Of Mice and Men Chapter 1

Of Mice and Men Chapter 1 Summary

George Milton and Lennie Small walk a long, hot road south of Soledad, California. The two are migrant field hands looking for new work. George is intelligent and coarse, frequently cursing, while Lennie is mild-mannered and mentally clumsy. Lennie can't remember anything that doesn't involve small furry animals, which he loves.

Lennie's memory is so poor that he doesn't remember what he and George are doing on the road. Frustrated, George tells him they are a quarter mile from a new ranch where they'll be working. They arrived here by bus after narrowly escaping the last place they worked, a ranch up north named Weed. There, Lennie wouldn't let go of a woman's skirt, which was soft and something he wanted to pet. The men there, who didn't know Lennie the way George does, thought he was trying to rape the woman and ran them out of town.

Lennie frustrated George then and continues to frustrate George now. As George desperately tries to explain to Lennie what's going on, George can tell Lennie is distracted. He rightly guesses that Lennie has a mouse in his pocket, which George demands he take out. Although reticent, Lennie obeys and reveals the dead mouse he was stroking. Lennie insists he found it dead, although this seems unlikely, given Lennie is notorious for accidentally killing his pet mice. Lennie's Aunt Clara would give him mice, and Lennie would always kill them by petting them too hard. George throws the mouse as far as he can, which happens again later when he finds Lennie possessing yet another dead mouse.

Although George always shouts at Lennie—complaining that Lennie is the reason he can't settle down and maybe get a girl—it's clear that George cares about Lennie. No one understands Lennie but George, and George is Lennie's only friend. Lennie mischievously takes advantage of George's friendship, saying he could go live in a cave by himself, where he'd no longer be George's problem. George tells him to shut up and that they're sticking together.

As darkness approaches, the two make camp to eat dinner: beans. As they eat, Lennie pleads for George to tell him the story about the rabbits. George resists, especially as this is the one thing Lennie seems to remember by heart. Nevertheless, George acquiesces and tells Lennie about their dream: that one day they'll scrounge together the money to buy their own lot of land. They'll make it into a farm where they answer to nobody, and there, Lennie will have a hutch for rabbits of every kind and color, including colors like green that don't exist.

Fig. 1 - Lennie and George dream of owning their own land, and working on a farm is a step to achieving this dream.

Of Mice and Men Chapter 1 Analysis

You can analyze chapter 1 of Of Mice and Men in many ways not discussed here, but these are three standout categories for analytic interpretation.

Chapter 1 as Exposition

The chapter opens with the innocuous interaction between George and Lennie when Lennie drinks from stagnant water. In this interaction, George admonishes Lennie for being a fool, as drinking from stagnant water is dangerous. Right away, the reader sees their dynamic: that George is the more intelligent leader who looks after Lennie. This also reveals George's acerbic personality, which continues as he makes his first complaint to Lennie, that the bus driver dropped them off four entire miles from the ranch.

By the end of the first chapter, the reader knows the following:

• The story's setting is south of Soledad. Context clues such as this place the story in California.

• The main characters are George and Lennie. We are introduced to their personalities and interpersonal dynamics.

• Plot: After a misunderstanding at their last job, George and Lennie are on their way to try again at another ranch.

• The problem: Lennie's personality has gotten them in trouble before and may again.

• Goals: George and Lennie dream of owning their own land—their own destiny.

Style in Chapter 1

The story has a 3rd-person narrator, meaning the narrator refers to things as he, she, they, and it. This narrative mode is less personal than the 1st-person, but it helps to establish the reader as removed and not in control of the story. This thematically fits, because George and Lennie often don't feel in control of their lives, either.

The 3rd-person narrator also serves to make George and Lennie joint main characters. 1st-person narration would require that either George or Lennie narrates the story, putting additional focus on that character.

As a final note on Steinbeck's style, the dialogue mimics speech. Characters use 'ya' for 'you' often, and verbs ending in -ing are often cut off, resulting in words like "puttin'." This helps capture a character's unique voice and accent.

Fig. 2 - The farmhands George and Lennie have rural accents. This establishes the realistic, farming context of the Great Depression.

Literary Devices and Themes in Chapter 1

Steinbeck foreshadows Lennie's death.

Steinbeck foreshadows Lennie's death with this dialogue from George:

Of course, Lennie is shot in the end. This dialogue is also ironic because George says that Lennie should stick with him in order to be safe, when it's George who shoots and kills Lennie. Admittedly, this is an act of mercy (if anything), not malice.

Like in any good book, the themes emerge very early. One notable theme is the lack of control people have over their worlds. Lennie has no control over his strength, hurting and killing the things he loves. George feels compelled to help Lennie out, even though it prevents him from doing what he dreams of.

This theme is closely related to the theme of obstructed dreams. Sadly, as the reader begins to see, dreams are most obstructed by the things you can't change.

Fig. 3 - George and Lennie are hopeful if cautious of pursuing their dreams.

Of Mice and Men Chapter 1 Quotes

Both of these quotes appear near the end of the first chapter when George tells his story about his and Lennie's future.

This quote by Lennie emphasizes that Lennie and George are special because of their symbiotic relationship. Their futures are tied together, which means that if they succeed, they both succeed, and if they fail, they both fail.

George is sleepy and just wants Lennie to be quiet. Still, given George's bored, sarcastic tone throughout his story, one wonders if George believes their dream is possible. Perhaps he names colors of rabbits that don't exist because he fears that a happy ending for the pair doesn't exist, either.