Of Mice And Men Nature And Animals Essay

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The Significance of Animals and Nature
Humans, whether they realize it or not, use animals and nature to represent others and to reveal true emotions. In the book, Of Mice and Men, animals and nature symbolize good, evil, and other people and foreshadow events. By representing many elements, it forces the reader to create connections between people, recent or future events and the nature itself. Steinbeck slowly turns the nature and animals into their own character throughout the book. These figures’ role in the book is to foreshadow events and show how people truly feel about each other. Three figures emerge as being chiefly important: the brush, Candy’s old dog, and Lennie’s puppy. All three of these figures provide the reader with insight into the tragic lives of ranchers. The importance of the role of nature is evident in the beginning of the story. The brush in which Lennie and George arrive is immediately described as “golden foothill slopes…green with every spring” (Steinbeck 1). Spring is the season of birth and new life. The use of spring shows that Lennie and George are receiving …show more content…

In the beginning of the book, the brush represents the Garden of Eden or the Garden of God. The brush is used as a safe place where no one can get hurt or injured. Towards the end of the book, the brush still represents the Garden of Eden, but it represents the garden after Eve bit the apple. Now, death can occur at any given moment. Further into the book, the puppy parallels the wife and the old dog parallels Candy. The old dog reveals how ranchers truly feel about each other and the puppy foreshadows events. Steinbeck turned the animals and the nature into characters within the book to reveal what people’s emotions and fates. Even the smallest water snake can provide insight into the future, whether it be tragic or

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