omam sections 1 to 3

 

Section 1 

p. 15 "Lennie spoke..." to p. 16 "...not the same if I tell it."

 

In this excerpt, George tells Lennie a story, this is about what they'll do, their dream. Lennie is excited, he knows the story very well, but wants G. to tell it anyway.

What makes them different is that they're together (I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you). The novel starts by the entrance of the two men, disturbing natural peace.

The story has "rhythm" and it's been "repeated many times before." It's "deep," and George has an audience in Lennie. It sounds like theatre, where George has a role to play, like a second narrator, or a modern day aede (Greek storyteller). It also feels like this dream is a bedtime story ; Lennie behaves like a child, and George as his guardian. Finally, this dream feels like a ritual.

 

 

 

Section 2 

 

 from p. 36 ("Lennie still stared...") to p. 37 ("...the guys'll be coming in.")

1. Charaterization in Steinbeck's novels

He introduces names only when these names have been introduced through dialogue. Here, George calls Curley's wife a "jailbait," a "poison," a "rattrap" and a "bitch," but no character in the novel will ever call her by her name. Objectification ?

2. George grabs Lennie by the ear : parent / child relationship. The ear is the temple of comprehension. George regrets the lack of comprehension in George. (Memory). But....

3. George doesn't listen when Lennie speaks the truth. 

Children are said to be truthful ; Lennie says something that's almost prophetic : this place is "mean" and they should "go away." He's told to "shut up."

4. George and the solitaire game.

When he's with Lennie, George plays a special kind of card game = solitaire. Freudian slip ? Does he secretly desire to be alone ? Solitaire is also a highly structured game, but he never quite finishes his games.

Section 3

Short point :

on page 62, George plays a solitaire game "almost automatically," and Lennie studies a face card, turning it upside down. He then says to George : "Both ends the same." This line echoes the very structure of the novel : the first paragraph of the first section and the first paragraph of the last section share some exactly similar words and expressions. Likewise, p. 62 is set exactly in the middle of the novel.