The word foreshadow is a literary term used to describe how the author discreetly gives clues to the reader of the events later to occur. The touching realistic fiction novelette Of Mice and Men is written by John Steinbeck. George and Lennie, two men who have become close friends over time, travel together to a ranch to pursue their dream as a team. George is considered to be Lennie's caretaker, for Lennie is mentally challenged. Throughout the novelette Of Mice and Men, foreshadowing takes a considerable role in the most important chapters of George and Lennie's journey together. The events that develop foreshadow other events that will echo the primary event in a distinctive way. John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing and other literary elements as the structure of his many literary works of art. The three events that foreshadow the future are George telling Lennie to return to the river if trouble occurs, Candy having to kill his dog, and a heron killing a snake.…
“If you ever just happen to get in trouble like you have always done before, I want you to come right here and hide in the brush.”(doc B) In the story Of Mice and Men there are two main characters, George and Lennie. George is average sized and intelligent, and Lennie is tall, very muscular, and below average. George and Lennie have a farm dream that they will own land, so they go to work on a ranch to earn money. A worker there, Candy, offers to go in with 300 dollars. Everything is looking good until Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, and Curley is a hothead. He wants to kill Lennie very painfully, but George gets there first. He has to shoot him in the back of the head. Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to indicate the deaths of the farm dream, Curley’s wife, and Lennie.…
Have you ever wished that you could see the future? While using foreshadow may not be the answer, it definitely gets close. Foreshadowing an event means that you are creating a scene that will help develop a different event in the future. One novel that brilliantly displays the use of foreshadow is Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck is one of many authors that incorporates foreshadow numerous times in his novel. Though in this novel there are three particular events that help foreshadow the crucial events throughout this story.…
The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck portrays the story of two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who are completely different people, but who stick together in the face of discrimination and loneliness. There are many different characters who each have their own hopes and aspirations that are depicted in the book, however one character that stands out is Curley’s wife. At first, the book introduces her as a seductress who dresses extravagantly and wears too much makeup. The men on the ranch say she plays around and they call her names such as “tart” or “jail bait”. She is defined by her role in the book, Curley’s wife. In other words, Curley’s property. She is never given a name throughout the book, only being referred to as Curley’s wife. However, as the book goes on, the reader begins to learn the complexities of Curley’s wife. It is revealed that she has a dream of her own, to be in the movies, and hates being tied down on the ranch. “ ‘Nother time I met a guy, an’…
In the story Of Mice and Men the author John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to reveal many future events in the story. He uses them left and right but I am focusing on how he uses it for Curley’s wife dying, Lennie’s death, and their dream dying.…
Foreshadowing is used in several different stories to assist the reader with their predictions throughout the story. Of Mice and Men is a story about George and Lennie, two migrant workers that dream of having a ranch with animals, and being able to work for themselves. They arrive to Riverbank and meet several other workers. George and Lennie face severe obstacles at their new work. John Steinbeck, the author of the novel uses foreshadowing in the story through characters and events. In the story, John Steinbeck alludes the poem “To a Mouse”. John Steinbeck also describes Lennie’s obsession with soft things in “Pet it like it was a mouse”. He demonstrates how Lennie and George are trying to achieve the American dream in “A…
In John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” Steinbeck expertly uses foreshadowing to prelude many surprising events in the ending. From the very beginning we can predict what will happen to the two main characters: Lennie and George. It is used to hint at future events concerning Lennie’s death.…
This theme of power is also shown in the mouse, as the fact that Steinbeck shows the mouse already dead before it's found foreshadows Curley's wife being dead before she was found. The mouse symbolises the lack of hope and ambition felt by Curley's wife; her repetitive daily routine representing all the powerless women during the 1930's. It displays how women during that time had nothing to work towards or aim for, and as a result desperately sought attention and hence settling attentively for the ears of a stranger. The symbolised mouse also explains to the reader the theme of power and powerlessness, felt by most of the characters on the…
This gives us the impression that the attention Curley's wife does get does not satisfy her or makes her feel threatened and uncomfortable. This makes the reader sympathize with her because she is being forced into a loveless relationship and is lonely with no one to talk to. Before Curley’s wife's death she tried to seek attention and comfort from Lennie, who she was driven to by her husband, therefore Curley is to blame for his wife’s death.…
The novel, Of Mice and Men, was written by John Steinbeck and is set in the Salinas Valley of northern California on a small ranch somewhere around the 1930’s. The novel is about the adventure of two men, George and Lennie, in hopes of achieving their dream to, “live off the fatta the lan’.” In the process of obtaining their dream, they are faced with a numerous amount of road blocks. The biggest road block would be when Lennie kills Curley’s wife, at this moment in the story all hopes of their dream have been put to rest. Steinbeck uses characterization in the novel to express empathy for a number of characters including Crooks, Lennie, and Curley’s wife.…
The Great Depression affected several aspects of American citizens’ mentality, as well as the type of literature being produced at that time. Whilst John Steinbeck worked among many ranch workers and construction staff, he gained he realized that the worker’s state of mind led many to despair and seclusion. John Steinbeck incorporated this attitude into his writing by the strong use of foreshadowing to add depth to his novels and symbolism that may be of personal significance.…
“I seen guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good. They don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They wantin’ to fight all the time.”(Steinbeck, 41). In the novel “Of Mice and Men” By John Steinbeck, we learn about George Milton and his Companion Lennie Small they are two men traveling town to town looking for work in the 1930s Great Depression. Until they end up at a ranch up in soledad that is really mean and cruel and this rance splits these two apart forever. A major theme in the novel is when someone is alone their hopes and dreams die and a person grows bitter and mean because life didn’t go the way they wanted it to go. The author uses symbolism and foreshadowing to thoroughly show the theme by making suspense and an emotional connection to the characters and their dreams.…
One of the reasons Of Mice and Men can be read as a tragedy is because of the high number of deaths (the mouse near the start, Candy’s dog, Lennie’s pup, Candy’s dog, Curley’s wife and Lennie himself in the end). The main ones are the death of Curley’s wife and Lennie. Before Curley’s wife dies by the hands of Lennie, she tells Lennie that she could have been on the stage-‘he says he was gonna put me in the movies……but my ol’ lady wouldn’t let me’. Curley’s wife never asked to live on the ranch, however fate ruined her life. This can link to Lennie’s death because he too dies before he ‘tends the rabbits’ like he always wanted to. The tragedy behind these deaths is that…
Throughout the history of novels, many things have changed. However, one thing that has stayed the same is the use of literary devices. These can be symbolism, metaphor, or irony, but one of the strongest is foreshadowing. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing for many reason, specifically by using the title to foreshadow the plot, by using prior events to foreshadow to the death of Curley’s wife, to foreshadow the death of George and Lennie’s dream and to foreshadow the death of Lennie.…
Throughout the novel, Curley’s wife is not named. This shows her lack of identity on the ranch and how people view her as being property of her husband. In a way she retaliates to her…