Use Of Imagery In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

587 Words3 Pages

The novel of mice and men by John Steinbeck is a timeless classic. whether it is friendships or whatever else there is something for everyone to relate to. In the book the main characters George and Lennie who are best friends and travel together make the theme the most evident. The theme that is the wanting of the american dream. This theme is the most relatable theme of the story by far. It's the most relatable theme Mainly because Steinbeck uses imagery and characterization, among other literary devices to make this theme evident throughout the story.

Imagery helped to make the theme of the book more evident. For example in the first chapter Steinbeck sets the entire scene using imagery. One example of this is, "On the valley side the water …show more content…

An example of how Steinbeck uses characterization to portray the theme is, "If I was even a little bit smart, I'd be bringin' in my own crops 'stead of doin' all the work and not gettin' what comes up outta the ground." (page 43, Steinbeck) this quote shows that the theme of the american dream is yet again evident by the way George speaks he is constantly talking about wanting his own farm such as in this quote, and this example just enforces the theme. Another example is, "Someday we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs... an' we're gonna live off the fatta the lan'." (page 119-120, Steinbeck) This quote again shows George's constant hope of living the american dream. George is always talking to Lennie or whoever else will listen really, about him and Lennie's life plan, which even more supports the theme that Steinbeck establishes as the yearning for the american dream.

Steinbeck uses imagery and characterization to make the theme of the book Of Mice and Men evident. The theme of course is the wishing for the american dream. The theme is shown through imagery which is the way Steinbeck describes things such as the setting. The other way that the theme is shown is by the way the characters are portrayed, which is characterization. This theme is timeless, as is most of the book. Of Mice and Men will continue to be timeless