Study Guide: Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird

Of Mice and Men

  1. Characters
  2. Lennie: Physically strong yet unintelligent friend of George. Caused himself and George to be fired from last job after touching a girl's dress. Accidentally killed the wife of Curley and breaks Curley's hand.
  3. George: Friend of Lennie that is marginally more intelligent than him. Has looked after Lennie for a long time an helped him achieve everyday tasks.
  4. Curley: The boss's son, he is short and aggressive. He is recently married and jealous of her (his extremely flirtatious young wife) running off by herself. His hand gets destroyed when he attempts to fight Lennie and the rest of the field workers say that his hand was hurt in a machine accident.
  5. Candy: An old man that works on the ranch. He lost his hand in an accident while working at the ranch in years past. He offered his life savings to George and Lennie when he finds out about their dream. Candy's dog gets shot by Carlson because the dog is too old.
  6. Curley's wife: A highly flirtatious young woman shown as a victim. She is lonely and has dreams of her own for a better life
  7. Slim: Known as the "leader" of the ranch, Slim is knowledgeable and is sought out for when a character needs advice. Slim is content with his life and he understands the relationship that both George and Lennie share, He is a kind skilled worker.
  8. Carlson: A ranch worker that (in the beginning of the book) complains about Candy's old dog. After seeking Slim's advice Candy finally agrees to let Carlson shoot the dog and bury it. At the end of the book Carlson's gun is used to shoot Lennie.
  9. Crooks: The lonely African American stable hand. He decides to (eventually) go with Lennie, George and Candy to make their American Dream come true.
  10. Themes
  11. The American Dream
  12. Curley's wife: dreamt of becoming an actress, married Curley instead
  13. Lennie and George: dreamt of earning enough money to buy a farm, but George shoots Lennie in the resolution
  14. Candy dreams of living on the farm and being of use with George and Lennie but then George kills Lennie
  15. Many people's dreams are unattainable and this is demonstrated throughout the novel
  16. Loneliness
  17. Curley's Wife: Is lonely and sad that she has nobody to be with.
  18. Crooks: Is lonely because he is pushed away from the other ranch workers because of his race.
  19. The story gives strong evidence that many Characters have to deal with Loneliness and how that affects their personalities.
  20. Plot
  21. Lennie and George are running from their last job, where Lennie got in trouble from touching a girl's dress because he didn’t know better. They make a campfire and discuss their dreams to own a farm and land for themselves.
  22. Lennie and George are hired and meet Candy at the ranch and the rest of the workers there
  23. George tells Slim about Lennie and the situations he's put George through. Carlson finally gets Candy to allow him to kill Candy's dog.
  24. Candy promises to give Lennie and George his life savings if they let him work on their ranch with them (American Dream). Curley is searching for his wife that same day and takes his anger of not finding her out on Lennie. Lennie, not enjoying being beat, proceeds to crush Curley's hand. Slim warns Curley that if he says anything to the Boss about Lennie he will be the laughingstock of the ranch.
  25. Lennie talks with Crooks who wants to join Lennie's American Dream and work in their garden. The next day, Lennie accidentally kills his pet puppy. Curley's Wife tries to console him by letting him feel her hair but he pulls to hard and when she screams he accidentally breaks her neck.
  26. Lennie flees back to the Salinas River where they were in the beginning of the book. George goes to Lennie while telling the lynch party to go the other direction. George is not mad at Lennie for doing what he did and he tells Lennie to turn around while George tells Lennie of their Dream. While, Lennie is captured in the moment George shoots Lennie in the back of the head.
  27. The lynch party arrives and George tells them that Lennie had the gun when really George stole it. Slim understands what really happened and consoles George about Lennie.

To Kill a Mockingbird

  1. Characters
  2. Jean Louise "Scout" Finch: the main character of the novel; the story is told from her perspective. The story takes place from when she was 6 to 9.
  3. Atticus Finch: the father of Scout and Jem Finch. Atticus is a well-respected lawyer asked to defend Tom Robinson.
  4. Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch: the older brother of Scout. The story takes place from when he was 10 to 13.
  5. Arthur "Boo" Radley: a man in Maycomb that never leaves his house, and his story is left up to the vivid imagination of the children. Boo Radley stabs Bob Ewell to save Scout and Jem when they are attacked on Halloween.
  6. Bob Ewell: father of MayellaEwell. Believes that Atticus made a fool of him at the trial and vows to get revenge; dies when he attacks Scout and Jem on Halloween.
  7. Charles Baker "Dill" Harris: a friend of Scout and Jem that visits in the summer and has a vivid imagination. Gives Scout and Jem the idea of trying to see Boo Radley.
  8. Aunt Alexandra: the sister of Atticus and the aunt of Scout and Jem. A proper Southern lady that wants Scout to act more ladylike.
  9. Tom Robinson: an African-American man that cannot use his left arm and is accused of rape and assault by MayellaEwell. Dies while trying to escape prison after found guilty.
  10. Miss Maudie: a neighbor of the Finches that strongly supports Tom Robinson and Atticus.
  11. Mrs. Dubose: an irritable old woman that Scout and Jem dislike. As payment for cutting down her flowers, Jem reads to Mrs. Dubose every day. When she dies, Atticus tells Jem and Scout that Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict and wanted to die without her addiction.
  12. Mayella Violet Ewell: daughter of Bob Ewell that accuses Tom Robinson of raping her.
  13. Themes
  14. Mockingbird Symbol ("It's a sin to kill a mockingbird") [innocence]
  15. Tom Robinson: is accused of a crime he did not commit and found guilty, and is later killed in prison. He is accused of a crime he didn't commit and is punished unfairly for it.
  16. Boo Radley: his murder of Bob Ewell is left a secret to keep him from having to leave his house. Boo did nothing wrong and would have had his peace destroyed had someone told about him saving Scout and Jem.
  17. Racism
  18. Tom Robinson knew he'd be found guilty the moment he entered the courtroom simply because of his race.
  19. Many residents of Maycomb are very racist and call Atticus a "[n-word]-lover".
  20. Class Prejudice
  21. The Ewells: Mayella had to care of 7 children because her father spent his welfare money on alcohol.
  22. Walter Cunningham: is a part of the mob that aims to kill Tom Robinson, could be pinning blame of poverty on others.
  23. Plot
  24. The story is told from the point of view of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch looking back on her childhood in a small Southern town and the events that happened as her father defended a black man of rape.
  25. Jem and Scout meet Dill and they quickly become friends. Scout and Dill get along well because they are both adventurous. The three children act out stories together and become fascinated with the house and story of Arthur "Boo" Radley, around which many outlandish stories are centered.
  26. When Scout starts school she causes trouble because she is hot-headed and she already knows how to read. She dislikes school very much because she gets is reprimanded for these actions.
  27. As Jem and Scout walk home from school together one day, they see a little gift in the tree hole on the Radley's property. These gifts keep appearing for Scout and Jem, until one day the tree is plugged up with cement by Nathan Radley.
  28. Atticus' sister, Aunt Alexandra, comes to live with the Finches for a while to help the single father raise Scout.
  29. Atticus shoots a mad dog in the neighborhood.
  30. As punishment for cutting down her flowers, Mrs. Dubose, an irritable old neighbor, asks Jem to read to her. When she dies, Jem and Scout learn that she was addicted to morphine and wanted to die without her addiction.
  31. The trial of the man Atticus is defending, Tom Robinson, begins. Atticus appears to bring up many logical points throughout the trial, but Tom Robinson is still found guilty.
  32. Tom Robinson is shot while trying to escape from prison.
  33. On Halloween, Bob Ewell (father of Mayella who accused Tom of rape) attacks Jem and Scout. They are saved by Boo Radley, who kills Bob Ewell.