Of Mice and Men

1. The two main characters are Lennie and and George who are ranch hands that travel often from job to job. They have the classic yin yang relationship where Lennie the large kind-hearted, simple-minded man who doesn't know his own strength relies on George the clever and much shorter guide who looks out for Lennie and himself. At their new job in California they work under Candy a one handed handy-man (author obviously has some humor) who really likes the boys and offers his life savings to be a part of their dream of owning a small ranch someday. Slim, is a well respected ranch hand who seems to be in charge if not officially, a little harsh but also appreciates the way George looks out for Lennie. He gives Lennie one of his dog's pups from its recent litter that makes him very happy. As a foil for Lennie is the owner's ill- spirited son Curly who is in charge of everything. Curly has an ill disposition and enjoys giving Lennie a hard time seemingly because of his own insecurities. Such as a new bride who is very flirtatious, and with him being a jealous man she is a symbol of no good and bodes trouble when she comes around the workers. Curley suspicious of Slim being in the barn with his wife goes out to check and upon being wrong, goes and takes out his anger on Lennie who breaks his hand easily in self-defense. One evening when everyone is gone Lennie spends time with Crooks, a black ranch hand and doesn't understand how racially they aren't supposed to socialize, Candy joins them and they enjoy each other's company until Curley's wife comes and ruins it. Later on, Lennie is alone frustrated that his puppy died because of his inability to be gentle when Curley's wife comes and comforts him and tells him about her lost dreams and disgust with her current life and marriage. She tells Lennie he can stroke her hair because of his loev of soft things, but he gets too excited and makes her cry out and to silence her her covers her mouth and accidentally breaks her neck. Lennie runs away to him and George's "safe place" and when George and Candy find her body they suspect what happened and realize their dream farm cannot come to be now. George goes to Lennie in the riverbank and they go through their usual dialogue after Lennie messes up except this time George shoots him and Curley's lynching party finds them there and George says he wrestled the gun away, Slim leads George away understand what had just happened.
2. One theme is friendship, Lennie and George are constantly having their bond tested through Lennie's incidents and lack of understanding of his actions. Hope, is also a constant theme. George, Lennie and also Candy's hope for a place of their own and land that can be theirs keeps them working, saving and striving to see this dream come true. Lastly i think Strength is a definite theme. Lennie's strength is his weakness, he cant control in or use it to his own good and doesn't understand its full harm. This keeps him from enjoying the small delicate life he appreciates most. Then there is George's mental strength, it guide him and Lennie and generally keeps them from harm as much as it can steer Lennie from trouble.
3.
- this quote shows a tone of hope "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place...with us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. 
-Candy and George have tone of hope again for their future away from the ranch: 
“We wouldn't ask nobody if we could. Jus’ say, ‘We’ll go to her,’ an’ we would.
 - This quote has a wary tone where you can feel the foreboding in this unneccesary observation of a water snake:           " A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically." 
4.
- Their uneducated ranch-hand dialect was very prominent: "an’ he got nothing to tell him what’s so an’ what ain’t so. Maybe if he sees somethin’"
-hyperbole to get his point across: "I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches."