Structure & Setting

Structure
1. Nature starts and ends the novella
  1. Starts and ends at the outdoor pool
    1. Start with life and dreams
    2. Ends with death
  2. At the beginning and end they are on the run
    1. For what happened in Weed
    2. Death of Curley's wife
  3. Suggests that the life of a migrant worker in the 1930s was a cycle of working and moving on
    1. No escape
2. Written like a Play
  1. Entrances and exits are some of the key moments in the novel
  2. Easy to stage
    1. Each chapter has only one location
  3. Descriptions at the beginning of Chapters are very specific
    1. Like instructions to a stage designer
3. Foreshadowing
  1. Uses this to suggest characters fates are inevitable
  2. Girl in Weed was wearing a red dress when Lennie grabbed her
    1. Just like Curley's wife
  3. George and Lennie have an escape plan before even arriving at the ranch
    1. Lennie will hide by the pool if something goes wrong
  4. Shows Lennie's voice increasing in a deadly pattern
    1. Dead mice - dead dog - crushed hand - dead girl
Setting
1. Ranch
  1. Chapter Two and Three are set in the bunkhouse
    1. 'whitewashed' walls and an 'unpainted' floor
    2. Mirrors how basic the men's lives are
  2. Men's things described as little 'articled' or 'vials;
    1. Shows these men only own small things the can carry on their backs
      1. Nothing is permanent for them
  3. Lot's of men have 'medicines' and George has 'liniment'
    1. Shows the men have to look after themselves to stay healthy enough for work
    2. Symbolic of never-ending pain on the ranch
2. Pool Represents Safety
  1. First Chapter George tells Lennie to 'hide in the bush' by the pool if anything goes wrong
    1. Safe place where he won't be found
    2. Ironic how George shoots Lennie in his sanctuary
  2. Description of the pool mirrored in First and Final Chapters
    1. Top of the mountains 'flame' and 'blaze'
    2. Lizard makes 'a great skittering'
    3. Some differences which suggest it's no longer safe for Lennie
      1. In Chapter One a Heron flew off leaving the water snake
        In Chapter Six, a Heron kills a water snake and then flies off
      2. In Chapter One men's voices could be heard in the distance
        In Chapter Six the voices came closer and closer to the pool

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	Created by chrishenry97 over 11 years ago