Allusions In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Throughout Of Mice and Men, they’re many allusions of the Bible. It is believed that John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men was influenced also by John Milton's Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost is about Adam and Eve and how they were created and how they came to lose their place in the Garden of Eden because of disobedience. In the Bible, God created the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve to live and tend to. God gave them instructions that they can eat from any tree except the tree of knowledge. Eve was tempted by the serpent, then Eve tempted Adam to eat fruit from the forbidden tree. When they consumed it, they had knowledge of good and evil. They came to the realization of being naked so they tried to cover themselves. God gave them both consequences

First, we can compare Curley’s Wife to Eve. They’re both women, they both are responsible for doing something bad which resulted in some bad consequences. Both temptresses responsible for the problems of someone else and they’re both ruled over’ by men. From a biblical standpoint, Eve is under her husband Adam. In Of Mice and Men, Curley ruled over his wife. Curley treated her like property instead of a person. The Bible doesn’t have the intention of saying treat your wife like property but more in the idea of the husband has authority over the wife. Curley was ruling over his wife in a more abusive kind of way. In Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife was a temptress. She flirted with new guys who stopped by the city, she dressed in seductive clothing and wore much makeup. Lennie was fond of her. When George realized this, he told him to stay away from her because he didn’t want her to get in trouble. Curley’s wife visited Lennie when he was in the farm and she allowed him to touch her hair. Lennie touched her hair for too long and Curley’s wife started to freak out and Lennie got scared and held on tight to her and killed her unintentionally. You can compare George telling Lennie not to talk or be around Curley’s wife to God telling Adam not to eat the fruit and compare Curley’s wife to Eve tempting Adam to eat the fruit. Lennie’s

The comparison here is pretty basic. Throughout the story, George is seen as Lennie’s keeper. They aren’t brothers but they’re close friends and George looks after Lennie because of his disabilities. George and Lennie are also farmers just like Cain and Abel. Another comparison can be, after Lennie killed Curley’s wife, Curley wanted to kill Lennie himself. George and Lennie meet up and George shoots Lennie in the back of his head killing him. We don’t know exactly why but the most obvious reason is because he wanted Lennie to die peacefully. George knew Curley probably kill Lennie in a cruel way so he did it himself at a time when Lennie had no clue and he was happy. In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain killed his brother Abel because of jealousy. When Cain murders Abel, God told him: "You will become a restless wanderer on the earth." When George kills Lennie, the reader knows that he will also wander alone, that he has become just like all the rest of the ranch hands. (Mice and