Lennie’s Safe Spot, Darkness, and the Use of Animals in Of Mice and Men Essay Example

In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, Lennie’s safe spot, darkness, and the use of animals are three image patterns that highly influence the book. These patterns help convey the way the main characters, Lennie and George feel, and how others on the ranch see them. Although these are mostly used in the first chapter, they also get carried through the entirety of the book. The novel takes place while in The Great Depression, which is why Lennie and George are both lonesome workers roaming the farmland of California. In chapter one, Lennie getting deceived by George, his hope fading, and his longing for companionship contribute to the overall theme of the novel, betrayal. Betrayal is disloyalty and deception in relationships.

At the start of chapter one, Steinbeck goes into deep detail of the nature at the riverbank, where the story starts. The trees surrounding were “fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter’s flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, and recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool” (Steinbeck 1). This provides background information on the setting, and creates a sense of calmness before more scary and intense events start taking place. The tranquility of the river is also to show why George chose this place to be Lennie’s safe spot to hide if anything went wrong. After Lennie died, “The brush seemed filled with cries” (107). This conveys that the riverbank wasn’t the tranquil and peaceful place it used to be. Lennie had been deceived, and George had betrayed him.

From the start of the book at the riverbank, to the end of chapter one, there

were many animal references involved. Many of these can be related back to Lennie, and how other people think of him. One example of this is when Lennie “flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse” (3). Following this, George gets mad and tells Lennie to stop drinking so much. He controls Lennie just as if he was an animal. Along with this, animals also have a reoccurring longing for companionship, just as George and Lennie do. Workers of their time didn’t have anyone to depend on other than themselves. In chapter one, George demands to take the mouse from him, resulting in “Lennie’s lip [quivering] and tears [starting] in his eyes” (9). This represents Lennie’s longing for companionship, and why he got so upset when George took his mouse away.

The use of light and darkness plays a major role in the change of feelings and mood throughout the first chapter. It also helps foreshadow the following chapters, and the darkness that will later take place. At the very beginning of the book, Lennie and George arrive at where they are spending the night by daylight. So far in the novel, nothing bad has happened. After daylight, “The flame of the sunset lifted from the mountaintops and dusk came into the valley, and a half darkness came in among the willows and the sycamores (11). The dusk creeping into the valley is slowly hinting at the darkness, and defeat that will take place over the following days. Another example takes place later in the book, when Steinbeck takes a closer look at the contrast between light and darkness. “Although there was evening brightness showing through the windows of the bunkhouse, inside it was dust” (38). The evening brightness is portraying a glimmer of hope that fades just like the light when he is inside the bunkhouse.

The first chapter is a very important and substantial perspective of the story. Lennie being deceived by George, his hope fading, and his longing for companionship help convey the sense of betrayal Lennie feels throughout the story. Although most of these examples take place in the first chapter, the rest of the book also follows this theme of betrayal. George made Lennie think they wouldn’t be lonely traveling together, “because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.” (14). Sadly, this is an example of how George was deceiving Lennie. Betrayal is the overall message from the novel, and the first chapter helps explain it.