AP Lit Summer Reading Blog 5

Lennie immediately runs to the riverbed where George instructed him to go to if something bad happens. Candy goes to the barn looking for Lennie, but finds Curley's wife. He alerts George who instantly realizes what happened. A crowd gathers around the body, and Curley orders the men to find Lennie and kill him. They set out for the riverbed. Meanwhile Lennie is sitting in the bushes, hearing his Aunt Clara in his head yelling at him for messing everything up for George. George soon appears, and sits next to Lennie. He tells Lennie that he has done a bad thing, but he isn't yelling. Lennie asks if they can still buy the ranch. George says that they can, and they can leave right away. He tells Lennie to look out across the river, and then quickly shoots Lennie in the back of the head. The rest of the men come running at the sound of the gunshot, and George says he had to wrestle Lennie to get the gun. Slim doesn't buy the story, and he tells George that he did the right thing. As they walk away, Candy and Curley wonder what is bothering the two men.

This last section of the book is almost hard to read, because we know something is going to happen to Lennie. When George has to kill Lennie, Slim knows that it is extremely hard for him, but that it had to be done. It keeps the idea going that nothing can last forever, especially the things you keep closest to you. Like how Lennie constantly hurts the things he cares for. This is also shown in the book "Marley and Me". The protagonist Marley ( a labrador) dies and the reader is shook with sadness. This is an effect used in tons of different books, because it gets such an emotional response. Losing someone close is very hard, and everyone can relate to that. George having to do it to Lennie personally made the story even sadder.

AP Lit Summer Reading Blog 4

The next night, Lennie walks into the stable hand Crook's room in the barn. Crooks asks him to leave but Lennie stays. Crooks agrees to let him in, since all the other men have gone into town. Lennie stats to talk about the ranch he George and Candy plan on buying but Crooks doesn't believe him. They talk for a while until Candy comes in, and also talks about the ranch. Crooks starts to see that they are serious, and says he could be handy if they brought him along. Curley's wife barges in and refuses to leave for a short while, complaining about her husband. She is very rude to Crooks for being black and she is curious abut who broke Curley's hand. She suspects it was Lennie, and tells him that Curley deserved it before she leaves. The book skips to a few days later, with Lennie in the bark stroking his dead puppy. He accidentally killed it by petting it too hard. Curley's wife enters and consoles him about the death of the puppy. She starts to talk about her loneliness and how everybody treats her badly on the farm. She asks why Lennie wants to tend to the rabbits so much, and he replied "I like to pet nice things with my fingers, soft things". Curley's wife lets him feel her hair, until he accidentally grabs it too hard. She starts to yell but Lennie tries to clamp his hand over her mouth. In panic, he pulls his hand and Curley's wife lay dead on the ground with a broken neck.

This is a very tragic part of the book, but there is also a lighter way to look at it. Crooks is opposed to letting Lennie in because of their racial differences, but then they start to talk and they become friendly and even plan on leaving the farm together at some point. It reminded me of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", because two boys of completely different worlds and on opposite sides of the religious persecution could still be friends. When I lived in California as a kid, my two best friends were Indian and African American. It isn't a big deal, but in a city where white people tend to look at themselves as better than other people, it is good that people can still come together across racial and religious barriers.

AP Lit Summer Reading Blog 3

The next day, Slim agrees to give one of his puppies to Lennie, and he is overjoyed. George explains why he watches out for Lennie, talking about how he told Lennie to jump in a river when George knew that Lennie couldn't swim. He almost drowned and from then on they have travelled together. George also tells Slim that in Weed, Lennie grabbed a girls dress out of interest and then got scared and wouldn't let go. They had to get out of town soon after. Lennie comes into the bunk room with his puppy, and George tells him to take it back to it's mother. Carlson complains that Candy's old dog smells too bad and is of no use. He offers to shoot the dog and put it out of it's misery. Candy objects, saying that he has had the dog since it was a puppy and doesn't want to kill it. Slim offers to give him a new puppy, and Candy eventually agrees, letting Carlson shoot the old dog. Crooks the black stable hand tells Slim that he has tar ready to fix a horseshoe and Slim exits with him.  Curley comes in looking for his wife, and then runs to the barn to see if she is with Slim. Candy hears George talking to Lennie about moving to their own ranch, and offers to pitch money if he can go with them. George agrees to his offer. Curley comes back in with Slim, who wasn't with Curley's wife. Curley is still angry, though and picks a fight with Lennie. Lennie resists until George tells him to fight back and instantly breaks Curley's hand. Slim takes Curley out of the bunkhouse and convinces him not to fire George and Lennie.

A big part of this section is Candy's reluctance to killing his own dog. He wants to keep it because he has had it for so long, and he felt very sentimental when considering giving his dog up. This is a common theme in the book, of wanting to hold on to things that have meaning. For some reason, this reminded me of the 7th Harry Potter book, when Harry's wand breaks. He uses a new wand, but could no longer use the one he had for the last 6 years, which is a very weird feeling. This applies to me because I recently moved from the house I had lived in for 8 years, and I felt a sad nostalgia when leaving.

AP Lit Summer Reading Blog 2

The next morning, George and Lennie arrive at the farm in the bunkhouse, where they are welcomed by an old man named Candy and his dog.  Shortly after, the boss walks in and questions the men about why they are late.  When the boss notices that Lennie isn't speaking, he starts directing questions at him. George becomes nervous when Lennie talks, and tells the boss that Lennie is his cousin who isn't smart but is a hard worker. The boss tells the boys that they will work with a man named Slim. Next the boss's son Curley comes in, and asks the same sort of questions. He is very rude to Lennie and insists that he talk. After he leaves, Candy explains that Curley likes to pick on people who are bigger than himself. Candy tells George and Lennie to stay on Curley's good side unless they wanted to lose their jobs. Curley's wife soon enters, claiming to look for him. She is a pretty lady but George is very short with her and tells her Curley left. As she leaves, Slim comes in and talks to George and Lennie. He likes that they travel together, and tells them that his dog just had a litter of puppies. Curley interrupts the conversation by coming into the bunk room asking for his wife, and George comments that he is afraid he might tangle with Curley himself.

A lot of the book focuses on George and Lennie's dream of moving to a Ranch all their own, and how that dream motivates them to keep moving forward. This is a common occurrence, without a goal we would have no direction. In the book " Death of a Salesman", Willy the main character keeps living in an attempt to find "the American Dream" and to be a successful salesman. Even if these are not realistic aspirations, they give people hope to look forward for. I do this frequently, I think about the future and how I need to do my job now in order to be able to do what I want later in life. I know that some of my goals are far-fetched, but I still work to achieve them.

AP Lit Summer Reading Blog 1

The first section of "Of Mice and Men" is not very eventful, but it is very descriptive. It introduces two characters: George and Lennie. They are stopping to sleep after a day of traveling , planning to walk further the next morning to a ranch where they will work. Through their conversation, we learn that something happened to the boys that got them kicked out of Weed, the last city they had worked in. George is a smaller man, but he acts as an older brother figure to Lennie who is large, but very forgetful and slow. George is constantly reprimanding Lennie for trying to pet a dead mouse and for all of the trouble he causes.  George talks about how they are going to buy a farm and have lots of land and crop.  Lennie gets very excited and has heard this story before, because he occasionally chimes in.Preparing for their first day of work, George reminds Lennie to stay quiet unless George tells him to talk to another worker. He says if there is any trouble, for Lennie to come to the place where they are now and hide in the bushes to wait for him. They eat beans for dinner over a fire and go to bed.

The relationship between George and Lennie reminds me of the relationship between Amir and Hassan in "The Kite Runner". Amir acts like an older brother, but sometimes doesn't want the burden of looking after Hassan. I can relate to this also, being the oldest child in my family. I like my brothers, but sometimes I don't want the responsibility of taking care of them. This brotherly relationship is shown very strongly in the first part of the book.