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Foreshadowing In Of Mice And Men Analysis

Decent Essays

The 1937 novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ uses foreshadowing successfully to build tension towards the final tragedy. Foreshadowing is shown consistently throughout the novel in various ways including; the introduction of Curley’s wife, Lennie’s constant unawareness of his own strength, and Candy’s dog being killed. These situations and scenes build towards the final tragedy of the novel effectively. Throughout the novel, Lennie is shown to love and care for various animals and people, however in each instance Lennie is shown to be unaware of his own strength, and inadvertently hurts the things he loves. This builds towards the final tragedy in the novel, as Lennie unintentionally kills Curley’s wife, leading to George and Lennie’s worst fears to be fulfilled. This is also shown through George’s constant precautions and his fear which stems from what Lennie was accused of in Weed. George is paranoid that Lennie will do something bad again which is why he specifically tells Lennie to meet him in a special place if anything bad happens. This also foreshadows that the ending is going to be tragic as George is constantly thinking of the worst case scenario. The first example of Lennie’s unawareness of his own strength happens at the beginning of the novel, as it is revealed that he had killed a mouse. George seeing this as a stepping stone to what will happen explodes saying “you always kill ‘em” (Of Mice and Men Steinbeck. J, 2006 page 14) During the novel, Lennie gets a puppy at the

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