Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Book Summary and Review) - Minute Book Report

This is a story about two friends, George
and Lennie, who are on their way to a working farm. George is a small man with lots of big
talk. In contrast, Lennie is a simple-minded large man who has a tendency to get in trouble.
Both hope to one day own a farm where they can live off the land and Lennie can tend
to the rabbits. They enter the farm which is run by Curley,
a spoiled, mean boss who challenges George and Lennie immediately upon arrival.

Curley
is married to a promiscuous woman who is known to cause trouble. On numerous occasions, George
warns Lennie to stay away from her. The working life for George and Lennie isn't
too bad, as Lennie is a great field worker. Unfortunately, he accidentally kills Curley's
wife.

In a panic, Lennie flees. Curley sends his men, including George, to
hunt down Lennie with a shoot-to-kill policy, as it is suspected that Lennie stole a gun. Lennie runs to a secret spot that George had
designated for times of trouble and the two meet there. Lennie is scared and asks George
to tell him about their future farm.

While telling the story, George pulls out the stolen
gun and shoots Lennie in the back of the head. After Lennie's death, the men return to the
farm for drinks. The relationship between George and Lennie
is complex, yet not so foreign. In contemporary movies and stories, we tend to see this type
of relationship a lot - the best friend story.

However, the difference here is that there
is a tragic element to this relationship. It is still unclear why George stole the gun
at the end of the story. One would like to think that he wanted to nobly be the one to
kill his friend, but an argument could be made that he wanted to be free of responsibility
of Lennie and to be able to live his own life. Taking a step back, this is really a story
of misfit toys.

Each character - George, Lennie, Curley, his wife, each worker - has been dealt
a bad hand in life. And unlike the Christmas special where the misfit toys make it off
the island, these misfits are condemned to be doomed..