Oshiro 1

Dana Oshiro

Mr. Miles P3

Pre-AP English 10H

13 February 2018

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Dialectical Journal #1 Chapter #1

‘The hell with the rabbits. That’s all you ever can remember is them rabbits. O.K! Now

you listen and this time you got to remember so we don’t get in no trouble. You remember

settin’ in that gutter on Howard Street and watchin’ that blackboard?’

Lennie’s face broke into a delighted smile. ‘Why sure, George. I remember

that….but….what’d we do then? I remember some girls come by and you says….you say….’”

(Steinbeck 5).

Characterization: George and Lennie

Improper speech of both Lennie and George indicate an informal upbringing and

education. Slang like “ain’t” are not part of proper speech along with shortened or incorrectly

pronounced words such as “jus’” and “settin’” and indicate a lack of formal education to correct

these mistakes. Colloquial to informal language shows the pair lives a rough life without the

privilege or need for finished schooling. Lennie's misuse of verbiage and noun coherence show

perhaps an even lower degree of education. “Didn’t do no good” contains a double negative and

means the opposite of Lennie’s intended statement which presents him with a very low-level of

education and inattention to conversational norms. Ellipses coupled with repeated phrases

within Lennie’s sentence expresses slowness of thought and possible mental disability as typical

speech is regularly paced without many pauses or dragged expressions.

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Dialectical Journal #2 Chapter #2

“The bunkhouse was a long, rectangular building. Inside, the walls were whitewashed

and the floor unpainted. In three walls here were small, square windows, and in the fourth, a

solid door with a wooden latch. Against the walls were eight bunks, five of them made up with

blankets and the other three showing their burlap ticking. Over each bunk there was nailed an

apple box with the opening forward so that it made two shelves for the personal belongings of

the occupant of the bunk”(Steinbeck 19).

Rhetorical Analysis: Concrete Diction

Steinbeck utilizes straightforward descriptive diction when describing the bunkhouse.

There is no excessive details making the tone very objective and candid. The passage serves to

connect Of Mice and Men to naturalist themes featuring the pains faced by mankind in the

struggle for survival. The description is very rigid, indicating the suffocating lives the men lead.

Descriptive words are objective or even with negative connotation. Words such as

“whitewashed” and “unpainted” illustrate a dull scene, full of the miseries of man’s chain to

imprisonment by higher powers (nature and/or other people). Concrete diction fulfills the

author’s intention of creating the dismal lives of George, Lennie, and the other ranch hands

where they only carry small possessions that fit into apple box. The structured sentences indicate

the rough and unfulfilling lives of the characters.

Dialectical Journal #3 Chapter #3

“He ripped the edge of the deck nervously, and the little snapping noise drew the eyes of

all the men in the room, so that he stopped doing it. The silence fell on the room again. A

minute passed, and another minute. Candy lay still, staring at the ceiling. Slim gazed at him for

a moment and then looked down at his hands; he subdued one hand with the other, and held it
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down. There came a little gnawing sound from under the floor and all the men looked down

toward it gratefully. Only Candy continued to stare at the ceiling” (Steinbeck 53).

Rhetorical Analysis: Selection of Detail

After Carlson leaves to shoot Candy’s dog, the entire group of men sit in a shifts between

impending silence and return to normalcy. Steinbeck portrays this awkwardness by providing

high amounts of detail in describing every occurence to communicate a tense situation.

Miniscule noises are emphasized in “little gnawing sound” that would otherwise be inaudible in

comfortable moments, but the mood of the passage is strained and suffocating. The author

manipulates an anxious scene with slow movement of actions and events such as “a minute

passed, and another minute.” Direct explanation of time sets a slow pace and indicates the

attention to time in an uneasy setting. Steinbeck focuses in on very, seemingly, unimportant

actions by the characters and amplifies them to seem more significant in a very still and quiet

situation. Attention to the details makes the passage sluggish and drawn out by focusing on

small, minute areas that create an anticipation of an climatic death.

Dialectical Journal #4 Chapter #4

“She was breathless with indignation. ‘--Sat’day night. Ever’body out doin’ som’pin’.

Ever’body out doin’ som’pin, Ever’bod? An’ what am I doin’? Standin’ here talkin’ to a bunch

of bindle stiffs--a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep--an’ likin’ it because they ain’t

nobody else’” (Steinbeck 86).

Theme

As Curley’s wife derogatorily labels the three men, she accurately defines the separation

and the extremes of humans. Through this rude naming of Crooks “a nigger,” Lennie “a dum-

dum,” and Candy “a lousy ol’ sheep,” Steinbeck introduces the message that man is bounded by
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nature into distinct categories of opposite characteristics. These groups being the powerful and

the weak; the abled and the disabled; the mentally capable and the mentally handicapped.

Throughout the story, this trend of division becomes a recurring theme. Man in unable to escape

the the boundaries that nature has placed on him, and is trapped within these chains for life. The

lowest status people seem to always be at the will of those in higher positions. Curley’s wife is

able to be a cruel person as she has the power over these declining men. Curley’s wife’s

conversation solidifies this placement of man in a hierarchy and solidifies the idea of man’s

subjection to the force of nature.

Dialectical Journal #5 Chapter #5

“Then Lennie grew angry. ‘Now don’t,’ he said. “I don’t want you to yell. You gonna

get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will. Now don’t you do that.’ And she continued to

struggle, and her eyes were wild with terror. He shook her then, and he was angry with her.

‘Don’t you go yellin’,’ he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she

was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”

Determine Importance

The event of Lennie stroking then eventually losing control is the culmination and climax

of the foreshadowing within the story. This passage is related to Lennie’s unknown strength

when panicked while in Weed and frightening the girl with the soft dress. This is paralleled with

Lennie’s aggression and leads up to him caressing Curley’s wife’s soft hair. The scene is also

connected to Lennie obsessions with tending the rabbits and pleasing George as his

determination leads Lennie to commit atrocities to ensure his dream. Furthermore, implications

that Curley’s wife will cause Lennie trouble are made upon introduction of her. Lennie killing

Curley’s wife is the zenith of the author’s point that people often do not know their own
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strengths with the use of rising actions that lead to a final turning point. The book utilized

anecdotes, foreshadowing, and repetition to indicate trouble for Lennie and this is the location of

those devices come together to create a catastrophe.

Dialectical Journal #6 Chapter #6

“‘No,’ said George. ‘No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing

I want ya to know.’

The voices came close now. George raised the gun and listened to the voices.

Lennie begged, ‘Le’s do it now. Le’s get that place now.’

‘Sure,, right now. I gotta. We gotta.’

And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the

back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He

pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 117)

Determine Importance

This particular scene is a heartbreaking end of a unique friendship and love between two

men. This passage recalls George and Lennie’s American dream of owning a farm together, the

dream that is ultimately destroyed as Lennie is no longer able to live that fantasy with George.

This event was heavily foreshadowed when Candy’s dog was euthanized, and Candy said, “I

shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog” (Steinbeck 67). Candy indicates that he

regrets not killing his own dog, for it was his responsibility and his burden to end his friend’s

life. This idea passes to George when he decides to end Lennie’s life without the struggle and

hardship of imprisonment. George preferred that Lennie was killed by someone he has a good

relationship with and not murdered by his tormentors. From Lennie’s accidental murder, his
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mental challenges, and the misfortunes of his past, his death marked a final, crushing blow to

prove that life is an endless torment without end.

Dialectical Journal #7 Chapter #3

“‘He’s a nice fella,’ said Slim. ‘Guy don’t need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me

sometimes it jus’ works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain’t hardly ever a

nice fella...Yeah they get mean,’ Slim agreed. ‘They get so they don’t want to talk to

nobody...He ain’t mean,’ said Slim. ‘I can see Lennie ain’t a bit mean’”(Steinbeck 45)

Characterization: Slim

Slim’s dialect presents himself as a likely lower educated man of Western roots.

Colloquial language and improper contractions show his schooling was not completed. Words

such as “ain’t” and “need no sense” are informal and incorrect in sentence structure with the

shortened “is not” and double negative. These mistakes would have been adjusted with

education which Slim does not possess as seen in his grammar. Slim’s dialect also indicates he

was raised in rural areas or in the western or southern areas of the United States. Use of “fella”

is regional and present within certain areas within the United States. Minimized endings to

words like ”jus’” suggest Slim has an accent. Shorter sentences with slow syntax and pacing

imply Slim is a thoughtful person. Without any ellipsis, this thought process is revealed to not

be a skill error but possession of a reflective mindset and personality. Slim’s improper grammar

and dialect reveal his low education yet remains a rational man through his slow and pensive

speech.

Dialectical Journal #8 Chapter #5

“Curley’s wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the

plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was
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very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her

reddened lips made her sem alive and sleeping very lightly. The curls, tiny little sausages, were

spread on the hay behind her head, and her lips were parted”(Steinbeck 101).

Theme

Using Curley’s wife’s death, Steinbeck introduces the theme that there is is purity in

death as it is the release from life. From the beginning of the novella, Steinbeck describes

Curley’s wife’s appearance as being flirtatious and grotesque, but in her death, the author finally

grants her virtue and innocence. Her description upon introduction included overdone makeup

and seductive behavior, but her corpse was parallel in that she looked the same but the tone when

describing her was completely different and sympathetic. After her murder she is now “pretty

and simple” along with being detailed as “sweet and young.” Without all of her useless efforts

and pain, she is freed from the torment of her life. Steinbeck chooses to show that there is

beauty and elegance in death. The author presents that life is suffering; it is wasted happiness.

But with Curley’s wife’s death being blissful and weight-lifting, he depicts the naturalist theme

that real-life and living is agony, and its only escape is death.