Death and Destruction in Of Mice and Men

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In 1939, John Steinbeck created the novel Of Mice and Men, which tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small. Lennie is an enormous man with a metal disability that keeps him from realizing the weakness of the people and things around him. George is Lennie’s best friend who has to take care of Lennie because of a promise he made to Lennie’s dead Aunt Clara. Destruction is prevalent in this novel, as well as the death that follows in its wake. The first encounter with death in this novel comes very quickly. As the boys are walking on their way to their new work site, George notices that Lennie is holding something in his hand. After some questioning, Lennie hands the dead mouse over to George. Even though Lennie did not kill the mouse, we later find out that he has killed many mice before. This encounter with death prepares the reader for the amount of destruction that Lennie is capable of without him even knowing it. When George and Lennie arrive at the work site, they meet an old swamper by the name of Candy. With Candy is his stinky, old dog that he cannot b...

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