Of Mice And Men Lightness And Darkness Analysis

Hope, Disaster and Everything in Between

In Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck tells the story of George and Lennie, two friends who encounter both good and evil forces during their work in 1935 California. Steinbeck illustrates these forces in his characters, motifs, and plot, pitting images of lightness and darkness against one another throughout the novel. In analyzing how Steinbeck manipulates light and dark imagery through the hopes and dreams of the men, the negative forces acting against George and Lennie, and the complex personalities of major characters, it becomes clear that everyone is a mixture of good and evil. Steinbeck uses light to illustrate the hopes and dreams characters have for the future. In the beginning of Of Mice

The barn is seen as a lonely and desolate place, but also as a place where peace may at last take place. Steinbeck conveys to readers the tranquility of the barn and its seemingly peaceful appearance as a haven or refuge from other suffering in the novel. “The afternoon sun sliced in through the cracks of the barn walls and lay in the bright lines on the hay” (84). This quote not only describes the hay, but also demonstrates how quiet and aloof the farm is from everything else. Its isolation and serenity generates curiosity in readers and causes them to wonder what events might possibly take place in the barn. This later leads to the death of Curley's wife. “The sun streaks high on the wall by now, and the light was growing soft in the barn. Curley's wife lay on her back, and she was half covered with hay” (92). This quote explains how Steinbeck clears the negative vibe that she carried with her. The light is growing softer and so are the dreams of the men and the focus shifts from the woman’s death to an image of peace and rest. After foreshadowing the bad that Curley's wife brought, Steinbeck forgave her by giving her light after her death in the barn. The light shows how she might be dead but she was not as troubling as we might have originally been lead led to believe. He uses light to show the peacefulness