Comparing The Scarlet Ibis By John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Many books throughout time have been written with similar plots to portray imperative themes to their readers. A great example of this, is the comparison of James Hurst’s short story The Scarlet Ibis, and John Steinbeck’s classic novel Of Mice and Men. To begin, The Scarlet Ibis is set in the early 1900’s on the North Carolina countryside and explains the relationship between the Narrator, and his disabled younger brother named Doodle. Of Mice and Men on the other hand, is set during the Great Depression on a California farm. This novel describes the relationship of Lennie; a dependent, mentally disabled man, and George; his loyal friend and caretaker. While both The Scarlet Ibis and Of Mice and Men are unique pieces of writing, they still

A final connection between The Scarlet Ibis and Of Mice and Men, is the foreshadow of a character's death by the death of an animal. In The Scarlet Ibis, after the family had all found the dead scarlet ibis bird, Doodle and the Narrator were both going to the landing to practice Doodles swimming, running, and climbing, their aunt Nicey said “‘Dead birds is bad luck,’ said Aunt Nicey, poking her head from the kitchen door. “Specially red dead birds!” Sure enough, that afternoon, was Doodles last. Foreshadowing a death with the death of an animal is a brilliant method because it builds tension in the reader, yet it doesn’t reveal the ending in such an obvious manner. Steinbeck also uses this method of foreshadowing in Of Mice and Men to foreshadow Lennie's death, although in this case in was done through the death of a puppy. While Lennie was playing in the barn with his dog Of Mice and Men read, “And Lennie said softly to the puppy, ‘Why do you got to get killed? You ain’t so little as mice. I didn’t bounce you hard.” Although Of Mice and The Scarlet Ibis each use this method of foreshadowing, they are a bit different in a sense that Steinbeck uses it as sort of a blunt, gateway to disaster, while Hurst uses it to build tension within the reader in a more subtle manner. Regardless of their differences, both The Scarlet Ibis and of Mice and Men use the death of an animal to foreshadow a character's