Character Development in 'Of Mice and Men'

What is the significance of ? A 10 minute plan

Approaching a character question You must plan Be aware that all character questions need to address any development of the character. First question to ask: Does this character develop or change in any major way from the beginning to the end of the text? Second Question: Are there any obvious staging posts in this development Third Question: from whom does our information come in the text? What was the author trying to do in the text and how does this character help him in doing this?

Question 1: Consider Candy Bitter attack on the dead Curley s wife. Is bullied and becomes the provider of money for the dream Starts the text as a friendly(?) gossip and source of (negative) information

Question 2 Dream shattered. Blames CW. Full team player in Crook s room Attaches to L&G as provider of money Dog victim of bullying Gossips and intro of CW Greets L&G focus on their absence intro of idea of Boss defensive

Question 3 Part 2: own words about all others and self Part 3 Bullied; omniscient narrator gives all emotion 5. own actions and words Part 5: Omniscient narrator - verb/adverb choice Part 3: Tells George aboui self Part 4 : sharing with Crooks/Lennie. Comments by CW about weakness

Question 4- Purpose to critique society Unable to view women other than with the negative male gaze? Bullied uses his little power against CW? Candy: makes the Dream possible by providing money, but the Dream no longer works? Clearly suffers anguish at the collapse of the Dream Is a victim in the Power theme Represents both the need to Work and the fragility of Work Companionship- the dog, the sense of betrayal of the dog, the need to join G&L and even Crooks Discrimination: his gossip sets up CW as a negative figure, he is careless about Crooks.

What is said (part 2) By Self By Self He was sore as hell when you wasn t here Used to wash even after he ate See, the stable buck s a nigger nice fella too Effect created Effect created Proxy power knows Boss thoughts Defensive about his realm Unaware of casual racism and discrimination Enjoys salacious gossip Delays punchline for effect -gossip He has been caught Glove fulla vaseline I think Curley s married a tart I wasn t listening

By others said said tall stoop shouldered old man Round stick-like wrist By/why By/why Narrator intro. Delays info re hand Narrator descriptive, thin, weak Narrator- emphasizes the age difference Embarrassed in Boss presence George has summed him up Carlson on relationship with dog - cynical the old man shuffled to the door You was poking your big nose into our business Candy feeds him milk

Now, make a table of descriptors found from other sources: Character/ chapter Character/ chapter quotation quotation ? ?

So You have tracked the development each stage of the development receives one or two paragraphs. Don t just retell the story. Focus on the significance of character. You have quickly noted a few key quotations You have Point(the character) , evidence (quotation) with a little discussion and analysis of language and reflection on the events taking place at the time. A good essay awaits.

Example In a novel written to highlight the collapse of society in the 1930s Depression Era, Candy s negative view of women and his immediate assumption that Curley s Wife s appearance reflects her morals can be seen as an example of how the male world of the itinerant workers has affected his ability to relate to women in an open and unthreatening manner

Or His vulnerability is exploited by Carlson Complete this example (role in highlighting collapse of society and rise of power of the individual)

NOW Over to you. All the characters in any text you are reading can be approached in this way. Try to plan quickly. Spot the hinge point when the development takes hold Focus on your key quotations.