Of Mice and Men
Study Guide Questions

Chapter 1

  1. Where is the story set? Give specific details from nature that Steinbeck observes.
  2. Describe Lennie and George and tell what each one contributes to their friendship. This last point will be developed more as the story progresses, but the essential role of each character is set in this chapter.
  3. How did George and Lennie come to be friends and travel together? Tell what you learn of their background from reading this chapter.
  4. What are their plans for the present and the future?

Chapter 2

  1. What is the setting of this chapter?
  2. What type of ranch is this? What kinds of jobs seem to be done?
  3. What does the boss say when George does Lennie's talking for him?
  4. When does Curley come in? How does he act?
  5. What is Curley's wife like?
  6. Give examples of foreshadowing (hints or clues of things that may happen later in the novel) from this chapter.
  7. What is Lennie's reaction to Curley's wife?

Chapter 3

  1. Identify Slim by answering the following questions: Who is he? What is his job? What type of person is he?
  2. What does George tell Slim about Lennie? Why does he tell him?
  3. When they were back in Weed, where did George and Lennie hide all day to escape the lynching party?
  4. How does Lennie disobey George in Chapter 3.
  5. Slim and George discuss two of Lennie's qualities. What are they?
  6. Why doesn't Candy want to shoot his old dog? Give all the reasons.
  7. What good reasons are given by Carlson as to why Candy should shoot his old dog?
  8. Why does total silence descend on the bunkhouse?
  9. Who becomes interested in George and Lennie's dream? What does he have to offer them?
  10. In the course of conversation, we learn how much money George and Lennie earn each month. What is each one's salary?
  11. When Slim comes back to the bunkhouse, he and Curley are arguing. What is the argument about? What is Slim's remark to Curley about his wife?
  12. What advice does Carlson give Curley about his wife?
  13. Why does Curley pick on Lennie?
  14. Describe the fight between Curley and Lennie. Exactly what does Curley do? How does Lennie respond?
  15. Slim tells Curley exactly what story to tell. What does Slim order Curley to say? How does Slim threaten Curley?
  16. Why does Curley agree to tell this lie?

Chapter 4

  1. What do Crooks' possessions and room tell you about him?
  2. How does Crooks treat Lennie at first?
  3. Why and how does he change in the way he treats Lennie?
  4. What do Lennie and Crooks have in common?
  5. On p.71 (page number may be different), when Crooks suggests to Lennie that maybe George won't come back, how does Lennie react? What does Crooks say would happen to Lennie then?
  6. The full quotation from which the title of the book comes is this: "The best-laid schemes of mice and men / Oft go astray" (Thing don't usually work out as planned.) How does what Crooks says on the bottom of p.74 fit with the title of the book? (The paragraph begins, "You're nuts." Crooks was scornful. "I see hundreds of men come...")
  7. A third person joins Crooks and Lennie in the stables. Who is it?
  8. Candy had never been in Crooks' room before. Why does he come now? Why does he stay to talk?
  9. What does Curley's wife call the three men in the barn?
  10. She stays to talk too. What does that show about her? What might she need?
  11. Who is the main speaker for the men in the discussion with Curley's wife?

Chapter 5

  1. Describe Lennie's mood when Curley's wife enters. What is responsible for this mood?
  2. How does Curley's wife's conversation with Lennie remind you of Crooks' conversation with Lennie in the previous chapter?
  3. Re-read pp. 91-92. These are the climactic pages as the tension mounts. After Lennie says, "I done another bad thing," what does he do?
  4. Notice the description of the setting, the sounds, and the light. What time of day is it?
  5. Who discovers Curley's wife?
  6. What does the narrator mean by "He knew" when Candy drops his head and looks down.
  7. Where does George tell the men to look for Lennie?
  8. Summarize what happens in the last few pages of this chapter. pp. 94-98

Chapter 6

  1. How does the second paragraph of this chapter (p. 99) about the water snake, fit the story of Lennie and George? (A few paragraphs later, there is another mention of a water snake)
  2. A vision of Aunt Clara comes to Lennie. What does she tell him?
  3. Lennie also sees another imaginary creature. What is it, and what does it say to him?
  4. There are several similarities between the scene where George shoots Lennie and the scene where Carlson shoots Candy's dog. Compare pp. 106 and pp. 48 & 49.
  5. Re-read the last paragraph and compare Slim's reaction to George and Carlson's reaction to George. Tell how they are different.

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