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Literary Devices In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Essay

‘Of Mice and Men’ is an American novel written by John Steinbeck, and describes the life of two migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in the United States. Steinbeck engages the reader by using a range of stylistic literary devices. Literary Devices are structures used by authors in their works to convey their messages in a simple manner to the readers. A few of the many literary devices that Steinbeck used in his work are imagery, foreshadowing and allegory. These techniques give the novel a cinematic aspect as the rich language allows the reader to imagine a clear picture while reading the novella.

One major literary technique that Steinbeck used frequently in his novella is imagery. Imagery helps the reader to visualize …show more content…

Allegory is a literary device in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures and events. The symbolic images in the novel bring out its primary and secondary themes. One excellent example is Steinbeck’s use of Candy’s dog’s murder. "If you want me to, I'll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with… (pg. 48)” insists that Carlson wants to kill the dog a lot. After replying no, Carlson keeps in repeating if Candy wants him to kill the dog or not; “…Le's get it over with, we can't sleep with him stinkin' around in here. (pg. 48)”. This applies that Carlson really wants to kill the dog, and doesn’t care that Candy’s dog meant the world to him. The killing of Candy’s old dog is something that haunts the landscape of the novel. It is a symbol and a great literary device to reflect how the world filled of Carlsons and Curleys have no regard for that which does not bring immediate benefit to them, and that everything needs to be done their …show more content…

Steinbeck applies repetition and imagery to highlight and set the scene at the start of each chapter to create a deep and rich atmosphere, cleverly uses allegory to reveal a hidden meaning to the reader, and hints readers of what to expect in an upcoming event by using foreshadowing. Therefore, these are the qualities which engage readers deeper into the story, and are what makes the novella rich in meaning and literary

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