Of Mice and Men Final Essay

Of Mice and Men Final Essay

• For this essay, you will select three (3) of the questions from the list below. All responses must be a minimum of two paragraphs typed. Please make sure you are listing your answers by the number of the questions you are answering. Make sure you are answering the questions completely and thoroughly.

Essay Questions:

1. Compare and contrast the pros and cons of George’s decision to kills Lennie. In your final sentence or paragraph, explain whether or not George made the right choice.

2. Think about what it means to care for someone. Do you think George’s decision to shoot Lennie showed that he cared for him? What predictions can you make about George’s future? How will he feel about his decision in five years?

3. Throughout the story, George and Lennie talk about getting their own place…with rabbits. This image made such an impact on Lennie, he envisioned a rabbit talking to him as he waited for George on the bank. What was important or symbolic about rabbits in this novel?

4. Many people in the novel suffer from disappointment. Choose any three of the following characters and discuss what reasons they have to be disappointed about their lives: Crooks, Curley, George, Candy, and Curley’s wife.

5. Using the two main characters (George and Lennie), which do you think represents the mouse and which represents the man? What other significant meaning(s) might the title symbolize?

6. Do you think people like Crooks and Lennie are treated the same way in today’s society as they were in the novel? Do you think that Lennie would have suffered the same consequences in today’s world?

7. What is the connection between Carlson shooting Candy’s dog and George shooting Lennie? Do you think it was right of both men to make the decision to kill?

8. Would you be able to marry someone you didn’t truly love, like Curley’s wife decided to do? Why was this choice a viable option for her?

9. If you had a gut instinct that a man was guilty of a horrific crime, but you didn’t have time for a full inquiry, would you call for vigilante justice? Why was immediate justice with minor investigation such a crucial part of life on the ranch?

10. Compare George’s reaction to and assessment of Curley’s wife to Curley’s reaction and assessment. Explain how they differed. Was she responsible for her own fate, or was she a victim of the men’s decisions and actions?