The setting presented at the beginning of the story ‘of mice and men’ mainly supports the theme of loneliness. The story is set in ‘Soledad’. The name of the place already indicates solitude (The state or situation of being alone). The area that has been described seems to be very safe, peaceful and perfect ‘the golden foothill slopes curve up’ just like Heaven however it seems to be lonely. There is just pure nature there, no sole mates except for each other.
‘There is an ash pile made by many fires’. This represents the end of something. The ash pile of ‘many’ fires not only one, can indicate that a lot of things have ended there. The ending of those things could have been good or bad, could have led to loneliness or happiness. An ending to something is usually lonely and unpleasant. On the other hand somebody else could interpret this as a new hope like the Phoenix that was born from ash.
Why did Steinbeck entitle his novel ‘of mice and men?’
Steinbeck called his book 'Of Mice and Men' because he drew inspiration to write the book from the poem 'To a mouse' written by Robert Burns, a Scottish poet. This book mainly deals with the predatory nature of human existence.
How does the setting at the start of ‘of mice and men’ support the hardship faced by George and Lennie
We can tell that George and Lennie will go through some hard times because chapter 1 George says "Lennie, for God' sakes don't drink so much." Lennie continued to snort into the pool. The small man leaned over and shook him by the shoulder. "Lennie. You gonna be sick like you was last night." George is trying to look after him and tell him not to drink the water as he may get sick like he was the previous night however Lennie continues to drink. This shows they may face some dangers throughout the book because Lennie doesn’t seem to listen to George’s important advice.