Of Mice and Men
Reading Questions
Chapter 1
1. Describe each man:Lennie:
George:
2. What are the differences between how the two men feel about the water?
3. What did Lennie have in his pocket? Describe it.
4. What does George do with this?
5. What should Lennie do when they see the boss?
6. Describe how the men get supper.
7. What does Lennie bring back when he went to get wood?
8. How did Lennie kill Aunt Clara’s mice?
9. How does Lennie like his beans? What does this part of the scene show us as the reader?
10. Give reasons why George resents Lennie.
11. Steinbeck does not tell the reader that Lennie is different. Rather, he shows the reader how Lennie is different. How does Steinbeck show Lennie is different?
12. What is George and Lennie’s dream? Why is this dream important to them?
13. How does what happened in Weed impact George’s thinking? Where does he tell Lennie to go if he gets into trouble?
Chapter 2
1. Describe the bunk house.
2. What’s wrong with the bed the men are given?
3. How did the old swamper describe the boss?
4. What was George’s excuse for not being to the job the day before?
5. George gives the boss a reason for why he has an interest in Lennie? Is this true?
6. Whose team were the men going to be on?
7. Describe the old man’s dog.
8. Describe Curley.
9. How does Curley treat George and Lennie?
10. Describe Curley’s wife.
11. Describe Slim.
12. What kind of dog does Lennie want?
13. How do you feel about the way the men in the bunk house speak about Curley’s wife? Has she done anything thus far to warrant this kind of attention? Explain.
14. Consider how women are treated today, both in everyday life and in the media. Does this kind of “talk” still occur today?
15. There are two clear leaders on the ranch, Slim and Curley. How do their leadership styles differ? Who do you feel is the more effective leader?
16. Curley and his wife have been married for only a few weeks. How does Steinbeck show the reader their marriage is in trouble?
Chapter 3
1. Why were the men going to have trouble getting Lennie to sleep in the bunk house?
2. How does Slim feel about Lennie?
3. George tells Slim the story of why George and Lennie are traveling together. What is that story?
4. What did George tell Lennie to do that eventually made George feel very bad?
5. What did Lennie do to force the man to move out of Weed?
6. What did Carlson persuade Candy to let him do?
7. What does Curley accuse Slim of doing?
8. How is Candy going to contribute to George and Lennie’s dream?
9. What did Lennie do to Curley?
10. Why do you think the girl in Weed claimed Lennie raped her?
11. Candy says that he knows that when he can no longer work, he will be treated just like his dog. What does he mean by this? How is Candy like his dog?
12. Why does Curley agree to lie about how he was injured? What does this say about Curley’s character?
13. George and Lennie talk about their dream again. This time, Candy is brought into the dream. What does this dream mean to Candy?
Chapter 4
1. Why didn’t Candy go into town with the rest of the men?
2. Why didn’t Lennie want to go to town?
3. Why do you think Crooks wasn’t invited to go into town?
4. What did Crooks mean when he said to Lennie, “You got no right coming into my room.”?
5. Why do you think Lennie walked into Crooks’ bunk, even though the other men at the ranch never went near there?
6. Why do you think Crooks cruelly teased Lennie?
7. What does Crooks say will happen to Lennie if George doesn’t come back?
8. How did Curley’s wife know that Lennie was the one who broke Curley’s hand?
9. What threat did she say to Crooks?
10. Name 4 animals Candy states they are going to have on their farm someday.
11. What is so symbolic about Crooks at the end of the scene changing his mind about working on George and Lennie’s farm?
12. What does the location of Crooks’ room tell about how the others regard him on the ranch? Why do you think the other men do not visit him or allow him to visit them?
13. How does the dream affect Crooks once he realizes the men have money in the bank?
14. Besides racial prejudice, why does Curley’s wife speak so violently to Crooks?
Chapter 5
1. Why was Lennie in the barn?
2. How did Lennie get his anger out when he killed the puppy?
3. What does Lennie do at first when Curley’s wife tries to talk to him?
4. Describe all the opportunities that Curley’s wife had in her life.
5. Lennie says he likes to feel soft things, so Curley’s wife allows him to do what?
6. Curley’s wife screamed. What did Lennie do to stop it? What happened because of that action?
7. Who was the first to find Curley’s wife in the barn after Lennie left?
8. How did the other men react to this?
9. How does Steinbeck use foreshadowing early in the book to allude to what happens in the barn?
10. What is Curley’s wife’s dream? How did this dream impact her life? Do you feel this was a realistic dream?
11. George says he knew the dream would never happen from the beginning, but kept repeating the dream for Lennie. Do you believe this to be the truth? Explain.
12. Curley’s wife does not have a name. She has no identity other than being Curley’s wife. Why did Steinbeck choose to do this?
Chapter 6
1. Lennie imagines 2 things appearing to him. What are those images and what do they say to him?
2. Why does Lennie hallucinate? What do we learn about Lennie from his hallucinations?
3. How did George react when he saw Lennie near the water?
4. What did George do to “help” Lennie? Why did he do this? Why does George lie about the gun?
5. Slim tells George that he had to be the one to shoot Lennie. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
6. Was Lennie’s death a murder or an act of mercy? Explain.
7. Both Candy’s dog and Lennie are shot in a similar fashion using Carlson’s Luger. Compare and contrast both deaths.