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Symbolism Open Prompt
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Literary Symbolism
Select a novel or play that relies heavily on symbolism, and in a well-crafted essay explain how the various symbols are used to enhance the work and advance the author’s purpose(s).
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1 Two bestfriends travel across the country in search of work with nothing but each other. This event occurs in John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men". In the story, the two main characters Lennie and George travel to a ranch and begin working on it to achieve their
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He applies various symbols throughout the text that help give the reader deeper insight into the characters and their motives. One example of this is Candy's dog. Candy's dog is old and sickly causing everyone on the ranch to agree to kill the dog. Candy tries to defend the dog by saying how good and useful it was in its youth but the men can only see the dog for its current state. The dog symbolizes the character of Candy and those who fear what will happen when society find them useless. Candy is old and crippled but has been able to make use of himself by cleaning and doing various jobs on the ranch. However, he cannot continue this for much longer and knows it. He fears what will happen to him when he is no longer useful to the ranch. This makes Candy desperate and explains why he is so eager to form connections to George and Lennie as well as their dream. Another symbol Steinbeck utilizes to develop characters is the color red. The color red is worn by Curley's wife. Red is often associated with attraction and love. This characterization of the color is relevant to Curley's wife as she is viewed as a temptress and troublemaker for the men. Steinbeck applies the symbol of red by constantly described Curley's wife with the color. This helps the reader better understand the character's need for attention. Later, when Lennie kills Curley's wife red is prominent which can be interpurted as a symbol for the violence in the scene. The symbol of red and it's connection to Curley's wife's death develops the idea that she was only meant as a tool to advanc ethe plot for the men of the story. In conclusion, Steinbeck utilizes symboles such as Candy's dog and the color red to develop the characters of the