Of Mice and Men Chapter 5 questions

By 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.