Of Mice And Men Foreshadowing

OF MICE AND MEN
Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck. The novel complements many different techniques and language devices to captivate readers in their own imagination. By using description, foreshadowing, and lots of dialogue, Steinbeck is able to deliver strong emotions to readers and engage them. The description used creates a strong sense of realism in the novel as it sets the environment and setting to where the story takes place. Foreshadowing provides readers with the opportunity to predict the outcome of certain situations that occur in the novel using their imagination and is also engaging in that it causes suspense. The dialogue used incorporates a lot of incorrect grammar slang, which is used to provide readers with

Again in Chapter One, Steinbeck incorporates foreshadowing when George sincerely tells Lennie: “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. (pg. 15)” At the end of the novel, this does occur. George shooting Lennie is a significant moment where Lennie as left alone without George. Another situation where foreshadowing is used is on page 17, where Lennie is told by George: “If you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come here an’ hide in the brush.” George ensures that Lennie has this etched in his memory so that he will go to this meeting place whenever he is in trouble. Again, this piece of dialogue foreshadows Lennie’s death as they use this meeting place to introduce Lennie’s bad memory, but also the end of Lennie himself. Foreshadowing is also displayed through Lennie’s hobby in touching soft items such as mice, puppies and the girls’ dress back in Weed. All of these events foreshadow the death of Curley’s wife whose murderer is Lennie. The deaths caused by Lennie are all due to his failure to notice his own strength. The foreshadowing scenes leading up to this realization engages readers by causing immense curiosity; readers continue reading the novel to find out the solution to certain situations

This is used as a source of engagement as it helps promote realism; the reader is influenced to feel like they are witnessing the event. The ranch men frequently use a lot of slang words and words with wrong pronunciations. This is first presented when George tells Lennie: “Jes a little stretch down the highway. (pg. 4)” ‘Jes’ is the slang word for ‘just’. In some cases, characters also use the word ‘awready’ rather than ‘already’. Insults that George uses on Lennie also implies his uneducated background, such as calling him a ‘crazy bastard’. The dialogue spoken is the American-English dialogue spoken by migrant workers, which contributes to proving that they were living during the Great Depression. It is critical that readers understand the background of the characters to be able to understand and interpret why certain events occur. Steinbeck also gives the dialogue rhythm and poetry to make the dialect notable. He also writes the dialogue similarly to a play, where the dialogue dominates the storytelling. This is engaging as readers can once again portray the scenes in their minds to make it easier for them to understand. In addition, through the use of dialogue, Steinbeck expresses the characters’ background and also makes the events seem very