Symbolism In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck is set in America in the 1930’s and it describes the lives of migrant farmers as they go from farm to farm looking for jobs. It also shows the loneliness of the characters and the hard work that they put in. The main characters of the book are Lennie, a man-child, and George, a small man but very powerful character that takes care of Lennie in their journey. Also when they get to the farm they meet the bosses wife who is very lonely and looks for company in the workers. Steinbeck uses characterization to bring his characters to life using various techniques.

The long, hard war of human equality in society, has been a war since the beginning of civilization. The Great Depression, a tragic time in America’s history, reflects American determination, but also social inequality. In the fiction novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses symbolism and characterization to address ableism and sexism in society. Steinbeck addresses these flaws in society in an attempt to ultimately bring awareness these riffs before society falls.

John Steinbeck uses many literary devices in Of Mice and Men to make the book more interesting and to keep the reader hooked. Steinbeck uses imagery to show “The flame of the sunset lifted from the mountain-tops and dusk came into the valley, and a half darkness came in among the willows and the sycamores” to demonstrate that sunset is taking place as well as the darkness is starting to take over(Steinbeck 11). In chapter 6 Steinbeck uses imagery again to set the scene, “Already the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan mountains” set the final scene of the book, also at the beginning of chapter 1 the scene is sunset and in chapter 6 the scene is sunset as well(Steinbeck 109).

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses a plethora of imagery to discuss the withering despair of the American Dream. To begin his novel, Steinbeck uses imagery to create an analogy towards the Garden of Eden. This is shown through his description of the “golden foothill slopes” and “sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs” (Steinbeck 1). This imagery symbolizes George and Lennie’s American Dream; full of hope and life. However, alike the Garden of Eden, when man comes along, the beautiful, tranquil, perfect environment, becomes scarred.

Using symbolism can take your story to a whole new level by showing us how each character feels in additional it can make a person or even an objects stand out a whole lot more. In Eudora Welty they used symbolism in many different ways that you can even notice them right away.

George and Lennie were best friends for a long time—more like brothers. Lennie isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, so George couldn’t really get mad at him when he accidentally killed Curley’s wife, due to the soft feel of her hair—which he truly adored too much that he killed her by accident. “…’I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know’”(101). The two had planned a future together—a future in their own dream ranch. A ranch where no trouble they’d cross or cross them. Right before George put him out from the back of the head with the Luger, he made Lennie think of their future home—their ranch and the rabbits Lennie would tend. “’You…an’ me. Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em’”(101). This shows you how much George cares for Lennie, no matter how big the crime is. He’d always be there to help Lennie get right back up to his feet, make him forget all his worries, and move on like nothing happened. I hereby state that I strongly believe George was the right person to kill Lennie, therefore made the right decision to, rather than to let him suffer in the hands of Curley.

Lennie enjoys mice and always captures them, but always ends up killing them by accident. Lennie doesn’t intend to do this and doesn’t realize it’s wrong. He eventually ends up killing Curley’s wife without actually meaning to. This causes Curley to become angry and George to realize that something needs to be done to stop Lennie. “I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im”(Steinbeck 98). This shows that Lennie killing Curley’s wife really did make Curley mad, and if George didn’t kill Lennie himself, Curley was going to. Without realizing it, Lennie makes people upset or mad because of things he doesn’t know are wrong. George killing Lennie was an option because either he had to get it over with or Curley was going to take it upon

“And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head.” In the book, “ Of Mice and Men ,” by John Steinbeck (13), the author uses so many symbols in his characters and in the background throughout the story. In the book, everything represents symbolism whether it is the characters or the setting of the time and place they are in. The time period in “ OF Mice and Men “ is around the 1930s during the Great Depression. The men and women in the story aren’t very educated by how they talk and pronounce words. The setting is in Salinas Valley, California which is located in Northern California just south of San Francisco.

John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.

Lennie had accidentally killed Curley’s wife and many other small animals and If he were to be let loose it would most likely happen again. Lennie had many violent outburst such as when he killed the puppy and often times he did not understand the significance of what he has done. After killing the puppy the main thing Lennie focus on is tending the rabbits, Lennie said “George ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits now”(Steinbeck 87). Along with others Lennie was also putting himself in danger. His difficult behavior, aggression, and lack of self control left him in a constant danger.

Lennie is a sweet caring guy who wants to help George get their dream house and own lots of animals, so they can own the fat of the land. In one part of the book Lennie kills his puppy by smacking him, just like if you mess with a dog they will get mad at you and nip you, but when they realize they are doing something wrong, they will feel bad and try to hide the evidence, just like when Lennie tried to hide his puppy from Curley’s wife. “We’ll have a cow,” said George. “An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens… an’ down the flat we’ll have a… little piece alfalfa----” “ For the rabbits.” Lennie shouted as said on page 105. George did the right thing by killing Lennie. George killed Lennie because he killed Curley's wife, and so he can have a happy death before Curley makes him suffer for what he done to his wife.

Curley’s wife came by to talk and to comfort Lennie, but it takes a horrible turn, “ ‘Don’t you go yellin’,’ he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck” (Steinbeck 91). Lennie was in a panic of the thought of not being aloud to tend the rabbits, mixed in with Curley’s wife screaming to get Lennie away from her. George said if he does something bad he can’t tend the rabbits, which happens to be all that Lennie dreams of. Lennie was told to stay away from Curley’s wife, and the one time when they are alone Lennie killed her.

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.

Metaphor “The curls,tiny little sausages, were spread on…” In “Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck describes Curley's wife’s hair as sausage-like curls. I created Curly’s Wife with literal sausage curls, as if the sentence were literal. Plot (Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution) This drawing represents the plot.

John Steinbeck’s 1949 novella entitled Of Mice and Men uses many significant symbols to convey meanings about the human condition. Such symbols include hands to represent labour, cards to signify chance and taking a risk, and finally, rabbits to suggest ideas about achieving one’s hopes and dreams. Symbols are a key central device in delivering meaning, as they consistently repeated throughout the narrative and are typically associated with the novella’s many characters.