Of Mice and Men Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Which context best explains the novel’s focus on insecure work, loneliness, and dreams of owning land?
The lives of itinerant California ranch workers during the Great Depression
The experiences of wealthy landowners during the Gold Rush
The movement of factory owners into rural California during Prohibition
The expansion of California technology companies after World War II
2. How does Lennie’s accidental killing of his puppy function within the plot?
It proves that Curley has been secretly mistreating the ranch animals
It foreshadows the greater harm Lennie causes when he cannot control his strength
It explains why Lennie and George had to leave Weed
It causes George to cancel the farm plan before Curley’s wife arrives
3. What future do George and Lennie most often imagine together?
Opening a hotel for traveling ranch workers
Returning to Weed to recover their old jobs
Owning a small place where they can live independently and keep animals
Moving to a city where Lennie can work in a factory
4. At the beginning of the novel, where are George and Lennie traveling to find work?
A cannery in Monterey
A ranch near Soledad
A farm outside Salinas owned by George’s uncle
A logging camp near Weed
5. Where does the novel’s final confrontation between George and Lennie occur?
Inside Crooks’s room beside the barn
At the brush beside the Salinas River, where the story began
In the bunkhouse near Candy’s bed
Outside the ranch owner’s house
6. Which description best identifies Slim’s position on the ranch?
He is a former preacher employed as the ranch cook
He is the ranch owner who hires George and Lennie
He is a highly respected jerkline skinner whose judgment carries unusual authority
He is Curley’s cousin and expected successor as boss
7. Who ultimately shoots Candy’s elderly dog?
Slim
Curley
George
Carlson
8. The novel’s title alludes to a poem by which writer?
Robert Burns
William Blake
T. S. Eliot
Walt Whitman
9. At the end, Carlson cannot understand why George and Slim are upset. What does this reaction emphasize?
Carlson has discovered that George planned the entire conflict
Carlson lacks insight into the emotional bond and grief shared by George and Lennie
The ranch workers believe George should have waited for Curley
Slim and George are worried that the ranch will immediately close
10. When Curley attacks Lennie in the bunkhouse, what happens after George tells Lennie to defend himself?
George knocks Curley unconscious
Lennie runs back to the clearing by the river
Lennie crushes Curley’s hand
Slim restrains Lennie before he can respond
11. Crooks briefly shows interest in joining the proposed farm, but later withdraws the idea. What most directly prompts this reversal?
Curley’s wife threatens him and reinforces his vulnerable position
George tells him that only the original pair may come
Candy reveals that the property has already been sold
Slim offers him a better-paid job at another ranch
12. Crooks sleeps apart from the other ranch workers and is excluded from their room. What social reality does this most directly reveal?
Workers with specialized jobs received private housing
The bunkhouse cannot accommodate employees who care for horses
Crooks voluntarily avoids everyone because he dislikes ranch life
Racial segregation isolates Crooks despite his place in the ranch community
13. According to Candy, why does Curley wear a glove filled with Vaseline on one hand?
To protect an injury from his boxing days
To conceal a scar caused by ranch machinery
To keep the hand soft for his wife
To improve his grip when handling horses
14. Why do the mice Lennie pets repeatedly die?
He forgets to feed them while traveling
They are poisoned by grain stored on the ranch
George takes them away and kills them
He strokes or grips them with more force than he realizes
15. Why does George shoot Lennie before Curley’s group reaches him?
George mistakenly thinks Lennie plans to attack him
George wants to claim Lennie’s share of Candy’s money
The ranch boss orders George to carry out a formal punishment
George believes he is sparing Lennie from a violent capture while giving him peaceful final moments
16. Why does Candy offer his savings to George and Lennie?
He hopes to join their farm plan and gain security as he ages
He expects George to invest the money in a business in town
He wants them to help him buy the ranch where they currently work
He needs them to hide the money from Carlson and Curley