of mice and men essay

Foreshadowing in Of Mice and Men
In the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck foreshadowing is used a lot. Foreshadowing is the use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later on in literature. The events that show foreshadowing are Lennie accidentally killing Curley’s wife, the death of Lennie, and George’s decision to shoot Lennie in the head like Carlson did to Candy’s dog.
At the beginning of the novel Lennie was petting a dead mouse. George told him to give him the mouse so he can throw it across the lake in the brush (6). The author wrote that Lennie and George were chased out of Weeds because Lennie was feeling a women’s dress. (41) The event that shows foreshadowing is when Lennie kills a puppy by accidentally petting the puppy too hard then he covered the puppy with the hay in the barn like he did with Curley’s wife.(85) All of those events show foreshadowing because at the end of the novel Lennie was feeling Curley’s wife hair. Lennie doesn’t know how strong he is, then he accidentally kills Curley’s wife.
The death of Lennie shows foreshadowing with two events that happened, when Slim, George, Candy and Carlson are gathered in the bunk house. Carlson, who is repulsed by the smell of Candy’s dog, tries to convince Candy to let him shoot his dog so that Candy won’t have to kill his own dog. Candy’s dog is “stiff with rheumatism”; “ancient” and he “suffer himself all the time.” Carlson says to Candy that the dog “ain’t no good to himself.”(45) Carlson said that he should let him shoot his dog. (45-49) Lennie died the same way Candy’s dog died because they both got shot in the back of head with the same gun. George always telling Lennie how much easier life would be without Lennie.
George’s decision to shoot Lennie shows foreshadowing with these two events, Candy’s regret that he didn’t shoot his own dog (61). Candy says to George “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”(61) George knew that Lennie was going to be found and punished. So he decided to kill Lennie himself. (104-106) John Steinbeck used foreshadowing to make the book Of Mice and Men seem more than just a book. He made it a novel where the reader can expect what will happen before it really happens through hints or clues in the surrounding events. Curley’s wife’s death was foreshadowed by Lennie’s reputation as a troublemaker, his own death was foreshadowed through relationships between characters and the use of contract, and the way he was killed was shown through Candy’s dog’s death.