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Symbolism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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In John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men”, symbolism is a crucial factor to understanding and addressing different themes or topics the story talks about and make them more manageable, but also to engage readers. The author uses different symbols such as animals, characters, and places to portray the themes of dreams, innocence, loneliness, friendship, the American Dream, the weak and the strong, among others. Without understanding these key symbols readers probably wouldn’t understand the context of the story or what the author wants to express, making it very boring when reading it. Definitely, these symbols give a deeper meaning to the story, which could be also described as an allegory.
Throughout the story, it can be seen that the author …show more content…

In addition, this also foreshadows Lennie’s death, when Candy says, "I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn 't ought to of let a stranger shoot my dog." (Steinbeck 30). This is eventually what George …show more content…

To sum up, the author in “Of Mice and Men” uses symbolism through animals, characters and places to make readers understand the exploration of different themes such as dreams, innocence, discrimination, and friendship, among others. Moreover, Steinbeck by using these key symbols transports us into the context, which is during the Great Depression, giving a deeper meaning to the novel. In the end, what the author wants to express is that people should always be realistic; it is a fact that they would not always get or achieve what they want. This is not because people gave up on their dreams, but because no one can know or control the situations and things that may happen as the world is not only roses but has cruelty in it. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression that was exactly what happened, people do not trust each other as men were trapped in this tense environment. For this reason, George and Lennie’s friendship is so unique that goes beyond anything as they stick

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