Foreshadowing In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the short novella Of mice and men, the author John Steinbeck uses countless examples of foreshadowing for the readers to make predictions on what might happen later on in the story. With the help of background details and context clues, Steinbeck was able to foreshadow that George and Lennie’s dream would not come true, Lennie and Curley would get into a major fight, and that Lennie would be killed.

John Steinbeck sets a goal for Lennie and George that is unrealistic in the novella Of mice and men. Readers can predict that George and Lennie will not be able to conquer their dreams of having their own ranch. One way that Steinbeck leads foreshadowing into the novella Of Mice and Men is by writing this quote, "O.K. Someday- we're

gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and" (Steinbeck 6). This quote introduces George and Lennie’s american dream. Another way Steinbeck uses foreshadowing is when he wrote this quote, "Suddenly Lennie let go his hold. He crouched cowering against the wall. "You tol' me to, George," he said miserably. Curley sat down on the floor, looking in wonder at his crushed hand”.(Steinbeck 31). This quote states that Lennie crushed Curley's hand while they fought. Readers can predict that George and Lennie will both become unemployed considering the fact that Curley is the boss's son and he would probably explain the full story to his father. Without a job, Lennie and George would not be able to accomplish their american dream of owning their very own ranch.
Another prediction in the short novella Of mice and men is that Lennie will end up dying later on in the story. In the beginning of the story Steinbeck wrote that, “George's hand remained outstretched imperiously. Slowly, like a terrier” (Steinbeck 5). In this quote Steinbeck compared Lennie to a dog, a terrier for example. Later on in chapter three, Carlson became angry at Candy because his ancient dog smelled atrocious and repeatedly asked Candy why he has not put him out of misery. The next quote said by Slim and Carlson talk about what they were going to do to Candy’s dog, "You know what to do." "What ya mean, Slim?" "Take a shovel," (Steinbeck 23). This quote explains that Carlson and Slim were planning a way to kill the old dog. They both lead the dog out and shot him, they buried him right after so Candy would not be able to see the dead dog lying on the ground when he goes outside. Readers can infer that the dog symbolizes Lennie in some way because of how alike Steinbeck compares them.
One more prediction in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck