(Spoilers for “Of Mice and Men.” Obviously.)
Hey everyone. Solus here.
The first month of summer’s almost done. Sadness.
At least we still have the other months. But I have to go back to school in August. Cri.
(I did end school in May though so. Still. Wish I didn’t have to go back when it’s still hot.)
Anyway. My school, starting from high school (which I have now entered), has us do summer reading. So I decided to get that done.
For I have over 120 hours of Fire Emblem: Engage and decided that might not be good.
So my mother and I stopped by a store called “Half-Price Books” and bought he two books I was required to read–“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck and “Revolutionary Characters” by some random guy named Gordon S. Wood.
I started “Revolutionary Characters,” then realized two things.
- The print was very very small. And the book was very very thick. This was not going to be fun.
- It’s history. And basically everything we’d learned in 7th grade. So. Boring.
So I decided to ditch it and read the other book–“Of Mice And Men.”
And the book begins with a bunch of description of the scenery. Which I skimmed over because I didn’t really care about that. And it was boring. I don’t think it had anything important.
(I’m probably wrong. Never great at seeing symbolism.)
The book is about two men named George and Lennie and them trying to make a life during the Great Depression.
The book starts with George and Lennie looking for a job, so they’re heading to a ranch.
George is much smaller than Lennie, who is large and bulky. However, Lennie has the mind of a child, so George kind of has to look after him.
Lennie found a dead mouse and wanted to pet it, but George throws it out as it could have some illness. He tries to comfort Lennie when he starts crying over it.
When they have supper, Lennie talks about wanting ketchup on the beans that they’re eating. George snaps at him, telling him that he only brings him down, and that he could have a better life if he didn’t have to look after Lennie. Then his anger leaves him, and he looks away in shame.
Then Lennie feels bad for asking and asks George if he wants him to leave, saying he’d go leave in a cave. George apologizes, and says he didn’t mean it, and we get the idea that is a regular occurrence.
George tells Lennie that when they get to the ranch, he just shouldn’t say anything. He asks Lennie to repeat it so that he doesn’t forget.
When they get to the ranch, they get their jobs, and Lennie keeps his promise and says nothing. When asked about it, George tells the boss there that Lennie, his cousin, was kicked in the head by a horse, so he’s not very bright. This later turns out to be a lie. Lennie is neither his cousin nor was he kicked in the head by a horse. George says if he knew he was related to Lennie, he’d shoot himself.
Then this old guy and his really old sheepdog walk in. The old guy’s named Slim, and he starts talking to George. Then this younger guy comes in, and he appears to not like Lennie. When George asks Slim about it, turns out the kid’s name is Curley and he’s the boss’s so. He’s also a boxer. He just doesn’t like Lennie because he’s a small guy, and small guys always pick fights with big guys.
Also, he’s just married, and his wife’s pretty but apparently has “the eye.” Whatever that means.
Then Curley calls her a word that I’m not sure what it means so I won’t put it here. Yeah, this book has a few curses in it because it’s not meant for kids.
Anyway, Slim tells George not to tell Curley about this because he’ll beat him up. George tells Lennie if something happens, he should go hide in the brush where they were last night.
Then Curley’s wife comes in and asks where Curley is, to which Slim comments he went into her house. Then she leaves almost immediately.
George tells Lennie not to look at her because there’s “no piece of jail bait worse than her.”
Yeah, this book was kind of boring at first.
The dog dies (gets put down), Curley gets his hand crushed by Lennie, turns out Lennie wanted to touch a girl’s dress, she got scared and ran to the law, so George and Lennie had to blow town. George wants to protect Lennie after he was mean to him as a kid and Lennie almost drowned. Lennie tries to pet some puppies and ends up accidentally killing one like he did with all the pet mice. Then Curley’s wife comes to talk to him and we hear her whole backstory, like how she’s lonely because Curley didn’t let her talk to anyone.
(In writing, we do that when the character in question gonna die. So.)
Then Curley’s wife lets Lennie feel her hair. Then she tells him to let go and starts shouting at him not to mess it up. Lennie freaks ot and eventually breaks her neck. Accidentally.
Then he knows he messed up and covers it up before running away.
When the other guys come back from playing horseshoes, Curley is outraged and everyone says they have to shoot Lennie, except George, who tries to stop them. George is really upset about this and runs ahead of the mob to Lennie, who previously hallucinated his Aunt Clara and a big rabbit scolding him for burdening George.
Then George finds Lennie, who asks George if he’s gonna yell at him. George says no, and that it doesn’t matter what he did.
Then he asks Lennie to take off his hat to feel the air and look across the river so he can tell him (again) about the farm they’re gonna have, and he’ll be able to see it.
While he’s talking, he picks up the gun Lennie had stolen when he fled the ranch and tries to hold it steady. And he drops it. He tries again, but his hands are shaking too much. Finally, Lennie tells George that they should go to that place now.
And then George shoots him and he dies.
…
AND MY HEART EXPLODED.
I thought I cared nothing for the characters until it was too late. Fun.
Then the other guys find George and bring him back, but nobody knows why they’re so sad except Slim, the guy with the dog.
So.
The book is good, but you don’t realize it until it’s too late. Fun.
Even if you don’t have to read this book for school, I think you should. If you’re old enough (in high school). Otherwise don’t touch it.
Also I deliberately skipped most of the book. Go read it yourself. Hahaha. 🙂
What are the symbols and themes in this book? No clue. Have fun finding them yourself.
Well, that’s all for today.
And as for the Revolutionary Characters book, I never finished it. I probably should, though.
Okay bye have a nice life. 🙂
– Solus
(This blog is devoid of emotion, as I didn’t think putting emojis in Lennie’s death scene was appropriate.)