How Does Steinbeck Use Foreshadowing In Of Mice And Men

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After reading the novel and watching the movie “Of Mice and Men”, I have learned about the lifestyle of migrant workers in California during the 1930s, which I did not know about before studying the novel. California back in the 1930s is very different from what I pictured it to be as the conditions of life weren’t that good. This is also the first novel that I have read in my years as a student that contains so much foreshadowing. Never before had I read a book where the author produced so much foreshadowing in such a short book. Steinbeck uses Lennie as a source of motivation and hope in achieving the dream farm that George, Candy, Crooks and Lennie himself desire. Steinbeck used accurate words and descriptions to shape the character of Lennie, which I enjoyed. Steinbeck quotes, “Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly. He pushed himself back, drew up his knees, embraced them, looked over to George to see whether he had it just right.” (Steinbeck, 21). As the reader learns from the …show more content…

Steinbeck quotes: “Look, Candy. This ‘ol dog jus’ suffers himself all the time. If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head-’ he leaned over and pointed, ‘-right there, why he’d never know what hit him.” (Steinbeck, 71). This quote acts as a catalyst to foreshadow the scene at the end of the novel. Steinbeck quotes: “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head…He pulled the trigger.” (Steinbeck, 147). The old dog shares similarities with Lennie as one is physically weak while the other is mentally weak. The elimination of the weak ones and the strong dominating the society is evident here. Just when George pulls the trigger, the motivation and hope in achieving the ambitious dream farm vanishes in thin air. The dream farm dies away with Lennie; the hope and motivation in George is lost