The Hand Motif in Steinbeck´s Of Mice and Men

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They say that you can tell a great deal about a man by his handshake. In the novella Of Mice And Men, Steinbeck uses hands as a strong motif to help us to understand the essence of each of the characters. By the end of the story it all comes together and we are introduced to the ingenious symbol of hands and how it fits together. Lennie's hands, or “paws”, tell us that he is powerful yet clumsy. These monstrosities represent dangerous dominance. They are like superpowers in that the can either be used for good or for evil. This is shown multiple times throughout the story. For instance, he kills mice by petting them to hard, kills a puppy by playing with it too aggressively, kills Curly’s hand by squeezing it too tightly, and kills Curly’s wife by stroking her hair to impulsively. Given, he does do an amazing job transporting barley, but it comes with a price. Just the opposite is George. George's hands are small yet tough, which is exactly what he’s like. He is controlling of Lennie and for good reason. I think it’s cute how George takes care of his s...

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