How Does Steinbeck Use Of Foreshadowing In Of Mice And Men

Steinbeck makes the tragedy of Of Mice and Men apparent to the readers by portraying an ideal setting and dream. This foreshadows the concept of ideas being “too good to be true.” He also used the foreshadowing of other events. The story began in an ideal state. There was many uses of imagery to show that everything was perfect. Right off the bat, in the first paragraph, Steinbeck set the scene: “…but on the valley side the water is lined with trees — willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter’s flooding…” (pg 1) The whole first two paragraphs were packed with descriptive imagery, making the setting peaceful and serene. This makes the reader interpret a fairytale type mood, as fairytales don’t always stay perfect, like they started. The dream was also brought up many times. George and Lennie’s dream of buying land and Lennie getting to tend the rabbits. It made the reader curious as to whether they were going to achieve this dream or not.

This came up many times, the first being when Lennie killed the mouse after trying to pet it, while they were walking on the path. Then, Lennie accidentally killed a pup while trying to pet it and then killed Curley’s wife by shaking her too hard and stopping her from breathing. None of these deaths were on purpose, but Lennie just kept unintentionally putting things and people to harm. “I di’n’t mean no harm George.” (pg 65) The repetition of Lennie’s murders is important because it was emphasized so many times in a range of only one hundred and seven pages, so clearly there is a reason Steinbeck included them. He wanted to foreshadow death. More specifically, a death in which the killer had no desire to kill. George didn’t want to kill Lennie in the end, you could tell it was difficult for him. “The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger.” (pg