How Does Steinbeck Use Foreshadowing In Of Mice And Men

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Recommended: Discuss Steinbeck's adept use of foreshadowing

Foreshadowing plays a part in many famous books, but John Steinbeck’s usage of foreshadowing surpasses most authors. For instance, Lennie’s death is foreshadowed early in the book. Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to predict major events, but he also creates plot twists by using various types of foreshadowing and letting readers misinterpret the foreshadowing. There are several examples of foreshadowing that achieve the same result as Lennie’s death, but at the same time, foreshadowing may mislead people. `John Steinbeck used a type of foreshadowing where an event takes place in the plot, and later in the story, that same event takes place, only with minor changes to the setting. For example, Lennie was in the barn after accidently killing a puppy when he said, "’I was jus ' playin ' with him... an ' he This occurs in the book as the dream George and Lennie share. The dream is mentioned in the exposition as Lennie happily urges George to recite it. “’…we 're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an ' a cow and some pigs and-‘” (7) The two share the dream and hope that it is going to happen. George and Lennie get very close to achieving the dream with the help of Candy and Crooks, which also makes the dream seem like foreshadowing, but Lennie killing Curley’s wife ruins the dream. After Lennie flees to the brush, George and Candy discuss the dream and its nonexistent future. “George said softly, ‘-I think I knowed from the very first. I think I know 'd we 'd never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would.’” (47) With the loss of the dream, the reader now knows that the dream was false foreshadowing. In the beginning, the author made it seem that the dream was an example of foreshadowing, but the events in the book simply make it impossible to achieve the

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