The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, mainly circles around Lennie Small, a mentally-disabled ranchhand living during The Great Depression. Many times throughout the book, John Steinbeck uses animal imagery as a metaphor to describe Lennie. He uses animals such as a bear, a horse, and a mouse in order to show both the naive and violent sides of Lennie.
Almost right after this novella starts, Steinbeck already compares Lennie to a bear. When Lennie is first introduced, the author describes Lennie as “walking heavily [and] dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws” (Steinbeck 2). The fact that the author chooses a bear’s paws over any other aspect of a bear is a reference to Lennie’s strength and, on occasion, Lennie’s
Almost right after this novella starts, Steinbeck already compares Lennie to a bear. When Lennie is first introduced, the author describes Lennie as “walking heavily [and] dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws” (Steinbeck 2). The fact that the author chooses a bear’s paws over any other aspect of a bear is a reference to Lennie’s strength and, on occasion, Lennie’s