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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—Soft Textures:
Lennie’s attraction to soft textures such as fur and clothing serves as a major motif in Of Mice and Men. At various points in the novella, Lennie, misunderstanding his own great strength, accidentally hurts or kills the animals or people whom he intends to stroke gently. These incidents come to shape the lives of Lennie and George. Reflecting upon a past incident in Weed, California, during which Lennie held onto a girl’s dress, George states:
“Jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress—jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse——Well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin’ for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the country. All the time somethin’ like that—all the time. I wisht I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an’ let you have fun.”
Though he cares deeply for Lennie, George's feelings of exasperation are clear here. Just as he had earlier played with mice, accidentally killing them, Lennie wanted to “pet” the girl's skirt, but after she reacted, he felt nervous and maintained his grip on the skirt. Wishing that he could keep Lennie out of trouble, a frustrated George claims that he wishes he could put George “in a cage with about a million mice.”
In another instance of this motif, which has tragic consequences, Curley’s wife attempts to get closer to Lennie by allowing him to touch her hair, which she claims is “so soft” because she often brushes it:
"When I’m doin’ my hair sometimes I jus’ set an’ stroke it ’cause it’s so soft.” To show how she did it, she ran her fingers over the top of her head. “Some people got kinda coarse hair,” she said complacently. “Take Curley. His hair is jus’ like wire. But mine is soft and fine. ’Course I brush it a lot. That makes it fine. Here—feel right here.” She took Lennie’s hand and put it on her head. “Feel right aroun’ there an’ see how soft it is.” Lennie’s big fingers fell to stroking her hair.
As in the earlier incidents, Lennie at first appreciates the soft texture of her hair. However, after she grows angry, believing that he is messing up her hair, Lennie again tightens his grip, causing her to scream. In his attempt to get her to stop screaming, Lennie shakes her and breaks her neck. This motif, then, plays a central role in leading Lennie and George to the novella’s tragic conclusion.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Rabbits:
Rabbits serve as a prominent motif in Of Mice and Men. Having seen some long-haired rabbits many years ago at a carnival, Lennie develops an obsession with rabbits due to their soft fur. His dream is to someday raise rabbits on the property that he hopes to own with George. Often, he asks George to describe their future home, and their rabbits, as if he is telling a bed-time story:
“O.K. Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and——” “An’ live off the fatta the lan’,” Lennie shouted. “An’ have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George.”
Lennie is excited to hear about the rabbits he might someday raise after he and George have completed their goal of purchasing a small farm. Though he eagerly anticipates living on the farm with George, he is particularly thrilled by the prospect of raising rabbits.
Later, in a sad echo of this earlier conversation, Lennie asks George to tell him about the rabbits again after accidentally killing Curley’s wife and going into hiding:
“Go on,” said Lennie. “How’s it gonna be. We gonna get a little place.” “We’ll have a cow,” said George. “An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens . . . an’ down the flat we’ll have a . . . little piece alfalfa——” “For the rabbits,” Lennie shouted. “For the rabbits,” George repeated. “And I get to tend the rabbits.” “An’ you get to tend the rabbits.”
Earlier, this vision of raising rabbits had seemed like an optimistic dream. Now, however, George knows that he must kill Lennie to spare him from being lynched, and that there are no rabbits in Lennie’s future. This motif, then, reappears at key points in the novel as an emblem of a happier future that is forever out of reach.
Related Themes:
Part 4
Explanation and Analysis—Confession:
Due to the fact that Lennie is simple and forgetful, other characters often speak to him about private concerns they feel they cannot share with others. This desire to make confessions to Lennie is a prominent motif in the novella. Crooks, for example, does not often speak to the other workers on the ranch because he is often separated from them due to his race. However, Crooks is far less reticent with Lennie, and he shares his background with him while they chat in the barn:
“I ain’t a southern negro,” he said. “I was born right here in California. My old man had a chicken ranch, ’bout ten acres. The white kids come to play at our place, an’ sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ol’ man didn’t like that. I never knew till long later why he didn’t like that. But I know now.” He hesitated, and when he spoke again his voice was softer. [...] “A guy can talk to you an’ be sure you won’t go blabbin’ [...] George knows what he’s about. Jus’ talks, an’ you don’t understand nothing.”
Here, Crooks does not expect or want Lennie to respond to him in the manner of a conversation. Rather, he takes advantage of Lennie’s polite silence to vent his own feelings. He explains that, having been raised in California rather than the American South, he had a limited understanding of racism as a child. Now, however, as an adult, he understands much better why his father felt uncomfortable when Crooks played with the white children. At the end of his speech, he acknowledges that there is something therapeutic in speaking openly to someone who neither understands nor remembers what is said to him.
Later, Curley’s wife similarly turns to Lennie to express feelings that she normally keeps to herself:
“Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I ought’n to. I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” And because she had confided in him, she moved closer to Lennie and sat beside him. “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes—all them nice clothes like they wear [...] When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an’ spoke in the radio, an’ it wouldn’ta cost me a cent because I was in the pitcher. An’ all them nice clothes like they wear.”
Again, something about Lennie provokes these confessions from others. Noting that she hasn’t “told this to nobody before,” Curley’s wife admits that she is unhappy with her husband and regrets various choices she has made. As Lennie sits silently next to her, she describes her dreams of starring “in the movies” and enjoying the luxuries of Hollywood.
Related Themes:
Part 5
Explanation and Analysis—Soft Textures:
Lennie’s attraction to soft textures such as fur and clothing serves as a major motif in Of Mice and Men. At various points in the novella, Lennie, misunderstanding his own great strength, accidentally hurts or kills the animals or people whom he intends to stroke gently. These incidents come to shape the lives of Lennie and George. Reflecting upon a past incident in Weed, California, during which Lennie held onto a girl’s dress, George states:
“Jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress—jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse——Well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin’ for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the country. All the time somethin’ like that—all the time. I wisht I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an’ let you have fun.”
Though he cares deeply for Lennie, George's feelings of exasperation are clear here. Just as he had earlier played with mice, accidentally killing them, Lennie wanted to “pet” the girl's skirt, but after she reacted, he felt nervous and maintained his grip on the skirt. Wishing that he could keep Lennie out of trouble, a frustrated George claims that he wishes he could put George “in a cage with about a million mice.”
In another instance of this motif, which has tragic consequences, Curley’s wife attempts to get closer to Lennie by allowing him to touch her hair, which she claims is “so soft” because she often brushes it:
"When I’m doin’ my hair sometimes I jus’ set an’ stroke it ’cause it’s so soft.” To show how she did it, she ran her fingers over the top of her head. “Some people got kinda coarse hair,” she said complacently. “Take Curley. His hair is jus’ like wire. But mine is soft and fine. ’Course I brush it a lot. That makes it fine. Here—feel right here.” She took Lennie’s hand and put it on her head. “Feel right aroun’ there an’ see how soft it is.” Lennie’s big fingers fell to stroking her hair.
As in the earlier incidents, Lennie at first appreciates the soft texture of her hair. However, after she grows angry, believing that he is messing up her hair, Lennie again tightens his grip, causing her to scream. In his attempt to get her to stop screaming, Lennie shakes her and breaks her neck. This motif, then, plays a central role in leading Lennie and George to the novella’s tragic conclusion.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Confession:
Due to the fact that Lennie is simple and forgetful, other characters often speak to him about private concerns they feel they cannot share with others. This desire to make confessions to Lennie is a prominent motif in the novella. Crooks, for example, does not often speak to the other workers on the ranch because he is often separated from them due to his race. However, Crooks is far less reticent with Lennie, and he shares his background with him while they chat in the barn:
“I ain’t a southern negro,” he said. “I was born right here in California. My old man had a chicken ranch, ’bout ten acres. The white kids come to play at our place, an’ sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ol’ man didn’t like that. I never knew till long later why he didn’t like that. But I know now.” He hesitated, and when he spoke again his voice was softer. [...] “A guy can talk to you an’ be sure you won’t go blabbin’ [...] George knows what he’s about. Jus’ talks, an’ you don’t understand nothing.”
Here, Crooks does not expect or want Lennie to respond to him in the manner of a conversation. Rather, he takes advantage of Lennie’s polite silence to vent his own feelings. He explains that, having been raised in California rather than the American South, he had a limited understanding of racism as a child. Now, however, as an adult, he understands much better why his father felt uncomfortable when Crooks played with the white children. At the end of his speech, he acknowledges that there is something therapeutic in speaking openly to someone who neither understands nor remembers what is said to him.
Later, Curley’s wife similarly turns to Lennie to express feelings that she normally keeps to herself:
“Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I ought’n to. I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” And because she had confided in him, she moved closer to Lennie and sat beside him. “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes—all them nice clothes like they wear [...] When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an’ spoke in the radio, an’ it wouldn’ta cost me a cent because I was in the pitcher. An’ all them nice clothes like they wear.”
Again, something about Lennie provokes these confessions from others. Noting that she hasn’t “told this to nobody before,” Curley’s wife admits that she is unhappy with her husband and regrets various choices she has made. As Lennie sits silently next to her, she describes her dreams of starring “in the movies” and enjoying the luxuries of Hollywood.
Related Themes:
Part 6
Explanation and Analysis—Rabbits:
Rabbits serve as a prominent motif in Of Mice and Men. Having seen some long-haired rabbits many years ago at a carnival, Lennie develops an obsession with rabbits due to their soft fur. His dream is to someday raise rabbits on the property that he hopes to own with George. Often, he asks George to describe their future home, and their rabbits, as if he is telling a bed-time story:
“O.K. Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and——” “An’ live off the fatta the lan’,” Lennie shouted. “An’ have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George.”
Lennie is excited to hear about the rabbits he might someday raise after he and George have completed their goal of purchasing a small farm. Though he eagerly anticipates living on the farm with George, he is particularly thrilled by the prospect of raising rabbits.
Later, in a sad echo of this earlier conversation, Lennie asks George to tell him about the rabbits again after accidentally killing Curley’s wife and going into hiding:
“Go on,” said Lennie. “How’s it gonna be. We gonna get a little place.” “We’ll have a cow,” said George. “An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens . . . an’ down the flat we’ll have a . . . little piece alfalfa——” “For the rabbits,” Lennie shouted. “For the rabbits,” George repeated. “And I get to tend the rabbits.” “An’ you get to tend the rabbits.”
Earlier, this vision of raising rabbits had seemed like an optimistic dream. Now, however, George knows that he must kill Lennie to spare him from being lynched, and that there are no rabbits in Lennie’s future. This motif, then, reappears at key points in the novel as an emblem of a happier future that is forever out of reach.
Related Themes:
