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What Does The Snake Symbolize In Of Mice And Men

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The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, uses symbolism to foreshadow the good and bad that will happen to the characters, and relate his characters to some larger, and more widely known people and ideas. Throughout this essay, it will become clear how and when Steinbeck uses symbolism. For example, the snake Lennie sees crossing the pond, “A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shadows.” Most of the time when you see a snake in literature, it foreshadows evil and troubles in the near future. John uses the snake as a symbol for Curly. The first time Lennie sees the snake, it’s when he’s on his way to the ranch. Shortly after Lennie arrives at the ranch, Curly proceeds to be rude and even beat Lennie for no other reason except the fact that he is big, while Curly is a scrawny little …show more content…

an example to look to is found on 1st Peter 2:22, “Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth.” Although he is the epitome of a good guy, when wrong is done onto him, he shows no hesitation to set them straight. In Matthew 21:12, “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves.” This passage talks about a time that Jesus went into a temple in Jerusalem and found people trading and selling goods inside, which they knew was wrong and disrespectful. Jesus did not appreciate the flippantness, in fact, he was enraged by the contempt. Although he could have easily killed anyone and everyone in the temple, then and there, he showed mercy and flipped tables and chairs and yelled. Both Jesus and Lennie have incredible, abnormal strength, but chose to only use it when rationalism is not going to

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Another example of usage of symbolism in this book would be Alcohol. Alcohol is used as a symbol to convey a deeper meaning. Alcohol in this novel symbolizes that many of the characters face problems and obstacles that are very difficult, but they don’t really face them head-on. They try to escape from their problems in many ways, and the main one is alcohol. The characters are having tough times in their lives, where they really don’t know what to do and how to handle their obstacles or setbacks to be happy.

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943 Words | 4 Pages

Steinbeck’s use of animal imagery emphasizes Lennie’s notable strength compared to others. The men mock Curley, and he tries to push his authority onto Lennie by fighting him, thinking he can re-establish his “boss” status with the men by showing the power he holds over others. He attacks Lennie for smiling as the men mock him, but Lennie was dreaming of his future, not mocking him, and at first Lennie just stands there. When Lennie finally fights back, he stops Curley just by crushing his hand in his fist, and “Curley [is] white and shrunken now, and his struggling [becomes] weak. He [stands] crying, his

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639 Words | 3 Pages

The characters in “Of Mice and Men” have memorable personalities that we all can relate to due to their set archetypes. John Steinbeck uses these common and generalized in order to have the readers relate more to his characters. This allows the reader to experience the story and feelings of the characters much better and lets the reader to connect to the character’s feelings, or force the reader to form opinions that aligns with those of the main protagonist(s). In “Of Mice of Men”, readers are initially introduced to Curley’s Wife with words such as “tart”, and having “the eye”. Which, even if readers do not know what that means, it may be inferred through diction that she is overly flirty, or a “tramp”.

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The novella ‘of Mice and Men’ was written by John Steinbeck in the 1930s. It is set in a difficult period of time when America was sunk in deep depression. However, themes of loyalty shine brightly throughout the novella. He shows that even though Americas economy is in tatters, loyalty can still be as prominent. There were also distinct themes of disloyalty, mainly between characters.

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The Devil In The White City The book The Devil In The White City features a lot of interesting events, including the rejuvenation of the city of Chicago, so it may hold the Chicago World’s Fair, but also takes into deeper account the personalities of some characters. However this book also holds historical records of the person that created the serial killer archetype, which is said to be an important factor in shaping modern society. In this book Holmes, represents the Serial archetype; however, in order to be successful he pretended to be the official hero, and this pattern holds up in the modern content. In this book we see how the city of Chicago goes from being a place where most tourists find unattractive and doesn’t amount

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The topic of this essay is to show you the use of symbolism, which was used a lot throughout the novel. One example of symbolism throughout the story was FIRE. Burning ditch o’babies was a detail of this. The fire was bright and scary.

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One of the examples of symbolism is the fish being stuck in the tank isolated from society. Reynolds states “After putting the fish in a tank, he asked us to name it and feed it every day. There was only one rule - a non-negotiable. We could not, under any

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Instead of contacting them directly he chose to ignore them, repeatedly. When the reporters many approaches of contacting him failed they took it into their own hands to investigate on without him. His response? To mock them during a sermon at his church, calling them out in front of thousands of viewers as is they were criminals on trial. As a man of God he should be above this childish way of overcoming obstacles.

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There are many factors in a story that makes a story more interesting and fun. The book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids by Thomas C. Foster, introduces some that help readers make a joyful experience while reading. A few important and essential factors are symbolism, having only one story, and little details. Symbolism is very important to novels. It expands our creativity and imagination.

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“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, takes place in the Great Depression of 1930 America. Mr. Steinbeck is known to use many symbols throughout his novels to emphasize certain themes. He emphasizes important themes using symbols in the novel such as Carlson and Crooks, Curley’s Wife's Letter, and Lennie’s animal like behavior. My premise : the migrant workers Carlson and Crooks, Involving their struggles with isolation.

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The poet, Lascelles Abercrombie once said, “There is only one thing which can master the perplexed stuff of epic material into unity; and that is, an ability to see in particular human experience some significant symbolism of man 's general destiny.”. He talked about how powerful of a tool symbolism is and how it is the only thing that can truly define a highly complex ‘destiny’ or series of events. Symbolism is something that is found throughout Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee shows the reader that racism is a product of society,she portrays the matter through her symbolism of the mad dog, the birds and the bugs.

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Has someone ever compared you to an animal? When they do, they are giving you a relationship with an animal metaphorically. This is known as animal imagery. What this does is give you the characteristics of an animal, this is well known as animal imagery. John Steinbeck uses animal imagery in his novel Of Mice and Men to describe many characters such as Lennie, Curley, and Candy to give them a relationship with an animal, by doing so, Steinbeck gives them animal characteristics.

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895 Words | 4 Pages

Of Mice And Men John Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ published in the 1930’s employs carefully considered narrative techniques that effectively inject sympathy within the reader. The chain of events are foreshadowed through speech, Death and Lennie Small. Curlys Wife soon becomes the instrument who destroys the dream. Steinbeck demonstrates this through various techniques including of foreshadowing, realism, symbolism, circular structure, significance of the title and setting.

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840 Words | 4 Pages

One of the most important symbols of this story is Harrison; he symbolizes the revolution that everyone wants ad needs, he also symbolizes independence and doing what you think is right. We know this because he is the only one in the story who at least tries to gain independence and freedom. Another important symbol are the handicaps; which symbolize the oppression, conformity and the false equality. The handicaps show this because they are the tools the government uses to oppress people and stop them from being themselves. Symbolism shows the tone of foreboding because every symbol relates to something that could happen like the handicaps are like chains that hold us back and Harrison is like the revolutionist with a new idea or

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573 Words | 3 Pages

The book Of Mice and Men is full of puzzling examples of the human condition, from Lennie and his mental disability to Curley only caring about his social appearance. With characters like these two, the book exploits the human condition that concerns circumstances life has given you. John Steinbeck brings to life what being a laborer in the American depression meant to the men and one woman who had enough personality to stand out. Steinbeck shows the human condition of men while they survive in the American depression.

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