In the opening chapters of John Steinbeck's Of
Mice and Men, the serene beauty of the Salinas Valley with its golden slopes
and greenery and trodden path that leads to a peaceful pool where rabbits move
noiselessly is a haven where George Milton and Lennie Small find respite that is in
sharp contrast to the potentially insect-infested bunkhouse with people who threaten
their safety to which George Milton and Lennie Small report for
work.
While at the pool in the clearing, George and Lennie
speak as friends, discussing freely their feelings and their past experiences.
Relaxing, they recite their dream of owning a ranch as though it were a litany, a prayer
before they bed down for the night. However, once they reach the ranch, George is
guarded in his speech, careful to feign enough disinterest in things so as not to draw
attention to himself and Lennie. In contrast to his rather positive feelings about
Lennie's remembering where to hide in the brush by the pond in Chapter One, George falls
"morosely silent" in Chapter Two after Lennie speaks when he has been instructed by
George not to say anything in front of the boss. For the most part, George is tense
when he and Lennie are in the bunkhouse around the other bindle stiffs from whom they
are alienated.
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