Autumn’s flame dances in my eyes

I love Steinbeck’s simile that he uses here, “On the sand banks the rabbits sat as quietly as little grey, sculptured stones.” I think I like it so much because all Lennie ever talks about is how much he likes rabbits, and I like how they put that simile there in the beginning.

Steinbeck uses foreshadowing that not everyone in the class got, but quite a few did. He told us about how George explained that if Lennie got in any trouble or if anything happened, then Lennie should meet George in the ditch.

Amazing personification- “Only the tops of the Gabilan mountains flamed with the light of the sun that had gone from the valley.”

Resolution- “He went over and looked down at Lennie, and then he looked back at George. ‘Right in the back of the head,’ he said softly.”

Exposition- “The first man was smalll and quick, dark face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose. Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at the sides, but hung loosely.”

Dear Mr. Sheehy,

This year seems like it took only a matter of days! We have done so much in this class, its remarkable. I know our class is crazy, loud, often annoying, and a lot of us don’t accomplish much, but I really feel that we got something out of your class. You gave us something that not many teachers can, and I don’t know what it is exactly but I know we will all walk away changed. I know it doesn’t seem that I accomplished all that much in terms of work, but I learned more from your class than I ever have before in any other class. I learned not to judge people,

that some old fishermen still have it,

don’t jump to conclusions (especially about witchcraft),

you can do anything you want if your put your mind to it
(even if you want to climb mt. everest) ,

you won’t always go crazy if you live by yourself in a cabin for a while,

a good poem can take years to write (don’t give up),

and to never give your daughter up to a one-armed man who wants your car. =]

But in all seriousness, thank you. Thank you for putting up with all of our shenanigans, our bad days, our giggly movies, and our overall lack of hard work. Thank you for having faith in us, even after telling us to “shut up” for the millionth time. Thank you for everything you’ve done for this class, we couldn’t have done it without you (who else could put up with us?)

Sincerely,

Em Rawson.

1.) Lennie might not be normal.

2.) George is a control freak.

3.) Don’t piss Lennie off.

“Lennie means no harm but does it anyway because he isn’t all the way there in his mind. He is like a teddy bear that doesn’t realize the harm he can do.”

- Mattea’s quote. I find this insightful because it contains a metaphor that I rather like. And I’m a sucker for metaphors. This quote is also very true! Lennie reminds me of John Coffee from “The Green Mile”. He is the biggest guy you have ever seen and not very bright, but he tries to be so gentle even to the smallest life forms (a mouse is also in that movie).

“I take this as a hint that something might actually happen again because Lennie seems like he can’t control some of his actions. It’s good that they have a place to meet in case something does happen because if they didn’t I think Lennie would get caught up in some really big trouble.”

- Mattea. I agree with her analysis of the foreshadowing. Why would the author make such a big deal of how ‘daft’ Lennie is if there isn’t anything drastic happening later in the book.

“Well, look. Lennie – if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush”.

An intriguing question to this statement of George is if they both have a secret or are they criminals? –Sebastians statement is a very good one. Good guess and very intriguing. This is originally what I started thinking. Do they have some big secret? I mean, why are they so good at running away and hiding out? Aha.

George lay back on the sand and crossed his hands under his head, and Lennie imitated him, raising his head to see whether he were doing it right. “God, you’re a lot of trouble,” said George. “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl.”

This is totally not how I think George really feels. I mean yes, Lennie is forgetful and a pain to recite things to over & over again, but lets face it; George needs him. He takes a lot in from Lennie’s company. I think that if George didn’t have someone like Lennie, (or a traveling buddy of some kind) he wouldn’t be who he is, he wouldn’t have anyone to nag on and tell what to do. If Lennie was gone, George would be lost and alone.

“I was only foolin’, George. I don’t want no ketchup. I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me…I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it.”

This reminds me of an abusive relationship. George is so mean to Lennie, but Lennie just comes right back to him like a sad puppy. Why is it that people stay in abusive relationships so long? I guess with Lennie’s case he has no choice really. I think Lennie would probably die or be killed if he went wandering off on his own. He might actually kill something bigger than a field mouse too. What do you think would happen? Maybe he would wander down the road until someone picked him up.

“With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.”

This right here is proof of my first statement. George switches from “not being able to stand Lennie”, to telling him that they have a future together and that he likes his company. He basically just said that they would be alright because they care about each other! That includes George caring about Lennie! I told you.

“Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George.”[”Why don’t you do it yourself? You know all of it.”] “No….you tell it. It ain’t the same if I tell it. Go on George. How i get to tend the rabbits.”

This is completely adorable. Do you see how big George’s role in Lennie’s life is? Len loves the guy! Its adorable how he loves George so much that one of the few things he actually remembers is his stories. Does the strength of emotional connections tie into how much people with short-term memory loss remember? That’s a good thing if that’s true, because if any memories are worth remembering more than others, they are the ones we love the most.