Forks In the Road How do you feel about friendships? How do you feel about hope? Do you believe they go hand in hand? The fictional novel Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck depicts a tragic time during The Great Depression of two migrant ranch workers. George Milton and Lennie Small are the main characters, who have known each other since they were younger, and because of special circumstances George vowed to look after Lennie. The novel takes place near the Salinas River in California resulting in their shared dream of having a ranch of their own. As the two approach a ranch, they realize that it would be a felicitous place to stay in, as long as their plans go as planned. Despite the troubles they endure Lennie and George manage to stick by each others side. Steinbeck creates an ominous yet hopeful mood for the two migrant workers with the use of universal allusions, but most importantly foreshadowing. In Of Mice And Men there are numerous examples of Steinbeck's use of foreshadowing. The most apparent of these examples are crushed plans, the death of a character’s wife, a defeated dream and the death of Lennie. …show more content…
Meaning even the most organized men and women often come across a fork in the road. John Steinbeck grasped some inspiration from Robert Burns's poem, “To a Mouse”. In this poem, the home of a mouse is accidently destroyed by a farmer. The farmer continued to try to calm the panicked mouse my saying, ”the best laid schemes of the mice and men/ Go often askew,” (Document A). Thus allowing the audience to come to the implication, that Steinbeck uses the words “of mice and men” in his title to foreshadow the future of his two main characters. The mouse’s plans to stay safe and sound during the austere winter, were similar to Lennie and George’s dream of having a farm of their