Wednesday 30 May 2012

Of Mice and Men Ending


•How do you feel about the ending?
•Do you think it was appropriate?
•What did you like about the ending?
•What did you dislike about the ending?
•After reading the book and the poem “To A Mouse,” why do you think the book is called Of Mice and Men?
•What does the title suggest about the overall message of the book?
•What is Steinbeck saying about life in general?



The ending of Of Mice and Men is really dramatic and sad. Readers did not expect that George killed Lennie by himself. However, after finishing the book, we are able to find out that Steinbeck used a lot of foreshadowing to give the idea that George is about to kill Lennie. For example, the death of Candy's old useless dog, and George purposely asked Candy to lie and he left first to get the gun. I think the ending was appropriate. George killed Lennie by himself; he thought he had to do it because he was Lennie's good friend. If another people killed Lennie, the ending would be totally different. Steinbeck purposely choice George to kill Lennie, and he used a lot of foreshadowing in the second last section. On the other hand, the ending is quite realistic. It shows how the life in 1970's was really hard and cold; things were always ended with a result that you do not expect. I like how Steinbeck ended the story although it was really sad. It is too sad that I don't want the story to be ended that way. However, it is a really good ending. After reading the poem To A Mouse, I think Steinbeck was influenced by the poem, so he started the book. There is a line saying "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men". I think probably Steinbeck was strongly influenced by this line, so that he used "Of Mice and Men" as the book name. There is a lot of zoomorphism through the whole book. And also, Lennie had petted mice before. On the other hand, I think probably Steinbeck was comparing Lennie and George to mice. As To A Mouse says, mice are scared; nature's social unions are broken by human. Mice are dying, In the book, George and Lennie did not have their chance to choose their life. Lennie had to be killed because he accentually killed Curley's wife. And George choice to kill Lennie by himself with pain. The title suggests the main idea of the book. I think the title is also what Steinbeck purposely used as foreshadowing. It is sending an idea to readers that the book is comparing mice to the main characters. The main characters have similarities with mice. In general, Steinbeck is sending an idea about life that life is always hard; you never know what is exactly going to happen in life. Most of time, things end with a result that you do not expect. 

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