The Jerkline skinner
…he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsman. He was a jerkline skinner, the prince of the ranch, capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders. He was capable of killing a fly on the wheeler's butt with a bull whip without touching the mule. There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke, his authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love. This was Slim, the jerkline skinner. (2.170)
Slim is so different and distinct from all the other characters in Of Mice and Men that the narrative style itself changes when he is introduced.
This is the only moment where Steinbeck gets a bit carried away - his normal terse and understated writing style gives way to metaphor and hyperbole.
Why?
- Slim could be seen as the idealised man - the highest point of the evolutionary scale. Is he the one whiff of hope in the novel (think about the end!)?
- Or is he God? Or a demi-god? Has he come from a different world? Is he a Saviour figure? Is he able to tell us what is right and wrong in a very messed up world
(At the end, he reassures George that he did the right thing - 'You hadda, George, I swear you hadda.')
At the end he seems to be taking on the role of a priest, absolving George of guilt.
Slim came directly to George and sat down beside him, sat very close to him. "Never you mind," said Slim. "A guy got to sometimes." (6.96)
His [Slim's] ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought. His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer. (2.170)
This is the only moment where Steinbeck gets a bit carried away - his normal terse and understated writing style gives way to metaphor and hyperbole.
Why?
- Slim could be seen as the idealised man - the highest point of the evolutionary scale. Is he the one whiff of hope in the novel (think about the end!)?
- Or is he God? Or a demi-god? Has he come from a different world? Is he a Saviour figure? Is he able to tell us what is right and wrong in a very messed up world
(At the end, he reassures George that he did the right thing - 'You hadda, George, I swear you hadda.')
At the end he seems to be taking on the role of a priest, absolving George of guilt.
Slim came directly to George and sat down beside him, sat very close to him. "Never you mind," said Slim. "A guy got to sometimes." (6.96)
His [Slim's] ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought. His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer. (2.170)
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