Use of Symbols and Foreshadowing in Steinbecks Of Mice...

In the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck chooses to use many different and unique symbols in order to help develop characters and to foreshadow upcoming events. The symbols used in this story give it a more effective message and provide a better understanding to what Steinbeck has intended to convey. He uses many different forms of symbolism, some which are objects while some are actual human relationships, in order to make the story more realistic and to give it a more insightful approach. Steinbeck uses both big and small symbols in order to help illustrate objects or people in the book. The first major use of symbolism that Steinbeck chooses to use is linked with the setting of the first scene. The book starts out with the†¦show more content†¦The major importance that Steinbeck puts on the riverbank also foreshadows more events to come. George repeatedly tells Lennie that if he ever gets in trouble while at the ranch to come back to the riverbank and wait for George to come back for him. George telling Lennie this so many times foreshadows that something bad will happen and that he will have to return here. Steinbeck chose to have this as the setting of both the beginning and the ending because he wanted to focus on George and Lennie’s friendship throughout the book. This occurs because they are the only two people in both the first and the last scene. Near the Salinas riverbank Steinbeck also incorporates a large sycamore tree. The symbol that he is trying to link with the sycamore tree is involved with the Garden of Eden. In the center of the Garden of Eden there is a large tree known to be the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Steinbeck links the two together in order to help foreshadow the good and evil events to come in the story. The sycamore tree is part of George and Lennie’s safe place they can go to, but tragically ends with the death of Lennie here at the riverbank. Another symbol that Steinbeck uses is the dream farm combined with George and Lennie’s friendship. Their dream farm is what ties the two together throughout the whole story. It is what keeps them working together, through thick and thin. The two think of their dream farm as theirShow MoreRelatedLiterary Comparison of of Mice and Men, the Pearl, and Cannery Row2335 Words   |  10 PagesEnglish II 2 May 2013 I Pledge John Steinbeck’s Literary Style John Steinbeck is an author who wrote in the early 1900s that makes use of setting, characterization, theme, irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism in his many novels. Steinbeck has modeled most of his work off of his own life. His home state, California, has been found to be the setting for some of his novels. Cannery Row, Of Mice and Men, and The Pearl are all novels by John Steinbeck. 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