Biblical Allegory In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    First of all, Curley’s wife is warned, and even told, to stay in the house multiple times throughout the novel. Curley, her husband, spends most of his time running around the ranch searching for

After Lennie has inadvertently murdered Curley’s wife, Curley’s lynch mob go out in search of Lennie. George’s decision is almost inevitable to spare Lennie’s life, rather than let Curley and his gang destroy the bit of life Lennie has.

His aforementioned characteristics lead to a detrimental event: the murder of Curley’s wife. George realizes that Curley will not leave Lennie alone as quoted by Candy: “‘Curley gon’ta wanta get ‘im lynched. Curley’ll get ‘im killed.’” (). George decides to kill Lennie compassionately to prevent further afflictions by lettting Lennie die at his happiest moment.

However, when she notices George and Lennie, Curley's wife claims she is "lookin' for Curley". Inferring she is cautious and reserved towards George and Lennie.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story about the short lived life of two Migrant workers named George and Lennie during the Great Depressing, who both share a dream to own their own farm, and live off the land. George killing Lennie out of compassion, for Lennie, ends the Dream. Throughout the story Of Mice and Men, the allusions to the bible are apparent, and to the reader the allusions give a broader look on Of Mice of Men.The Biblical allusions in Of Mice of Men such as Eden, Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, are written throughout the story, because the allusions reinforce the idea that the story is more than a story, its about morals and dreams.

George eventually finds out about the death of Curley’s wife so he sets out and kills Lennie by the river. Lennie dies a gentle death, thinking only the happiest thoughts. The moment before he died, his mind is filled with their farm and there rabbits and there dream. Steinbeck reminds you that Lennie is still as gentle as he ever is, despite the fact that he killed

Just like the apple, she represents temptation causing people to fall from paradise due to pleasure. When Lennie and George first see Curley’s wife, Steinbeck has the reader take notice that “her fingernails [are] painted red” and that she is wearing a dress covered with “bouquets of red ostrich feathers” (31). By having her dressed in red, Steinbeck alludes her to the apple of temptation that Eve brings Adam in the story of Genesis; the same apple that causes the fall of Adam. Once again, before her death, Curley’s wife approaches Lennie in the “bright cotton dress […] with the red ostrich feathers” (86) entering again as the allusion of the apple of temptation. Just like the offer of the apple causes Adam to lose his paradise, Curley’s wife picks up “Lennie’s hand and [puts] it on her head” (90) to pet her soft hair; her version of the apple of temptation. Lennie falls further from his dream by giving into pleasure, just as Adam and Eve had by eating the red apple. Giving into this desire causes his fall from paradise because “Lennie had broken her neck” and “[had] done another bad thing” (91) preventing him from ever living his dream of tending to the

On countless occasions Lennie has been unaware of how strong he was and did something bad. After Curley's Wife found the dead puppy Lennie accidentally kills her too by snapping her neck. "Curley's wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay.(46)" Curley's Wife let Lennie stroke her hair, but she started yelling and Lennie got angry. Lennie got scared and ran to the river where George wanted Lennie to go.

In the novel, ‘Of mice and Men’, John Steinbeck uses allegory to represent different themes and messages. An allegory is a story, poem or a picture which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning. While reading Steinbeck’s book I noticed different metaphors such as the usage of animals and Curley’s wife. Throughout the whole book the reader can notice many animals mentioned such as rabbits, mice, the puppy and the old dog. Curley’s wife is also a sort of symbol. She represents the way in which the women were treated and looked upon in those days. The animals and Curley’s wife all symbolize different things in life in the 1930’s USA. They all symbolize the hopes and the dreams that the characters share which motivates and drives them

Steinbeck shows us the evils of temptation and the innocence they hold. Curley’s wife is a symbol temptation, poison to men on ranch and the main reason for Lennie’s death. In the  Garden of Eden, Eve betrays the word of God and brought sin and evil into world. Curley’s wife is known as a tart, very pretty, and has “the eye”. All of which are distracting and tempting attributes to a man on the ranch, when there is no other women in sight. Eve ignores God’s warnings to fulfill her own wishes and manipulates Adam in the process. Curley’s wife is dressed in red things when she is physically described, this red can symbolize the red apple Eve took. The redness of an apple can stand for love and beauty, but these “good” characteristics also have their flaws. The love and beauty that appears to be genuine is just another example of temptation.  The evil serpent enticed Eve into eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. This action was the first immoral act and caused mankind to be set out of place. Curley’s wife is similar to both Eve as well as the evil serpent. For Curley’s wife’s beauty and soft hair is what tempts Lennie towards her, while she is also manipulative like Eve in getting what she wants. Curley’s wife only married Curley so that she wouldn’t feel lonely. “Well I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t get nowhere or make anything of myself, and’ where they stole your letter” (Steinbeck 88). Curley’s wife was convinced her mother had stolen her letter from a guy who works in Hollywood, she believed her mother destroyed her chances of ever being a famous actress. She was lonely and hopeless, so when she met Curley at the Riverside Dance Palace she stuck with him because he gave her the attention she seeked. Eve and Curley’s wife only think for themselves, not once do they give thought to how their consequences can affect others. Eve influencing Adam to take a fruit from the forbidden tree caused vile things to enter their perfect world. Curley’s wife’s interest in Lennie, his strength, and his quietness brought

George also warns Lennie to not be near Curley’s wife, as he senses trouble between the two. Nevertheless, at the conclusion of the book, Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife after trying to calm her down (as she was screaming for help because Small would not let go of her soft hair). Overall, Lennie’s outstanding physical strength combined with his lack of intelligence and moral sense makes him dangerous without George monitoring him constantly.

”John

Slim is a character from Of Mice and Men. Slim, is a father figure archetype, a father figure archetype is someone who takes care of others and has what is in the best interest of the people he looks after. He is respected by many people and tries his hardest to help people. Slim fills this archetype because when in the bunkhouse Lennie crushes Curley’s hand, he’s so respected and so looked up to that even Curley listens to him when Slim tells Curley that he will not have Lennie and George fired. When he was first introduced to George and Lennie and was told about Lennie’s issues, it was known that he would always protect him. He knows and appreciates how patient and kind George is with Lennie. How is Slim a

The biblical legend of Adam and Eve goes hand in hand with some of the context within Of Mice and Men. Adam and Eve’s story of falling from God’s goodness is an understanding that even our finest blueprints, or best laid plans can be lead off course. God created man in his image, yet man’s vulnerability to temptation caused Adam and Eve to lose their way. Lennie represents the imperfection of humans through his weakness to touch soft things and his incapability to anticipate the outcome of his actions put him in a good amount of danger with other human beings. When he realizes he has "done a bad thing," he goes astray because of temptation. Needing to touch the soft red dress belonging to the girl in Weed and the need to not let go of Curley’s

In the book Of Mice and Men, it could be known as an allegory. It is thought of as an allegory because the story line and characters represent different things from the literal meaning of the story. The ranch could be considered a miniature model of society, where George and Lennie encounter different types of people. Three characters stand out in the book as they would in society; George is a ruler, Crooks is segregated, and Lennie is handicapped.