Of Mice and Men

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Of Mice and Men

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Title: Of Mice and Men Author: Lexmark TSC Last modified by: Carrie A. Riley Created Date: 4/16/2002 8:42:17 PM Document presentation format: On-screen Show (4:3) – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Of Mice and Men

1
Lesson 46
2
Todays Agenda

SAT Reading Comprehension Passage 3
The American Dream
Of Mice and Men introduction

3
The American Dream

Is the American Dream Still Possible?
Definition of the Dream
Still Possible?
The American Dream
Clip from John Stossel

4
Of Mice and Men
5
Anticipation Guide

Read the statements on the Anticipation Guide and
determine whether you AGREE, DISAGREE, or are
UNSURE if you agree or disagree with each
statement. (I know you all are very opinionated,
so I dont expect to see many UNSURE responses.)

6
Cover Prediction

Look at the cover of the book. Look at
everything.
What do you notice?
Write a 3-5 sentence prediction using evidence
from the cover.

7
The Quote Behind The Novel

The best laid schemes o mice an men gang aft
aglay.
Robert Burns, Scottish poet
Translation
The best laid schemes of mice and men often go
awry.

What can you predict?
8
Teaser Trailer

The Movie Trailer
If that wasnt enough to get you interested,
check this out!

9
References in Other Books, Films, Shows, and Music

In cartoons and animation
Homages to the characters Lennie and George have
been especially popular in American cartoons and
animated films. The New York Times reviewed the
1939 film based on the novella thus
Despite being endlessly parodied in Warner
Bros. and MGM cartoons ("Which way did he go,
George? Which way did he go?") Of Mice and Men
retains its raw dramatic power.1 Theatrical
cartoon shorts of the 1940s and 1950s,
particularly the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies
cartoons released by Warner Bros., are
particularly awash with Of Mice and Men parodies.
The reference most often appears in the form of
one character asking another, à la Lennie, "Which
way did he go, George which way did he go?",2
such as the episodes "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" or
"Falling Hare".3 On at least one occasion, the
abominable snowman grabs Bugs Bunny and Daffy
Duck saying, "I will name him George, and I will
hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him" with Mel
Blanc doing an unmistakable imitation of Lon
Chaney, Jr.'s Lennie.
Tex Avery, who worked as a director on
Warner-released cartoons during the 1930s and
early 1940s, started the trend with "Of Fox and
Hounds" (1940). The formula was so successful
that it was used again and again in subsequent
shorts, notably Robert McKimson's "Cat-Tails for
Two" (1953) and Chuck Jones' "The Abominable Snow
Rabbit" (1961). Even Avery himself used it again
when he went on to direct several cartoons
starring the George and Lennie dopplegangers
George and Junior for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the
late 1940s.
Many more serious animated features use George
and Lennie-type characters to serve as comic
relief.
Other examples in animation include
There is at least one Roger Ramjet episode which
features a George/Lennie-based duo, the latter
with lines like "tell me about the rabbits", and
the later Warner Bros. cartoon duo Pinky and the
Brain (of Animaniacs fame) are also somewhat
similar to Lennie and George.
The Histeria! episode "Writers of the Purple
Prose" featured a sketch based on the fact that
the first draft of Of Mice and Men was eaten by
Steinbeck's dog (played in the sketch by Loud
Kiddington's dog, Fetch). In the cover of the
book shown in the sketch, Froggo and Lucky Bob
are depicted as George and Lennie.
In the King of the Hill episode "Of Mice and
Little Green Men," Bobby and Hank act in a stage
production of Of Mice and Men. In the episode
"serPUNt," Bobby's pet snake goes down a sewer
causing a panic. The snake is killed, but Hank
tells his son Bobby that they let it loose on a
farm. At the end of the episode, Bobby asks Hank
to "tell me about the farm," in the same manner
that Lennie asked George.
The animated series American Dad! has an episode
"Of Ice and Men".
In the Bullwinkle episode Goof Gas Attack,
Bullwinkle, whose inherent stupidity gives him
immunity from Boris Badenov's latest weapon,
laments that now that every living creature is
stupid, there's nobody left to feed him a
straight line anymore. Rocky the Flying Squirrel
confirms this by pleading, "Tell me about the
rabbits, George!", thereby confirming
Bullwinkle's concern.
In the movie Dragon Hunters, the two main
characters, Lian-Chu and Gwizdo, seem to share a
similar relationship to that of Lennie and
George. Lian-Chu asks Gwizdo to tell him about
the farm they would live in with many sheep in a
similar way to Lennie.
Two mice play the main characters in "Of Mice and
Men", an episode of Cat and Girl. Cat appears to
eat one of the mice just after it asks "Tell me
about the rabbits, George", but then announces
"he got away" in an apparent reference to a
desired ending for the story.
In the South Park episode "A Million Little
Fibers", Oprah Winfrey's vagina (Mingee) and anus
(Gary) have a friendship similar to that of
George and Lennie - this is most noticeable at
the end where, after being shot, Gary asks Mingee
to tell him about Paris and much like in the
novella, Mingee tells him about it as Gary dies.
In the Disney cartoon series Bonkers, the roles
of George and Lennie are given to the main
antagonists of the episode "Comeback Kid". Here,
George is portrayed as a small red toon rooster
named Chick Lennie is portrayed as a large blue
toon longhorned steer named Stu.

10
References in Other Books, Films, Shows, and Music

There are two references made in Archer. In the
season 2 episode "A Going Concern", Sterling
brainwashes ODIN head Len Trexler to despise
Mallory, but doing so causes Trexler to lose much
of his intelligence. He expresses a simpleton's
desire to hold and pet a rabbit nearby, an ode to
Slim offering one of his puppies to Lennie, with
Sterling asking Cyril, "Can we give Lennie the
rabbit?" In the following episode "Blood Test",
Trinette tries to get a "baby-crazy" Lana (who is
constantly berated for her "man-like" hands) to
give back her infant son Seamus, with Gillette
interjecting, "Give her the rabbit, Lennie!"
In the Futurama episode "Love and Rocket", Bender
plays with the ship's control panel. The ship
then says "Stop it! You're mussing up my
trajectory!", as Curley's wife does in the
novel.4
edit In radio and television (live action)
On the radio/ television show Our Miss Brooks
dimwitted school athlete "Stretch" Snodgrass is
often compared to Lennie. In his first
appearance, "Stretch the Basketball Star" he has
Lennie's tendency to repeat comments made to him
in a confused fashion, and even uses Lennie's
"She's purty" to describe series regular Harriet
Conklin. His family owns a pet shop, and he is
seen to like animals, although he does not kill
them accidentally. In "The Grudge Match," Connie
Brooks makes a direct comparison, stating that
Snodgrass and Walter Denton remind her of Lennie
and George from Of Mice and Men. Snodgrass doubts
Denton could be Lennie, given his ability to
manage the school paper and the basketball team.
Brooks replied that "Walter isn't my candidate
for Lennie."
In The Monkees episode "Monkees in a Ghost Town,"
the hoods' names are George and Lennie. Lennie is
played by Lon Chaney, Jr., as he was in the
earlier film. He even produces a mouse from his
pocket.
In the 5th season of The Shield there is an
episode entitled "Of Mice and Lem" foreshadowing
events similar to those in the book. in the
conclusion of the episode, the main character is
hoodwinked and robbed.
In an episode of the game show Family Feud, the
host asks a contestant whose team has already won
(this information is withheld from the
contestant), what the name of Curley's wife is,
which is never mentioned in the novel.
In one episode of the sitcom Friends, Joey is
playing with a little chicken. Chandler alludes
to Of Mice and Men by saying "Easy, Lennie" to
Joey.
In an episode of Power Rangers In Space, Cassie
is fast-talked into a date with a big guy named
Lennie, with help from his smaller, smarter
friend George.
In an episode of Lost, in a flashback, Sawyer is
reading the book in a prison. While on the
island, Sawyer quotes the book to Ben, an Other.
Later, Ben quotes a different passage to Sawyer.
After the references, the character who quoted it
asked "don't you read?" - as the other character
is staring at them, in confusion and disbelief,
respectively. In season six of Lost, Sawyer
confronts the fake John Locke, believed to be the
"Man in Black", by retelling the story of Of Mice
And Men in a nutshell and then pointing a gun at
him. Sawyer admits the book is his favorite.
In the 2005 show, My Name is Earl, Jason Lee and
Ethan Suplee star as brothers Suplee is a
dumb-witted gentle giant and Lee is the small yet
wiser one who makes all of the decisions and
watches after his brother.
In an episode of Cold Case, a 19 year old man
kills a mentally challenged 17 year old boy out
of sympathy, after circumstances rendered him
unable to protect the teen from the harsh
realities of the world.
In an episode of CSI NY, in which Gary Sinise
stars, a primary suspect is auditioning for the
part of George in the play adaptation of Of Mice
and Men. Sinise played George in the 1992 film
adaptation of the novel.
In the Cyberchase episode "The Borg of the Ring",
a character wishes for a rabbit to "love and call
George".
Season 19, episode 4, of Saturday Night Live
hosted by John Malkovich, includes a sketch about
creating a version of the story for a Disney
film. The narrator (as Michael Eisner) informs
the audience that the George character has been
eliminated because he tested poorly. That
character will be replaced by a second Lenny. The
two Lenny's are played by Malkovich and Chris
Farley. Phil Hartman, Rob Schneider, Jan Hooks,
and Lorne Michaels have notable parts in the
sketch.
In the season 34 episode of Saturday Night Live
hosted by James Franco, there is a sketch about
the alternate ending of Of Mice and Men where
Lennie (played by Bobby Moynihan) discovers that
George (James Franco) has been sugarcoating
reality and lying to him about death (he also
notices George's weapon and astutely points out
"I'm pretty sure that's a gun!"), leading Lennie
to blame George for killing Curley's (Bill Hader)
wife.
In an episode of Emergency, Dr. Joe Early (Bobby
Troup) says to Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert
Fuller), "Tell me about the rabbits, George!" Dr.
Brackett responds, "You're too young!" To which
Dr. Early replies, "You know, you're right!"
In an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000,
Observer has been deprived of his brain (which he
keeps in a dish), and, due to a time warp, is
stuck with Pearl Forrester and Professor Bobo in
a dungeon in Ancient Rome. When Pearl is
attempting to bring Mike Nelson down to the cell
they are in to ease their escape, Observer says,
among other things, "Tell me about the rabbits,
Pearl!".
In the Psych episode "Sixty-Five Million Years
Off" the character Shawn Spencer tells his
partner Burton Guster about his Lennie impression
and how it "would have brought tears". He does
his impression when he and Gus go question a
suspect in a murder case, after he slams the door
in their face repeatedly.

11
References in Other Books, Films, Shows, and Music

In Fever Pitch, Paul Ashworth (Colin Firth)
claims that getting a boy to read Of Mice And Men
is the pinnacle of his career, and it will only
go downhill from then on.
In the 2009 film Hotel For Dogs there are two
dogs, a small dog named Georgia and a large dog
named Lenny.
In a blooper on the DVD for the 2008 film Role
Models, Paul Rudd (Danny) and Seann William Scott
(Wheeler) have an improvised, yet inaccurate,
dialogue about the novel.
Danny This is like hanging out with Lennie from
Of Mice And Men.
Wheeler Great book. Love it.
Danny Yeah, like you read it.
Wheeler Ten times.
Danny Ten times? Okay, let me ask you something.
What's Lennie's favorite thing in life? (Wheeler
laughs SWS out of character) No, no, don't
laugh. Let me ask you. What's Lennie's favorite
thing in life?
Wheeler (pause) Oh, you don't know?
Danny I know! Do you know?
Wheeler Mice...
Danny (shakes head at first, then smiles) Yeah,
it's mice.
In Marley Me, while taking Marley to get
neutered and discussing the fact that the dog has
no idea what's coming, John comments to himself,
"It's like Of Mice and Men".
edit In print
In the Stephen King serial novel The Green Mile,
John Coffey (played by Michael Clarke Duncan in
the 1999 film) is similar to Lennie in that he is
large, unintelligent, and innocent at heart. In
both stories, mice fall into their care at some
point.
In the Stephen King novel The Dark Tower V
Wolves of the Calla, Father Callahan sizes up the
Hitler Brothers as George and Lennie, although
the large one was the smart one of the pair.
In the Stephen King novel Blaze, the story's
protagonist Clayton Blaisdell bears several
similarities to Lennie. His deceased best friend
was named George, and was a small and
quick-witted man.
In the Stephen King novel Hearts in Atlantis, the
'farm with the rabbits' is mentioned by Bobby
Garfield as the definition of a happy life.
In Stephen King novel The Talisman, George and
Lennie's relationship seems to be paralleled by
Jack and Wolf's relationship. Wolf also crushes
the hand of another character.

12
References in Other Books, Films, Shows, and Music

In Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino
Royale, one of Le Chiffre's two guards is
described as "rather like Lennie from Of Mice and
Men"
One of the author Colin Bateman's novels is
entitled Of Wee Sweetie Mice and Men.
edit In music
In the song Cleanser by Brand New, there are
references to Of Mice and Men, including mention
of the River in the beginning of the book ("the
best best best best plans where both mice and men
can go terribly wrong/and probably will"), making
note of a lady who is vain (which would refer to
Curley's wife), and a line in the chorus
"Weighing the cost of the love you make/ Feeling
the weight of the bones you break", which would
be Curley's wife's wandering eye and Lennie
killing her.
John Leguizamo sings (or raps) "Which way did he
go, George which way did he go?" on his song
"Voodoo Mambo", as does Tupac Shakur on "Can't C
Me" (Can't See Me).56
The Bell X1 single "The Great Defector" includes
the line, "Won't you tell (us) 'bout those
rabbits, George?".
Megadeth have a song titled "Of Mice And Men"
from The System Has Failed album.
Former Attack Attack! unclean vocalist Austin
Carlile participated in the creation of a band
called Of Mice Men along with Jaxin Hall
(bass), Valentino Arteaga (drums), Shayley
Bourget (guitar/clean vocals), and Phil Manansala
(guitar).
Katy Perry references the novella in her song
"Pearl" This love's too strong like "Mice and
Men" / Squeezing out the life that should be let
in.
During the fourth verse of "Suplex" by Army of
the Pharaohs, rapper Vinnie Paz compares his
foe's intellect to that of the novella's
character Lennie Small's "Of mice and men,
motherfucker, you tend to the rabbits / Suicidal,
I wish the Unabomber sent me a package."
edit In other media
In the video game The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion,
if the player asks about the NPC Gogron
gro-Bolmog, it is said that he had a pet rabbit
as a child, and petted it so hard he crushed its
skull.
In the video game Fallout 2, if the player is
playing a mentally handicapped person, when
talking to a woman in a brothel they have the
opportunity to tell that woman that "George sayz
we gonna haf a few achers of our own an' I shud
keep away from you or he won't lemme play wit the
rabbitz so me go now."
The plot of Justic Scrolls, a video game from
2006, is extremely similar to that of the book.
Both the book and the game have two friends, a
clever one and a dull-witted one as well as both
being about a dream that the two of them have. As
well as this they both end up with one of the
main characters shooting the other, and both of
them have a character in them who has a fetish
for soft things. Of Mice and Men is also
referenced in the game, such as when Paul, the
clever one of the two, says to dumb-witted Nert
that "he hopes he doesn't do a 'Lennie' on them".
In the video game Baldur's Gate, if the player
repeatedly clicks on the character Xzar, one of
the responses is, "Duh. Tell me about the
rabbits".
In Scott Kurtz's PVP webcomic, character Brent
Sienna mocks Skull the Troll's intelligence by
exclaiming, "Duh tell me about the Rabbits
George"
In Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception, On chapter 9,
after Cutter goes on a bad drug trip, Sully tells
Cutter to go ahead before himself, and Cutter
says "Yeah, yeah, before I know it, you'll be
putting that gun on the back of my head and
telling me about the rabbits."7