Symbolism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

George although seemingly ‘Casual’ and ‘Uninterested’ listens to Candy’s opinions without seeing an old crippled man, pleasing Candy. The other men rarely take Candy’s views into consideration; this is true of the death of his dog, which was ultimately Slims decision. Candy is subservient

Curley’s wife is treated with very little respect because of the small amount of power she has, which depicts Steinbeck’s lesson that people with less power are treated differently and then go on to treat others unequally, as well. Curley’s wife has a flirty reputation and often goes to talk to the men on the ranch even though she knows she shouldn't be. Shortly after Lennie and George are first introduced to Curley’s wife, George remarks, “Gosh, she was purty.” George is shocked and fiercely tells Lennie, “Don't you even take a look at that bitch. I don't care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be”(Steinbeck 32). Lennie’s initial reaction of Curley’s wife is not uncommon for the lack of intelligence he has. George’s fierce attitude toward Curley’s wife when he calls her

The characters’ fates in the novel develop individually through separate journeys all controlled by power. The scene depicting Carlson influencing Candy to let him kill his dog represents the idea of power, and the concept of the characters’ journeys with power. Candy is an old man, and because of this, he does not have a powerful position in the social structure on the ranch. Carlson and Slim have power over him because of their younger age and physical abilities. Slim agreed with Carlson’s idea and had the last word on the matter when the book states, “Slim’s opinions were law” (45). Candy knows that he does not have any power over the situations or even himself as he becomes obsolete on the ranch. The dog symbolises Candy and represents the end of Candy’s life journey and the loss of power and worth due to old age when Slim states, “I wisht somebody’ed shoot me if I got old and’ a cripple” (45). The idea that Candy has no power over himself because of his social status and

Around 20% of the world's children and adolescents have mental disorders or problems. Back then a lot of people were not aware of the mental illness. They thought those people were just straight up crazy. In the story of mice and men,” Lennie has a mental illness, which leads to many problems in the book. Foreshadowing plays an influential role in of mice and men through, lennie's obsession with soft things, lennie's death, and lennie's strength.

This foreshadows the story to when George kills Lennie instead of letting him get shot and maybe tortured by the people in the ranch. He did not want Lennie to go through torture anymore as Candy did not want his dog too. The difference between Candy and George though, is that George put down his own “dog”. It was also a coincidence when Slim said the same thing to George as he did to Candy after killing his dog. He said that it had to be done in both cases because if not, the consequences are full of pain and

Throughout the novella, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck’s use of motif reveals the theme that friendship is an important part to living a fulfilling life . Lennie has just run away due to the fear that he would no longer be able to tend the rabbits. He had this fear because he had just killed Curley’s wife and the young pup. So he ran away to the bushes that George had told him to go to in the case of an emergency. George was talking to Lennie even though he knew he had to kill him.

In the novel, when George involuntarily kills Lennie, Slim was the only person on the ranch who could understand his actions when the other ranch workers are not able to speculate that something is wrong, he says, “you hadda, George, I swear you hadda” (107). Slim’s characteristics and qualities of a true friend is evident in his ability to interpret the thought process of George explains that he cares and understand the reasons why George decides to take Lennie’s life. The symbolism of friends relates to one of the important themes of the novel, which is the importance of friendship. Although an unlikely pair, George and Lennie are great friends, with George overlooking Lennie, but shockingly kills him in the hunt for revenge with Curly. George is devastated about Lennie’s death, but Slim comforts him by saying “a guy got to sometimes” (107). As a result of the friendship, George was able to assure himself that his decisions are appropriate due to the confirmations of Slim. Slim’s actions relates to the importance of friendship, as he was able to understand George’s intentions to let Lennie have a painless death, and agrees that George’s actions were done in the best interest of

n the novel, Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck explores many themes. After Lennie and George are chased out of Weed, California they travel to Soledad, California where they try to find a job. Lennie causes the two of them trouble on many occasions because Lennie is developmentally delayed and says the wrong thing at the wrong time. At last, the two get a job on a ranch where they will buck barley. Of Mice and Men explores the effects of systemic oppression on women, African Americans, and people with disabilities.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a classic story filled with many symbols and important themes. The title itself comes from Robert Burns’s poem “To a Mouse”. John Steinbeck alludes to this in the book’s title because Of Mice and Men and “To a Mouse are very similar. In “To a Mouse”, a group of mice carefully make themselves a house and raise a family, but it is all for naught as it is accidentally crushed by a man. This is similar to Of Mice and Men because Lennie and George carefully rebuild their lives and careers after Weed, and they make new friends at the ranch.

He keeps him out of trouble and protects him all of the time. In most times, George is the stronger one while Lennie is the weaker one for obvious reasons but sometimes it’s actually the other way around. Without Lennie, George wouldn’t have that responsibility and to have someone looking up to him. In chapter 3, he admittedly tells Slim that he isn’t really smart after he defends Lennie because Slim called him “cuckoo”. He says “ An' I ain't so bright neither, or I wouldn't be buckin' barley for my fifty and found. If I was bright, if I was even a little bit smart, I'd have my own little place, an' I'd be bringin' in my own crops, 'stead of doin' all the work and not getting what comes up outa the ground.” It makes him feel good that he could have some power even if it’s not

Many concepts in this passage symbolize different things. For example, the trail that Slim leads George down represents that George had to move on from Lennie and realize that he would be better off without him even though he was his best friend. The trail may also symbolize the beginning of a new life for George without Lennie; moreover, George would no longer be able to gain the money for his dream house as quickly as he perceived he would when Lennie was alive, so he would now have to work even harder to obtain his original goal of a beautiful house with various animals.

Working at there new job they meet new people and make new friends. Candy who is an old fellow who owns a smelly dog, Crooks a lonely stable hand, Curley, who has a wife that no one is allowed to look at, slim who is there local and wise ranch demi-god, and Carlson a callous ranch hand. One day on a Saturday night Slim, Lennie, Crooks, and Candy were hanging out at the ranch talking when Curleys wife shows up to tease them all for being weak. When Crooks tries to get her to leave his room she reminders him that he is a nigger. Lennie is in the barn with a dead puppy. Just then Curley’s wife walks in and offers her hair as a petting object. She is wiggles to avoid him ruining her hairdo. Lennie panics and accidentally breaks her neck and kills her. Then he runs off in a

The previously mentioned Curley son of the boss is a rude individual throughout the course of the novel and his wife is portrayed as a lonely and neglected individual who can be seen flirting and hanging around the other guys. Slim and Carlson one being the well respected team leader and the other being a well liked farm hand also meet our protagonists during the night time, they both are very kind to our duo and Lennie is given a dog from Slim. And in the mention of dogs Candy’s old and blind dog is brought up by Carlson saying that Candy should just put it out of its misery. Candy reluctantly agrees and allows Carlson to shoot the dog with his Luger pistol. Though he is deeply saddened by the loss of his longtime companion, Candy later comes to the conclusion that he should have shot his dog, rather than let a stranger do it. Later that night Candy overhears Lennie and George talking about their lifelong dream to own their own ranch and offers his whole life savings to be a part of their dream, George and Lennie are very happy having more than half the money they need for their dream to come

Curley's wife lets Lennie touch her hair, but Lennie takes it way to far. When she panicked Lennie grabbed on tightly and broke her neck Falling Action: Candy finds the wife's body and tells George Candy tells the men that something happened, so they go to the barn to check it George tells the men he meant no harm and not to shoot him Men take off to find Lennie Resolution: Lennie feels guilt when the rabbit appears because he will never be able to own a piece of

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.