| Why do you got to get killed?… He picked up the pup and hurled it from him. | The death of the puppy at the beginning of the chapter is part of the escalating violence which makes the failure of the dream inevitable. It foreshadows the death of Curley’s wife. |
| I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely. | Curley’s wife is drawn to talk to Lennie because of her loneliness as a victim of prejudice on the ranch. She will thus become a victim of violence. |
| I coulda made somethin’ of myself… He says he was gonna put me in the movies | Curley’s wife has a dream of movie stardom, which would give her some power. However, the reader realises that the men who promised her stardom were only trying to exploit her. |
| “her words tumbled out in a passion of communication […] before her listener could be taken away” | … |
| “I never got that letter,”she said.” | … |
| I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella | Curley’s wife is lonely because she is trapped in a marriage to a mean and abusive husband. |
| I like to pet nice things with my fingers, sof’ things | Lennie’s desire to pet soft things got him in trouble with the girl in the red dress at Weed and will now lead him to kill Curley’s wife. The parallel between the events makes his death and the failure of the dream seem inevitable as he is unable to control his strength and violence. |
| And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. | The description of Curley’s wife in death suggests that she was always vulnerable and innocent, though her nature was spoiled by loneliness and prejudice. |
| Now Candy spoke his greatest fear.”You an’ me and can get that little place, can’t we, George? | … |
| “You ******** tramp”, he said viciously.”You done it, di’n’t you? | … |
Of Mice and Men Chapter 5 Quotations
April 28, 2020