Slim

1930’s America

The second Question

• (H) How does Steinbeck use the character of Slim in the Novel as a whole to convey ideas about America in the 1930’s?

• (F) How is Slim treated by others in the novel and what does this show about the society at that time?– What he does– The attitudes of others towards him.

Who is Slim? What’s he like and what does he do?

• Prince of the Ranch Moral

conscience

Practical and pragmatic

Slim’s word was law.

Archetypal western male

jerk line skinner

beautiful, ageless

Now, for each point you have made, try to make a link to themes and 1930’s America

• Eg: Slim’s word was law • In a topsy turvey society it would be comforting for the men to have someone that embodied law and order.

How does Steinbeck use the character of Slim in the Novel as a whole to convey ideas about America in the 1930’s?

archetypal western male

Symbol of liberty, godliness virtue

Beautiful “1930’s film hero”

No real American dream forced to work on ranch. No alternative

Why Slim is present at crucial parts of the story.

Remember, in real terms you only have 20 mins to answer this question.

Slim conveys ideas about 1930’s America in a number of ways. Firstly Slim is the "prince of the ranch." He’s the archetypal Western male: masterful, strong, fair-minded, practical, full of integrity, and exceptionally good at what he does as a “jerk line skinner.” His ‘princely’ air embodies the stereotype of what men of the 1930’s would like to be, and indeed we can see this with George who confides in Slim and wants to be like him, as do many of the other men on the ranch.

He is a god among men; he has an “air of superiority” and his word on any subject is law. He decides who is wrong and right, who should be admonished and who should be punished. The other men recognize his superiority and never question his actions or decisions. To this end he is almost a character sketch; we know only his positive attributes; to an extent he embodies America’s belief in ‘Liberty’ and her vow to look after the poor and homeless who put their faith in her as so many did in the 1930s. He just understands what should be and what shouldn’t be, and he is un-waving in his position of “majesty”, which is comforting to the men when so much of the world seems order-less, without rhyme, reason or justice.

Slim is beautiful with his “long black hair” and his “ageless” face. He is reminiscent of the ideological flim star of the 1930’s, a hero, which indeed he is to the men. Fame was very much seen as an escape in the 1930s and Slim looks like one of these “Clarke Gable” type characters. Yet he has no escape and so embodies further life in the 1930’s

There was a firm belief in “the American Dream,” in that anyone could be whatever they wanted to be with the right amount of hard work and effort. Slim is skilled, popular and beautiful and yet he is confined to the ranch on which he works. The dream was a fallacy for so many people, Slim included. Jobs were so scarce that, even a man as skilled as Slim had to work on the ranch of one of the few landowners not affected by the dustbowl and had little hope for anything better. Steinbeck uses Slim as the moral compass but also shows that even a reasoned, sensitive and popular man in the 1930’s had little chance of shaking of the shattles of the depression.

• Slim is present at many crucial parts of the story: the death of Candy's dog, the smashing of Curley's hand, finding the body of Curley's wife, at the pool after George has shot Lennie. In each case, there is violence or the threat of it. Each time Slim helps make the assessment to do what is merciful or what is right. It is Slim, in the end, who suggests that George did the right thing in killing Lennie mercifully. He explains the alternative: "An s'pose they lock him up an' strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain't no good, George." As the ultimate ranch-man, Slim represents the cool justice of the ranch world, whilst at the same time embodying what is unjust about the wider society of the 1930s.