and speaks with great authority and wisdom.

In the second chapter, many more characters were introduced. I really liked how Steinbeck would mostly describe the character before they actually spoke. He describes his characters very vividly. I noticed that in the book Candy is often referred to as the old man, or old swamper. It gives me the feeling that he isn’t all that important. From Steinbeck’s descriptions of the characters, I can really start to get the feeling of what they are truly like. For example, Curly is the mean guy, and his wife is quite a “tart”. Compared to the movie, it seems like Steinbeck describes Slim with much more authority. With the way Slim “moves with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen.”, and how there was “a quiet so profound that all stopped when he spoke.” So I’m quite excited to read more of the book and see how it compares to the movie.