Of Mice And Men Foreshadowing Essay

In the book “of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck mainly writes about the miserable living conditions on a farm. The people living on the farm, including both the workers and the owners, all have their own individual weaknesses. These would not be considered weaknesses if it was not for the social environment of the 1930s. The literary devices connect the weakness of the characters to both the social environment and the ending. Steinbeck uses foreshadowing and symbols to show the social issues and tragic incidents that happened to humble born people back in the 1930's.

Symbolism is used to stand for the impossibility of American dream. The best instance for the symbolism is the rabbit, which serves as a symbol of American dreams. Lennie has been dreaming about petting rabbits on their own farm, and this is his own hope, happiness, and American dream. Even if when he is nearly to be killed by George, he is still repeating his wish of petting rabbits. As the fact that Lennie fail to pet the rabbits eventually, the impossibility of the American dreams is illustrated by using this symbolism. Besides

Candy, the only black man working on the farm, is a symbol of all the black people. Referring to his expression, his has the miserable experience that he is always treated unfairly. This forces him to get used to the racial discrimination. Similarly, both representing as a weak character, Curley’s wife is also discriminated for her gender that is her own weakness. Thus, Curley’s wife represents as the symbol of women back in the 1930s. John Steinbeck did not introduce her name in the whole book. Besides, she is fond of luxurious dressing, such as the red dress and exaggerated make up. This is because the women are only considered as the temptation for men. In this way, the gender discrimination is gradually revealed till Curley’s wife’s final