Chocolate Rabbits: Foreshadowing in "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

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Forrest Gump’s Mama once preached the saying, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” These words of wisdom maybe true in some cases but In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, he uses many cases of foreshadowing to help makes future events more predictable. The novel, "Of Mice and Men", is a story of two migrant farm workers, one mentally retarded, Lennie, and the other, George, is incredibly sensible, who also assumes the role guardian. Lennie’s innocent and juvenile personality makes him compliant and dependent on George, who always tells Lennie to stay out of trouble. They both take jobs on a ranch as they try to working their dream of owning a farm, but along their journey they are forced to overcome many complications, and by working together their relationship becomes deeper. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses irony and foreshadowing to enhance the meaning of his novel. John Steinbeck plays up his novel using irony to give his characters more depth. For example when George was forced to kill Lennie he seemed calm enough but when it came down to it, his nerves seemed to be getting the better of him. It was described as, “George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger" (106). This is an example of irony because George is the one who cared for Lennie the most and yet, he was the one that killed him. His love for him is what lead to his best friend’s death. Such an act of love is significant because it shows that George and Lennie must have cared for each other more than they were putting off. Some people may say that they both could have run away to... ... middle of paper ... ...when George was talking to Slim about his and Lennie’s past, he discussed Lennie’s habits and why they left their old home Weed. George said, “Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ’cause that’s the only thing he can think to do” (41). This is an example of foreshadowing because it indicates that it is both Lennie’s adoration of soft things, and the fact that he holds on to things when he gets scared, which leads to an incident with Curley’s wife. It is considerable because it shows that these two qualities have gotten Lennie in trouble before, seeing as it was the girl that got them run out of Weed. Also because his naivety about what to do under pressure makes Lennie seem innumerably virginal.

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