Theme Of Foreshadowing In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

Improved Essays
“I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts.”(Steinbeck 96). In the novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, set in the 1930s, two men are determined to achieve a dream of owning their own land and farm. This dream lands them in Soledad in search of jobs as migrant workers. Both are determined to work and achieve that dream of owning their farm. John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing in Of Mice and Men to give the reader a sense of caution and awareness of the patterns that keep reoccurring in the novel. Steinbeck shows foreshadows in the beginning of the novel when George explains to Lennie what do when he gets in any trouble, revealing that he’ll get into a fuss later on. Secondly, George …show more content…
Steinbeck writes about the dog being shot to end it’s suffering leading to George’s suffering from all the trouble Lennie caused. “I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta let no stranger shoot my dog.” (61). Candy didn’t shoot his dog and now he regrets his decision. “And George raised the gun and steadied it / close to the back of Lennie’s head / He pulled the trigger.” (106). Steinbeck foreshadows Candy’s saying when he told George about his regret of not shooting his dog. As George doesn’t want to regret like Candy, he takes matter into his own hands. “You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.” (107). This statement shows that Slim understands why George decided to shoot Lennie himself rather than having the mob killing …show more content…
“That was your Aunt Clara. An’ she stopped givin’ ‘em to ya. You always killed ‘em.”(9). Lennie was always given mice to pet, but every mice that he receives, ends up dying because of Lennie’s harsh stroking. “He was so scairt he couldn’t let go of that dress. And he’s so God damn strong, you know.” (41). This conflict in the novel is the start of the pattern that Lennie is going to cause trouble later on, but shows that he has no intentions to cause the trouble. “ … [Lennie] looked at a dead puppy that lay in front of him / he put out his huge hand and stroked it, stroked it clear from one end to the other.” (85). The dead mice foreshadowed Lennie’s extreme fascination with holding soft objects and as well as the mice, his abrasive pampering of the puppy has an outcome of a loss. “Lennie’s fingers closed and hung on [her hair] / he was in a panic.” (91). As Curley’s wife unknowingly invites Lennie to stroke her hair, little does she know that Lennie is easily fascinated by soft things. She yells at him to let go, this overwhelms Lennie into holding on and not knowing when to let go. This is similar to what happened in Weed. “ … he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” (91). To

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Lennie Characteristics

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lennie will always touch thing and feel things, but some how get in trouble. Lennie doesn’t always know what is going on either. For example when George, Slim, Carlson, and Curley went into town Lennie didn’t know that they left. When George and Lennie had to flee Weed, it was because Lennie had held onto a girls dress for too long. George and Lennie then had to run away because there were men looking to hurt them because Lennie was holding onto the girl’s dress. Then on the ranch in the new town where George and Lennie went after Weed, Lennie held onto Curley's wife’s hair for too long and she got upset. Then, Lennie said to her, on page 91, “ and Lennie’s fingers closed on her hair and hung on.” Lennie liked how her hair felt, but then he started to grab onto her hair. Lennie wouldn’t let go. Curley’s wife’s started to scream, just like the woman back in Weed. Lennie then accidently broke her neck and killed her. Lennie ran to a bushel like George had told him to do so before they arrived on the ranch. Curley went looking for Lennie with some other men on the ranch. In Weed, men were looking for Lennie and now where he is now there are men looking for him.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Of Mice and men steinbeck shows Candy love and loyalty to his dog right after carlson said to put him down. "'I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him,' He said proudly, 'You wouldn't think it to look at him now, but he was the best...sheepdog I ever seen"' (Steinbeck, 44). This quote shows how much Candy is loyal and devoted to keeping his dog and doesn't want to lose him. Another quote showing the LOyalty betwwen Candy and his dog, "I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”. This was one of the most important quotes that Candy made. It foreshadowed the end of the story, which was that George would shoot Lennie instead of letting a stranger, like the other ranch workers, do it. This quote also shows that Candy feels like he “owed” it to the dog and that he should've shot the dog himself out of respect for the dog always being there for…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel of Of mice and men, John Steinbeck explores the relationship between two friends, George and Lennie, they have a strong and unusual relationship. They have a powerful dream of having a place of their own so that they have no trouble with anyone and no one has trouble with them, in order for this dream to come true they have to work on ranches so they have enough money to get the place. George and Lennie work hard but since Lennie has a mind of a child and forgetful, he keeps getting into trouble and George has to get him out of trouble by moving to the next ranch, but Lennie keeps on getting in trouble and his pelting begins innocently and then increases and becomes a criminal offence and George has to fix but one day George no…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lennie Small Is Childish

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages

    On page 91 Lennie tries to explain the consequences from George he believes he will receive if she tells on him, causing him to hold her even tighter, still not meaning any harm, “’I don’t want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will. Now don’t you do that.’… and she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” This event is clearly foreshadowed as something that Lennie cannot help but do mainly due to his previously noted childlike curiosity along with a tactile addiction. Noting back to the incident in Weed, “’Jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress—jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse—Well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells…’” (Steinbeck 11). This flashback reference shows that when Lennie sees something he likes, he will want to touch it no matter the circumstances that he knows go along with it or not. We are also made aware of Curley’s Wife more or less setting up her ability she knew she had to take advantage of Lennie when on page 77 it says, “Looking in was Curley’s wife. Her face was heavily made up. Her lips were slightly parted. She breathed strongly…” We see here the complete ability that the woman knowingly has to effectively catch Lennie’s attention by just entering a room…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout this story there is many points or time periods that completely were foreshadowed from the very beginning. Some were small but others completely drove the plot of this story, such as the three main big events that John Steinbeck foreshadowed from almost the very beginning. They were when Curley’s wife died, when Lennie died, and finally when the farm dream started to die.…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    By providing this parallelism Steinbeck, the author of Of Mice and Men allows for the plot to come full circle and make good on his previous foreshadowing. Steinbeck includes several of the same elements with slight variations including the water snake looking like a periscope, and the rustling of the sycamore leaves. However, here the water snake is gobbled up by a bird symbolizing the danger for Lennie to return to this area. He is now prey to a dedicated group of men who know where he is located. It is also ironic that Lennie remembers where George told Lennie to hide as it allows George to find Lennie and shoot him before the rest of the few get there. A location that was presented as a haven for the pair earlier in the book becomes the place where George forsakes…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lennie Character Analysis

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lennie, in a childish attempt to touch Curley's wife's hair in order to feel how soft it is, breaks her neck and kills her. Lennie didn't do it to actually hurt her. In the process of touching her hair, he pulled it, and just like the girl with the pretty red dress in Weed, she panicked. And the gentle giant, not knowing what to do, shook her, and i doing so broke her neck. As stated before 'Lennie never done it in meanness', He doesn't understand his own strength, and just like with the mouse and the puppy, he killed Curley's wife by accident.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This summer I read John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck uses a variety of figurative language and imagery in his writing. I found ten quotes that refers to the symbols animals, water, buildings, dreams, and characters, two each. Then I analyzed each quote for how it connects to the symbol, after that I looked for the quote’s imagery and figurative language.…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book “Of Mice of and Men”, by John Steinbeck, the author chose to give the book a country style of format because it shows that they are not very educated. This type of writing is effective in the book because it shows the way that they learned. This effects the way that the story plans out because if they had an intellect language and not the country style of speak, it would make Lennie seem smart. Meanwhile in the book he is portrayed as an idiotic person. The author might have chosen this way to write the book so he can show that they are not the smartest people around and do not have the highest level of education. The way that the characters are portrayed in the story and the how their education level is shown that they are unimportant…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, is a story about a unlikely friendship between two men having the same dream of owning their own farm. Foreshadowing plays a large role by giving hints of what might happen next in the novel. Also, the foreshadowing gives the book its character. Steinbeck gives the readers implications of the following events and how they all link together as a whole. In the story, Candy's dog's death was parallel to Lennie's death, the puppy's death was similar to Curley's wife's death, and Curley's wife foreshadows trouble for the men.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this case in Of Mice and Men we see again how two men face the same struggles, trying to make their dream come true. They had to go through the struggles like having to move from place to place, having to find new jobs, and also all the problems Lennie creates and brings with them. Foreshadowing is a tool that Steinbeck used to foreshadow the migrant workers to the situations they would have to face. These would include, their plans going askew, the death of Curley’s Wife, the loss of the farm dream, and the death of…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Steinbeck's Foreshadowing

    • 188 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Stienkbeck uses foreshadowing to show what happens to Lennie in the end of the novel in many different ways. The first reason how Steinbeck foreshadows Lennie's death is when George tells Lennie to stay away from Curley's wife. George tells Lennie this because he does not want him to get into trouble with her which he does later in the novel. The second reason how Steinbeck foreshadows Lennie's death is when Carlson is telling Candy how he should shoot his dog. He tells him where to shoot his dog so hat he will not fell a thing. George shoots Lennie in the same spot that Carlson shot Candy's dog. The final reason how Steinbeck foreshadows Lennie's death is when Candy tells George that he should have shot his own dog and not have someone else…

    • 188 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Foreshadowing is an important literary tool for any author and Steinbeck uses it dexterously throughout the novel. In many instances the foreshadowing can be interpreted by the reader to show a deeper meaning underneath the surface level story. During the novel an exemplification of this can be found when Carlson states, “He ain’t no good to you… ain’t no good to himself. Why’n’t you shoot him, Candy?” In this instance Carlson is referring to Candy’s old and rheumatism laden dog, who seems to be well past its golden years. This scene foreshadows the fate of Candy, the dog’s owner, who is also old and running low on usage around the ranch. Much like the old suffering dog, who Candy continuously claims was at one point was the best sheep dog…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Lennie had a problem with remembering things. He would always like to pet things but when he did this he would always kill it. He didn’t mean to but he didn’t know how strong he actually was. Lennie’s mental handicap gave him problems with his jobs this is because he just loved to touch things. He didn’t mean to do any harm to any of the people, it’s just when he sees something he wants to pet he will go for it and pet it. He got accused for rape because he wanted to pet this girls dress and when he grabbed ahold we wouldn’t let go. When he get the advantage to feel something he isn’t going to stop because he just loves the way he feels. That’s what got him in the whole situation with Curly’s Wife. Lennie was just a sweet innocent guy but no one understood that. He never intentionally meant to hurt…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1937 John Steinbeck wrote the novella Of Mice and Men, in order to express his societal conscience about America in the 1930’s. Of Mice and Men is about visions, friendship and hope. It’s a story about the nature of human visions and ambitions and the forces that work against them as it is the story of two men. The principal theme of this bestselling novel is that humans give importance to their lives and to their futures by creating dreams. Without dreams and goals, life is a limitless stream of days that have diminutive joining or meaning. It tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in search of new employment opportunities during the Great Depression in California,…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays