Of Mice and Men Book Notes

BOOKEY Book Summary and Review

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men Book Notes

This is a story about promises, loneliness, hope, and loss. The protagonists, George and Lennie, have a dream. They hope to, one day, own a small plot of land so they can grow their own vegetables, raise rabbits, and finally become self-sufficient enough to build a stable home. However, their attempts to save money by working as ranchers are thwarted time and again because of Lennie’s unintentional mistakes, causing them to hop from ranch to ranch.Just as they are about to realize their goal, their dream is completely shattered.

Overview | Chapter 1

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Of Mice and Men is one of Steinbeck’s masterpieces that reflect his ability to accurately transform social perceptions into narratives. It tells the story of how the protagonists George and Lennie attempt to pursue their “dream of land” only for it to end in failure. This widely acclaimed book is one of the ten most-read classics in American education. In the beginning of the century, British readers have nominated Of Mice and Men as one of the top 100 best-loved novels in the United Kingdom.

The title, Of Mice and Men, was inspired by the poem “To a Mouse” by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. A famous line in the poem reads: “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” This line can be used to describe the fate of the novel’s main characters - George and Lennie’s fate in the novel: no matter how hard they work and how carefully they act, their hope of saving up always falls through because of Lennie’s innocent mistakes. They are forced to be constantly on the run, drifting from place to place until an irreparable mistake, causing their dream to be completely shattered.

Of Mice and Men was written in the United States in the 1930s. Today’s society is very different and the contextual background of that time have changed a lot. Some of the problems described in the book have disappeared on account of worldwide economic development and critical societal changes. So, why is this novel still acclaimed by people all over the world? Although some specific social issues may be different nowadays, the living conditions of the lower-class characters reflected in the plot of the book still resonate with many people. Steinbeck’s Nobel Prize motivation states that he won the accolade “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception.”

After all, what is this story all about? How did the two protagonists’ “dream of land” fall into ruins? What kind of living conditions are reflected in this narrative? And why has it received so well from different audiences?