Lying on his bed in a hot cabin in Salinas Valley, Lennie Small discreetly plays with his new born puppy. Suddenly, his friend and mentor figure, George Milton realizes Lennie’s flawed actions and turns to the bigger man, instructing him to “get right up an’ take this pup back to the nest,” (39). George warns Lennie that he may kill the new born due to its extremely small size and young age, foreshadowing Lennie’s accidental murder of the fledgling dog later on. Much like these two men from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Willie-Jay and Perry have a similar relationship, where Willie-Jay serves as Perry’s mentor and foreshadows his future gruesome actions with his advice. Despite his minor role in the story, Willie-Jay has a significant
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Perry’s dynamic with Willie-Jay and his failure to heed the man’s advice serves as a life lesson. When provided with such wise counsel and one truly realizes the depth and importance of the advice, as opposed to ignoring and reverting back to wrongdoing, one should heed the recommendation, truly take it to heart and be a better person because of it. Willie-Jay gave Perry the tools he needed to see into himself and combat his internal struggles between his strengths and weaknesses, but Perry could not use the assistance once out of his mentors presence, unable to help himself because of lack of effort and strong associations to negativity. This also models what not to do in life. One should recognize his/her internal flaws and use great perseverance in conquering them instead of masking them with a superficial positive mentality, lest it come back to harm the individual in the future as it did Perry. So was the case with Lennie. He did not have the mental reserve to resist playing with his puppy, and as George warned him, the puppy died in his arms. In Cold Blood followed a similar path, dealing with Perry, who couldn’t make himself utilize Willie-Jay’s voiced insight and warnings, resulting in his massacre of the Clutter family. Willie-Jay’s subtle foreshadowing and opposing juxtaposition to Dick may go unnoticed to some readers, but his overall effects and influences on the story become undeniable as they permeate the depths of the
Perry’s dynamic with Willie-Jay and his failure to heed the man’s advice serves as a life lesson. When provided with such wise counsel and one truly realizes the depth and importance of the advice, as opposed to ignoring and reverting back to wrongdoing, one should heed the recommendation, truly take it to heart and be a better person because of it. Willie-Jay gave Perry the tools he needed to see into himself and combat his internal struggles between his strengths and weaknesses, but Perry could not use the assistance once out of his mentors presence, unable to help himself because of lack of effort and strong associations to negativity. This also models what not to do in life. One should recognize his/her internal flaws and use great perseverance in conquering them instead of masking them with a superficial positive mentality, lest it come back to harm the individual in the future as it did Perry. So was the case with Lennie. He did not have the mental reserve to resist playing with his puppy, and as George warned him, the puppy died in his arms. In Cold Blood followed a similar path, dealing with Perry, who couldn’t make himself utilize Willie-Jay’s voiced insight and warnings, resulting in his massacre of the Clutter family. Willie-Jay’s subtle foreshadowing and opposing juxtaposition to Dick may go unnoticed to some readers, but his overall effects and influences on the story become undeniable as they permeate the depths of the