Patterns In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Patterns in Of Mice and Men

The author of Of Mice and Men kills off one thing after another as if he were a stereotypical man living in “the hood” struggling with poverty. Basically, many animals, pets, and people die or actually get killed in the novel. Whether some deaths are intentional or not is controversial. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author constructs a pattern of deaths that prepares readers for the end of the novel, but also illustrates the importance of cherishing the ones you love and to not take them for granted because one day they, inevitably, won’t be there anymore.

The first pattern that is seen in the novel is with Lennie and his obsession with soft things as well as him wanting to pet them. For example, when Lennie feels a stranger's dress, of course, she gave a negative reaction: “‘She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin’ for us’” (Steinbeck 11). This was only the first step before leading into Lennie actually killing living things. For example, George and Lennie were just walking about when George

For example, Carlson convinces Candy to let him shoot his dog: “If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head … he’d never know what hit him” (Steinbeck 45). Carlson shoots Candy’s dog in the back of the head to prevent the dog from suffering future misery. This then foreshadows an event that occurs later which is the death of Lennie. George also shoots someone, Lennie, in the back of the head and kills him to prevent him from from future suffering: “And George raised the gun … to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently … He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). George shot Lennie because he kept killing things and people were mad at him and wanted to go after him for doing so. If George didn’t kill Lennie himself, then he may have suffered the wrath of a