Of Mice and Men Chapter 5 questionsBy Angus Lau 9E (13)

Question 1: How is mood created in section 5?

In Section 5 of the book, Steinbeck has used peculiar descriptions to create moods. Moods are the anchor of a novel (novella) as they determine and manipulate the readers views regarding a scene and characters. Multifarious moods were created in the section yet seven are prominent, including suspense, calmness, violence, sinister, positivity, trusting, and acceptance. Nevertheless, how were these moods engendered?

The setting and the characters involved are paramount to the depiction of moods, namely the use of how Steinbeck contrasted the inside and outside of the barn. In the start of Section 5, the outside of the barn held signs of life as the resting horses nibbled the remaining wisps of hay, and they stamped their feet and bit the wood of the mangers and rattled the halter chains, the afternoon sun sliced in through the cracks of the barn walls and lay in bright lines on the hay and from outside came the clang of horseshoes on the playing peg and the shouts of men, playing, encouraging, jeering. On the other hand, Steinbeck immediately juxtaposes the vibrant, exuberant outside with the barn that was quiet and humming and lazy and warm. From this juxtaposition of the inside and outside of the barn, we could infer that when Lennie was talking to Curleys Wife, or when he tried to stop her from screaming but killed her instead, anyone, at any possible moment, could have barged in and stopped it from happening. The sense of desperateness in hoping that someone would stop Lennie from murdering Curleys wife creates the mood suspense in section 5. On top of that, it also adds to the calmness and sinister in the scene as Steinbeck has emphasized on the lifelessness in the barn by contrasting the animation outside of the barn and this suggests gives the feeling of death creeping in.

Another event that contributed eminently for the modelling of moods is the death of Curleys wife. When Curleys wife entered the barn and started to strike a conversation with Lennie, there is a hint of foreboding as George already mentioned that she was jail bait, and a Gordians knot. This caused us (as readers) to mentally warn Lennie, yet when Curleys wife moved contiguously towards Lennie and offered him to touch her soft silky hair, tension rises, as we do not hope this would duplicate what happened in Weed. Nonetheless, after Lennie has killed Curleys wife, tension is at its highest as the killing symbolizes that Lennie has to hide in the brush until George comes and we should infer that something catastrophic would happen.

Furthermore, the death of Curleys wife helped create the moods violence, positivity, trust and acceptance. Violence could be seen as Steinbeck described Lennies big fingers fell to stroking her hair, how his fingers closed on her hair and hung on and Curleys wife struggled violently under his hands, her feet battered on the hay and she writhed to be free. The words struggled, battered and writhed show vigorous movements and this mirrors Lennies uncontrollable forceful movements plus his unawareness of his strength. On the other hand, positivity is still shown from the killing of Curleys wife. The reason for this is Curleys wife is finally released from her life that includes a non-loving husband, a dream that could never be fulfilled and no one to pour her heart out to. Her release from her has finally caused parts of her dream to become true, like being called pretty, and being noticed by Slim. As well as that, even though a tragic death might have occurred, life still goes on, when we are reminded the barn was alive now. The horses stamped and snorted, and they chewed the straw of their bedding and they clashed the chains of their halters. Trust has also been created because it was Curleys wifes decision to tell Lennie about her life, dream and her love for petting soft things that ultimately caused Lennie to kill her. In addition, Steinbeck has conveyed the idea of acceptance as Lennie realized he had done something bad and ergo, went to hide in the brush near the river, as seen from I done a real bad thing I shouldnt of did that. Georgell be mad. An he said an hide in the brush till he come.

The mentioning of guns also plays a pivotal role in the creation of moods as it creates suspense, violence and sinisterness. In Section 5, when the word gun is mentioned again, most would associate this with Candys dog, which was shot in Section 3 due to its loss of usefulness in the utilitarian environment of this novella. The same could be appertained to Lennie as he (and George) is also an impaired individual. Yet, the section ends with as George and Curley (along with the other ranchmen) set off for the race to find Lennie, along with the pathetic fallacy, the barn was darkening gradually and, in their stalls, the horses shifted their feet and rattled the halter chains. This gives us an urge to read on and discover Lennies fate, survival or death. Violence and sinisterness could be palpably acknowledged in the use of guns as Curley has declared that Im gonna get him. Im going for my shotgun. Ill kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. Ill shoot im right in the guts. He also ordered the ranchmen to dont give im no chance. Shoot for his guts. Thatll double him over. These two phrases indicate that Curley has seen the killing of his wife an opportunity to take revenge, even torture Lennie for breaking his hand and mutilating his status, as he was determined to shoot Lennie in the guts, which would cause a slow and painful death.

Notwithstanding the aforementioned moods, there were other factors that attributed to constructing the final moods in Section 5, trust and acceptance. For trust, the first and foremost example is when Curleys wife told Lennie all about how I (she) met one of the actors (of a show). He says I could go with that show. But my ol lady wouldnt let me. She says I was ony fifteen. But the guys said I coulda. If Id went, I wouldnt be livin like this, you bet which was her dream and their common like of petting soft things. Moreover, it may be argued because Curleys wife told Lennie about their common likes, Lennie wanted to touch her silky hair but alas, killed her. Georges trust in Candy also proved crucial because if it was not for Candy who had helped George into going in the barn house and in a minute you come out and tell the guys about her and made sure George made like he did not saw her, Goerge would not be able to steal Carlsons Luger to find Lennie in the brush.

Yet, Lennie going to the brush is also a sign of trust. Lennie knew that in this utilitarian environment, there were very little people with friends or companions, but not him and George as I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you. That meant that he believed that George would never leave him all alone and Steinbeck used this from section 1 to prove Lennies friendship and trust in George. However, this also means Lennie has accepted the truth of himself doing another bad thing as he went to hide in the brush after he accidentally killed Curleys wife. Because of this incident, we could also see that George and Candy both have accepted the fact that after Lennie had killed Curleys wife, their dream would be shattered as their dream consisted of Lennie and most importantly, each others companionships.

Question 2: How are Lennie and Curleys wife a victim to their own loneliness?

The justification of this statement firstly goes back to how Lennie and Curleys wife met in Section 5. When all of the men (except Candy and Lennie), only Lennie was in the barn, and Lennie sat in the hay beside a packing case under a manger in the end of the barn that had not been filled with hay and Curleys wife came around the corner around the end of the last stall. This encounter meant that both of them were alone and lonely, as supported from Why cant I talk to you? I never get to talk with nobody. I get awfully lonely and I get lonely. You can talk to people, but I cant talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad when Curleys wife was desperate to find someone to talk to instead of her unloving husband Curley. Nonetheless, it was when Curleys wife discovered the dead dog that caused Lennie to tell her about how he killed his pup and his dream of tending the rabbits. The fact that she complained why I (she) cant talk to you (Lennie), complimented how Lennie was a nice guy and how she aint doing harm to you (Lennie) symbolizes her hunger for attention and someone to talk to.

However, it was when she had confided in him, moved closer to Lennie and sat beside him that was the genesis of the predicament. Due to Curleys wife being overwhelmed with talking about her life to Lennie, she was not alert to the possible hazards he would bring with his inhumanly strength. The reason for this was she continued to sit closely to Lennie even if he was right against her and she had to move away a little. In addition, when both of them realized the other person also liked to pet soft things, Lennie forgot that George said Curleys wife was jail bait but instead believed in Curleys wife that she was no harm while Curleys wife neglected the fact that Lennie could crush a hand with his bare fists. There may be a justification that it was the first time impaired individuals could make a connection with each other. Still, it was not when Curleys wife realized Lennie was holding her hair and when Lennie realized Curles wife was not responding to comprehend that it was the last straw.

Ergo, it could be saud that Lennie and Curleys wife are both victims of their own loneliness.