Essay Sample: Of Mice and Men: Foreshadowing

Frequent recurrences make humans establish a sense of foreshadowing their fate. Additionally, people will often feel a sense of deja vu when something seems like a reoccurring memory. Migrant workers are known to be nomadic which means that they are consistently moving from place to place.  The two main characters, Lennie Small and George Milton are migrant workers. They live a nomadic lifestyle where they are constantly moving between farms. Small, who is mentally inept, messes up at his old farm and as a result, he runs away with Milton to a new farm that is located in Soledad, California.  Throughout the novella Of Mice and Men, there is a constant sense of deja vu, which allows readers to foreshadow the fate and tragedy of the characters in this book. John Steinbeck correlates each animal with a character’s catastrophic fate. There are many sightings of animals foreshadowing tragedy such as the dead mouse at the beginning of the book, Candy’s dog, Slim’s puppies, and the rabbits. In the novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck utilizes the frequency and recurrence of animals, themes, and comparatives to foreshadow the fate and eventual tragedy of his characters.

Steinbeck utilizes the frequent reappearance and indication of rabbits in his novella to foreshadow the tragedy of Lennie and his “safe place” (Lisca). Because this is his “safe place”, rabbits are most commonly the first thing that crosses Small’s mind when he is overwhelmed, upset, or even in trouble. The first time the two main characters truly mention rabbits, Small reveals that he has a dead mouse in his pocket. Milton scolds him but Small changes the subject, asking Milton to tell him about the rabbits. Milton talks about the future that’s ahead for him and Small once they can tend the rabbits: “‘well,’ said George, ‘we’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens.’” (Steinbeck 14).  After supper, Milton tells Small that if any trouble occurs, he should “hide in the brush till [Milton] comes for him” (Steinbeck 15). Small agrees because if he’s disobedient, George will take away his rabbit privileges: “but you ain’t gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won’t let you tend to the rabbits” (Steinbeck 16). Later on in the novel, Small is frightened because Curley threatens and beats him up. This leads to him breaking Curley’s hand. When Curley and the others leave the room, Small and Milton are left alone. Terrified, Small asks Milton, “I can still tend the rabbits, George?” (Steinbeck 65). Milton reassures him that he is still able to tend to the rabbits because “[he] ain’t done nothing wrong” (Steinbeck 65). Another time the rabbits come up is when Crooks and Small are alone. Small accidentally mentions that Candy is thinking about the “fatta the lan’” (Steinbeck 69). Crooks then starts intimidating Small, asking him imposing questions such as “S’pose [Milton]  don’t come back no more. S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back. What’ll [Small] do then?” (Steinbeck 71). Small is distracted by the thoughts of rabbits since he is overwhelmed and upset by Crooks’ interrogation and is unable to reasonably answer Crooks’ question: “‘He wouldn’t do it,’ Lennie cried. ‘George wouldn’t do nothing like that. I been with George a long time. He’ll come back tonight---’ But the doubt was too much for him. ‘Don’t you think he will?’” (Steinbeck 71). Crooks begins to reminisce dreamily about his childhood and the farm that he lived on. Small suddenly becomes interested once he hears the word farm and interrupts Crooks enthusiastically: “‘ George says we’re gonna have alfalfa for the rabbits’” (Steinbeck 73). In a further chapter, Small unintentionally kills one of the puppies and begins to scold himself for it: “‘George always knows. He’ll say, ‘You done it. Don’t try to put nothing over on me.’ An’ he’ll say, ‘Now jus’ for that you don’t get to tend no rabbits!’” (Steinbeck 85). Because he is upset and overcome with fear, he thinks he will no longer be able to tend the rabbits. The symbolism of rabbits comes up again after Small runs away because he kills Curley’s wife. While hiding in the bush, he experiences a hallucination. An enormous rabbit tells him, “if you think George gonna let you tend rabbits, you’re even crazier’n usual” (Steinbeck 102). Finally, when Milton shoots Small, he is in his safe place because he convinces Milton to “tell [him] how it’s gonna be'' on the new land (Steinbeck 105). Steinbeck successfully foreshadows the catastrophic fate of Small and his “safe place” by utilizing the rabbits as an element of symbolism.

While laying down an ample amount of foreshadowing in his book, Steinbeck focuses not only on the symbolism of one specific animal but instead, introduces a variety of them to interpret a constant theme in his novel. The cessation of most animals introduced displays his use of foreshadowing throughout the book because the reader can start to predict the fate of the animals that are introduced. In the beginning, Steinbeck reveals that Small has been holding a dead mouse in his pocket only because he caressed it. If this occurred because of him being gentle, it can be predicted that he will eventually kill larger beings that obstruct his way (Collins, Dorothea, Brande p.28). This is also connected to his obsession with soft, furry items. Later in the book, Small is alone with Curley’s wife when he begins to tell her about the satisfaction he feels when it comes to soft, furry items. While she believes it to be weird at first, she encourages him to touch her hair because it is “soft and fine” (Steinbeck 90). Unfortunately, he becomes so mesmerized by her soft, fine hair that he lets his curiosity take over and grabs her hair roughly. She becomes flustered and attempts to get him to stop. Instead, this makes him frightened because she is being raucous, and he is afraid that Milton will be mad. He then says, “I don’t want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will” (Steinbeck 91). This indicates that he will end up taking it too far with Curley's wife because he is frustrated and agitated. Because his frustration is strong, his feelings end up overpowering his rationality and he kills Curley’s wife. All it took was the fact that he enjoyed the texture of her hair. Later on, the puppies that Slim gives him are also fuzzy and soft, as a puppy normally would be. This excites Small and just like the mouse at the beginning of the book, he is too harsh when he caresses it. Similarly as well to the murder of Curley’s wife, he becomes frustrated with his victim, the puppy, and kills it: “‘God da** you,’ he cried. ‘Why do you got to get killed? You ain’t so little as mice.’ He picked up the pup and hurled it from him. He turned his back on it. He sat bent over his knees and he whispered, ‘Now I won’t get to tend the rabbits. Now he won’t let me.’ He rocked himself back and forth in his sorrow” (Steinbeck 85). His frustration and sorrow break him down because he only wanted to feel the puppy’s soft fur but instead, it’s now dead. Lastly, while the girl from their past farm wasn’t killed, his curiosity for soft things had a detrimental effect on a great number of people. Milton angrily explains what Small did at their old farmland. He “‘jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress---jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse---’” (Steinbeck 11). This is part of the backstory that explains why they had to hide and run away from Weed, their own farmland. Milton goes on to explain that the girl had screamed and claimed rape because of how terrified she was. Steinbeck includes many examples of soft, furry items that pique Small’s interest and lead to a slippery slope of catastrophe.