Irony In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

“If you look at great human civilizations, from the Roman Empire to the Soviet Union, you will see that most do not fail simply due to external threats but because of internal weakness, corruption, or a failure to manifest the values and ideals they espouse” (Booker). No one likes feeling weak; even more so when it’s their own fault. Weakness can be caused by a multitude of reasons such as the lack of a comprehension or for health reasons which sometimes lead to negative outcomes. John Steinbeck 's novella Of Mice and Men proves that weakness leads to a variety of repercussions by using irony to show weakness, Candy’s self troubles, and the use of foreshadowing. Irony was used to the show the outcomes caused by weakness in Of Mice and Men throughout the entirety of the story. In the first chapter, Steinbeck

Foreshadowing was used in Of Mice and Men to present the theme of weakness. For example, in a conversation between Lennie and George, Lennie states, “‘Jus ' wanted to feel that girl 's dress- jus ' wanted to feel that girl 's dress- jus ' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse-’” (Steinbeck 11). This event was used to suggest that Lennie would end up doing something like he did in Weed again in Soledad, California. Lennie’s childlike demeanor is what gets him in the most trouble. Due to this he does what he wants without thinking about the consequences. Lennie’s entirety as a character is built around his main weakness; his childlike mindset. Steinbeck also uses foreshadowing in a setting description of the pond by stating, “Another little water snake swam up the pool, turning its periscope head from side to side" (Steinbeck 99-100). This description is used to show that the water snake didn’t learn its lesson from the beginning of the novella much like how Lennie didn’t learn his from the incident in Weed. All frailties can be avoided by analyzing what you did wrong. However, Lennie’s flaw is one that cannot be fixed by himself; much like the water