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Examples Of Light And Dark In Of Mice And Men

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Desmond Tutu, a South - African social activist and retired Anglican priest once said “ Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness”. Of Mice and Men is a novel which revolves around the lives of struggling farmers and how they still maintain hope despite their hardships. The symbolic representation of light embodies the hopes and the American Dream, whereas the dark epitomizes the harsh realities and truths of their lives. Steinbeck uses light and dark to foreshadow the upcoming events in the forlorn lives of the migrant workers. He also combines aspects such as the setting and characters with light and dark to paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind as to how the world of the migrant workers looks like.
Steinbeck merges together facets of the setting and living conditions with light and darkness to show how the migrant workers are living. “ One side of the river golden foothill slopes curve up to the rocky Gabilan Mountains”, imply that the hope is on one side and fear and uncertainty is on the other side. The word “golden” bespeaks the hope and ambition which the farmers possess.Whereas “rocky” signifies the fear and uncertainty the farmers have about their survival and future. “curve up to” represents that slowly, all the belief and anticipation turns into dismay and ambiguity. “ In front of the low horizontal limb.. there is an ash pile made by many fires… worn by men who have sat …show more content…

Curley’s wife is portrayed to be a “tart”, someone who is always flirting with other people. “ The rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off”, gives the impression that Curley’s wife is ominous and perilous for Lennie and George. The fact that the sunshine was cut off and blocked from entering through, implies that Curley’s wife is the darkness in their lives and that she is the obstacle in the journey of accomplishing the American

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