Omam

Cohen 1

Prefiguring an Inevitable Ending

Of Mice and Men is a story that uses foreshadowing to hint at the events that represent the struggles of achieving the American dream, during the great depression. John Steinbeck does an incredible job of influencing how the reader analyses and reacts to the text. In nearly every sentence, he uses the technique to foreshadow the accidental killing of Curley’s wife, the incapability to reach the American dream, and the merciful death of Lennie. Foreshadowing causes the reader to predict, ask questions, and infer. This helps make the story easier to comprehend and overall it helps to create a great piece of literature that keeps the reader entertained, wanting to see how the story unfolds. Steinbeck uses foreshadowing by giving small hints that make the reader predict and ask questions about possible upcoming events. An example of this is when the gun used to shoot Curley’s dog is the same one that George uses to kill Lennie. “He went to his bunk, pulled his bag from underneath and took out a Luger pistol. Lets get it over with, said Candy” (Steinbeck 47). As previously stated, this quote foreshadows to the end when George uses the same gun. Also, the dog they are killing is said to be useless and only makes everybody irritated because of its awful smell. This is foreshadowing to George’s decision of killing Lennie because he cannot deal with him anymore and he wanted to put him out of his future misery. In addition to using the same gun, Carlson kills the dog the exact same way George kills Lennie. In the text it says “He said apologetically to Candy, he won’t even feel it, right in the back of his old head” (Steinbeck 48). This foreshadows the scene where George kills Lennie because he clones the exact same notion of putting the gun to the back of his head, so he will not feel it. The author’s use of foreshadowing is almost ironic because each of these scenes are described in the exact same way, just in different context. John Steinbeck’s repetition of foreshadowing causes the reader to anticipate something important, which the repetition of a certain article will lead to. The small animals Lennie kills foreshadows the killing of his puppy and Curley’s wife as well. “That was your Aunt Clara. An’ she stopped giving the mice to ya’ because you always killed em… Well I like to pet soft things George” (Steinbeck 9). This example from the story makes the reader wonder if Lennie will keep killing the mice he gets a hold of. Since Lennie states how he likes to pet soft things, it foreshadows the killing of Lennie’s “soft” puppy, and Curley’s wife’s “soft” hair. The theme, the impossibility of obtaining the American dream, is foreshadowed and repeated throughout the story by Lennie talking about tending the rabbits. His dream of tending the rabbits intertwines with George’s dream of owning the house, and if they cannot obtain one, they will not be able to achieve the other as well. This is a problem that George seems to be aware of, which is why he does not seem enthusiastic when Lennie repeatedly talks about tending the rabbits. “I wish’t we’d get the rabbits pretty soon, George. The hell with the rabbits, you ain’t even to be trusted with no live mice” (Steinbeck 10). This quote foreshadows the inability for them to reach their American dream because if Lennie cannot take care of a mouse, George does not think he will be able to take care of himself and the rabbits. Therefore, this makes the reader question if they really have the potential to achieve their dream, “Living off the fatta the lan’.” John Steinbeck’s use of foreshadowing is what makes this novel interesting. The incident in Weed, where Lennie grabbed ahold of the woman’s dress and would not let go, suggests the event when Lennie is holding on to Curley’s wife’s hair. “He seen this girl in a red dress… he holds on when she squawks, that’s the only thing he can do… And he’s so god damn strong ya know” (Steinbeck 41). This foreshadows the climax of the story because Lennie does the exact same thing to what he did in Weed. The reader interprets this as if there is a clueless man with no willpower, and a mischievous lonely wife, something has to occur between these two characters. To add on to the previous point, it also foreshadows how they will be run out of town once again, because of Lennie. “The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in an irrigation ditch all the rest of that day” (Steinbeck 42). This augurs to the future incident between Curley and Lennie when Curley and Slim go out to find and kill Lennie. It is also a part of the foreshadowing where Lennie tells himself to hide in the brush, which he does, if anything goes wrong. “Hide in the brush, said Lennie slowly…Sure I can George. Hide in the brush till you come” (Steinbeck 16). This highlights Lennie’s character perfectly because he only remembers things that George says. These examples are subtle, but very important and make it so the reader questions why the author keeps inserting this into the novel. John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing by giving hints and making small connections to future events of the story, in which the reader must infer and predict. It creates a feeling where the reader needs to keep reading to see what happens, and influences them to make connections and analyze why it was important for the author to use this technique. Unquestionably, the gun used to shoot Candy’s old dog is used in the killing of Lennie. The small animals Lennie kills foreshadows the killing of his puppy and Curley’s wife. Also, the incident from Weed, where Lennie is falsely accused of rape suggests the event when Lennie is holding on to Curley’s wife’s hair. Not to mention many other miniscule uses of foreshadowing such as George telling Lennie to hide in the brush and Lennie talking about tending the rabbits. These events that are occurring during the plot seem to lead to an inevitable ending, almost of fate. This connects to George in the story because he knows that Lennie will mess up once again, but he wants to wait it out and see how it happens exactly. This use of foreshadowing causes the reader to envision an outcome where they need to keep reading to see how the story unfolds. Overall, foreshadowing is an exceptionally powerful writing tool that Steinbeck uses to create a brilliant piece of literature, titled as Of Mice and Men.