In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck proves that in order to achieve one's dreams, one has to plan in spite of fate's intervention. Through the use of foreshadowing, it is proven that dreams are what keeps people motivated in life. For example, after Lennie gets beat up by Curley, he asks George if he can “still tend to the rabbits”(65). Lennie’s wanting to tend the rabbits makes him regret acting violently on Curley. He is motivated by his dream of one day being able to tend to the rabbits. Despite his dream being so simple, fate makes it unachievable, showing the reader that fate does not discriminate against how big or small one’s dream is. The fact that Steinbeck used rabbits tells how their dream is very miniscule. George and Lennie are …show more content…
For instance, while George is talking to Whit, he “laid out his deliberate solitaire hand”(51) which were a seven, a six and a five. This represents how he is going to plan out the farm later in the story. He lays out his plans to get the farm with Lennie and Candy. Steinbeck uses decreasing numbers to show that their plan will not succeed. It might seem very good in the start, just like how Candy and Lennie might of thought, but it slowly starts to go downhill, until it eventually leads to Curley’s wife to die. Just because they planned for their dream, doesn’t mean it will go well. However, if you don’t even plan at all, your chances of achieving you dreams will become a lot smaller. Afterward, while talking to Lennie, George “looked carefully at the solitaire hand” (56) before finally putting an ace on his scoring rack. George carefully looked at his cards symbolizing how he was carefully coming up with plans to achieve him and Lennie’s dream. George putting the ace on the scoring board symbolizes how he was getting closer and closer to his dreams because of his careful planning. Steinbeck uses the cards and the game of solitaire as a symbol of George’s careful planning and him almost achieving his goals.Careful planning can never change the cards in the deck, but they can always be rearranged in different ways, helping you achieve the final outcome, which is winning the game. Similarly, planning can help you achieve your dreams, but ultimately, fate is what decides the end
Peter Lisca’s analysis on “Motif and Pattern in Of Mice and Men” clarifies that Steinbeck’s misunderstood usage of symbols, actions, and language convey motifs and patterns that connects the beginning of the book to the end. Lisca implies that the first and primary usage of symbolism was the area near the river where the story initiated and ended. He insinuates that the cave that Lennie mentioned twice and the river George ordered Lennie to visit when in danger symbolizes as “a safe place” and innocence while becoming “translated into terms possible in the real world” (Lisca 1). In addition, Lisca also advocates that the rabbits serve as symbols to dramatize Lennie’s devotion for his safe place, but also to “define the basis of what desire on a very low level” (Lisca 2).
In the beginning, the farm and the bond between George and Lennie presented to us is so beautiful yet strong. Foreshadowing already appears constantly in the first section of the book and Steinbeck stresses the doom that awaits the pair. The rabbits ran for cover immediately after the footsteps, hinting their American dream is getting away from them. We learn about Lennie’s deadly desire to stroke for soft things, and the dead mouse explains to us that the weak, innocent will not survive. The innocent soft things from mice to Lennie’s puppy all dies because of Lennie’s incapability to control his immense strength, which he has completely no idea how to control which makes him no less helpless than the animals he kills. George recounts the reason why they had to flee from the previous weed and we are made aware that similar ending will fall upon the one and only woman in the ranch-Curley’s wife.
Many characters have hopes and dreams which they wish to accomplish. Of Mice and Men has two main characters that go through obstacles to get what they want. In the beginning it is George and Lennie running away trying to get a job. Once both George and Lennie have a job they try to accomplish their dreams. Unfortunately they both can't get their dreams to come true since lennie does the worst and George has to shoot Lennie. Steinbeck uses characterization, foreshadowing, and symbol as rhetorical strategies to make George's actions justified.
In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck illustrates the dreams of George,Lennie, and other characters and how these dreams are unrealistic and unattainable .Their dreams were the reason that these characters kept moving forward but because of difficult circumstances the dreams of George,Lennie,Candy and Curley's wife are shattered , they knew that their dream was never really attainable but they still had hope but because they were so greatly impacted by Lennies actions their dreams are never accomplished.
George's dream is to have a ranch of his own and Lennie's dream is to have, as mentioned earlier, a farm filled with rabbits. Lennie's hope for his dream is influenced whenever George starts describing his dream farm in explicit detail, such as how the fields are going to look, what animals they will own, what the daily routine will be etc. This farm symbolizes happiness and salvation, especially for Lennie, since he understands that the farm is his ticket to getting rabbits. In fact, the reason why he forgets George's orders is because he cannot stop thinking about his rabbits. A farm has basically become Lennie's version of heaven. This relates to how people always long for something to the point of where it becomes like heaven, a place where happiness lasts forever. Unfortunately, the rabbits symbolize false hope. For instance, Lennie holds a dead mouse and a dead puppy all for the same reason: he killed them. His love for petting soft creatures only causes trouble for himself. So if he owns a lot of rabbits, it is more than likely that they will all die because of Lennie. The rabbits, to Lennie, are things that seem like they will bring him true happiness, when they only create more sorrow. In other words, the rabbits symbolize sorrow disguised as salvation because in the end, Lennie goes suffers all because of his love for soft things. This is able to teach readers how dreams in the past
In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, foreshadowing is used a great deal throughout the whole story. From the beginning to the end, it appears everywhere hinting on what will happen in order to make the book more enjoyable. It was used to show that Lennie will be getting into trouble with Curley's wife, the death of Lennie, and exactly how he dies.
Have you ever watched a movie and knew what the ending was before it was over? Characters from the story use foreshadowing to hint on what will happen in the future. There are many examples of foreshadowing that John Steinbeck creates in Of MIce and Men. some key uses of foreshadowing that Steinbeck uses in Of MIce and Men are there wishes of the ranch but their plans going askew, how curley's wife will die, how they will not get the ranch, and lastly how lennie will die.
Steinbeck uses foreshadowing throughout the story that hints on them not achieving their dream. Crooks one of the workers, predicts that Lennie and George will never get their own farm. Also, George looses hope and stops talking about the dream. As Crooks and Lennie discuss the plan to get a farm, crooks docent think that Georges and Lennies dream will become possible.’‘I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, …’em has a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ‘em ever get it…” In other words Crooks has seen many people with the same dream as George and Lennie that haven't come true. Crooks says that none of the peoples dreams come true, this foreshadows that Georges and Lennies may nit come true. As a result, The failure of dreams creates an effect creates an uncertainty that their dream will come true. Not only does Crooks think that their dream will not come true, but George lost hope in their dream too. While George and Lennie are sleeping by the water, George tells Lennie a story about what their farm would be like, but George breaks down and doesn't want to talk about it. While George and Lennie are sleeping by the water, George tells Lennie a story about what their farm would be like, but George breaks down and doesn't want to talk about it. “I aint got time for no more…” in other words, George is tired of having dreams he doesn't think he can
Has loneliness ever creeped up your spine? Has the palm of lonesome ever managed slapped you across the cheek, leaving a mark that is unable to be faded; physical pain from such a mentally-fitted emotion? Of Mice and Men is a book about two men - George and Lennie - who travel together, both having a dream of grabbing a plot of land to begin their own farm. Furthermore, foreshadowing is an important aspect of this book; but, what is foreshadowing? To answer this in Layman's terms, foreshadowing is the process of hinting at future events. In Of Mice and Men, there are various traces of the writer’s use of foreshadowing. This includes the title itself, Lennie accidentally harming various creatures, Crook’s skeptic-attitude towards George and Lennie, and the general inhumanity of people at that time.
The quote that inspired John Steinbeck was the best laid schemes often go off track can be seen in the novel of Mice and Men. When Curley's wife met a man in her childhood that offered her to be an actress but the chance went away and she later died. Then Curley wanted to be a professional boxer but the dream never happened and he became a farmer then got his hand broken for trying to be tough. George and Lennie were going to buy a farm to live off the fat of the land then Lennie had to get in trouble and George had to give up the dream and kill Lennie for what he had done.
The central element of this novella is its symbolism. This novella has plenty of symbolical forms, such as people, creed, and some of the animals. Candy has several terms of symbolism, for example his disability is a symbol of the migrant workers who are just literally forgotten about, they are forgotten when they are no use to the owners. Candy’s dog is a symbol of a life only for advantage to others Lennie also for shadows this, he is belittled of his mind but enormously commented for his strength. Also he is compelled to lie about the fight he had with Curley, this is a symbol of typical male society in the, “Depression era”.
The biggest dream throughout the story is for George and Lennie to have enough money to go and buy a farm of their own. But then Lennie does something that he can’t change back or hide from, and all hope is lost for him and George to have a farm when George does what he never thought he’d do. “And 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… Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.” (page 106) This one final scene symbolized all of George’s aspirations, hopes, dreams, ambitions, anything he had, diminishing before his eyes. He made a point earlier in the book, “ I was feelin’ pretty smart. I turns to Lennie and says, ‘jump in.’... well I ain’t done nothin like that no more” (40). He promised himself he wouldn’t hurt Lennie again, he took it upon himself to keep Lennie safe. But George fired that last bullet and killed Lennie, stripping himself of all his hope and ambitions. The other main ambition that was crushed in this story has to do with Lennie and his rabbits. “We’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs… An’ have rabbits!...” (14) This is a recurring event throughout the book; they talk about their future dreams, and Lennie tells everyone he meets about the rabbits he's gonna have, but again that all changes when Lennie messes up badly and kills Curley’s wife. The story displays the reader the visual of, “She struggled violently under his hands… “Don’t you go yellin’,” he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” (91) This visual can help you see where Lennie’s dream of ever handling another living being again diminishes because if he can’t keep an
= Discuss the theme of the Dream in ‘Of Mice and Men’. Steinbeck’s quote above portrays an important aspect of ‘Of Mice and Men’. Steinbeck remarks on how people can create a dream and how they can have positive and negative effects from them. A dream is human nature, where a person can get away from the outside world by thinking or imagining what their life would be like if the dream came true.
In Of Mice and Men, it seems an incontrovertible law of nature that dreams should go unfulfilled. From George and Lennie’s ranch to Curley’s wife’s stardom, the characters’ most cherished aspirations repeatedly fail to materialize. However, the fact that they do dream—often long after the possibility of realizing those dreams has vanished—suggests that dreaming serves a purpose in their lives. What the characters ultimately fail to see is that, in Steinbeck’s harsh world, dreams are not only a source of happiness but a source of misery as well.
In their texts, Steinbeck and Miller address the way in which dreams are able to consume the main characters, causing them to strive for an unreachable goal and to tragically fail in achieving their dreams as a result. For example, in Death of a Salesman, Miller portrays clearly that Willy's life is nothing more than an illusion that he has built around his dreams, which can be seen in his frequent lies to Linda about his earnings of ‘over five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston’, perpetuating the illusion of his dreams. Thus causing him to veer away from what he really wants in life, to work outdoors and be a family man. Miller does this to highlight the warping effect on reality dreams are able to have on people and the effect this has on socie...