Imagery In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Imagery is shown through two hallucinations that Lennie has before the end of the book. He has just escaped the ranch because of the accidentally killing of Curley's wife. Lennie also realizes that George will not let him tend rabbits on a farm, which was the desire that he wanted the most. After all George said, "But you ain't gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won't let you tend the rabbits" (65). Constantly throughout the book, Lennie pesters George about taking care of rabbits on a farm of their own; tending rabbits was Lennie's dream. As he hides near the river where he and George stayed the night before going to the ranch, Lennie begins seeing his Aunt Clara. But Aunt Clara was speaking in Lennie's voice. She begins to blame …show more content…

George's dream is to have a ranch of his own and Lennie's dream is to have, as mentioned earlier, a farm filled with rabbits. Lennie's hope for his dream is influenced whenever George starts describing his dream farm in explicit detail, such as how the fields are going to look, what animals they will own, what the daily routine will be etc. This farm symbolizes happiness and salvation, especially for Lennie, since he understands that the farm is his ticket to getting rabbits. In fact, the reason why he forgets George's orders is because he cannot stop thinking about his rabbits. A farm has basically become Lennie's version of heaven. This relates to how people always long for something to the point of where it becomes like heaven, a place where happiness lasts forever. Unfortunately, the rabbits symbolize false hope. For instance, Lennie holds a dead mouse and a dead puppy all for the same reason: he killed them. His love for petting soft creatures only causes trouble for himself. So if he owns a lot of rabbits, it is more than likely that they will all die because of Lennie. The rabbits, to Lennie, are things that seem like they will bring him true happiness, when they only create more sorrow. In other words, the rabbits symbolize sorrow disguised as salvation because in the end, Lennie goes suffers all because of his love for soft things. This is able to teach readers how dreams in the past …show more content…

One of the similes is the following: "He's jes' like a kid, ain't he,"(104). At the ranch, Slim, a jerkline skinner and George talk about Lennie and how strong he is. Slim is the one who says that Lennie is like a kid, which is true. Although Lennie may be an adult just like his brother George, he behaves similar to a child. One could know this because of Lennie's passion for rabbits, his inability to stay out of trouble, and his inability to think before doing. Today, he would be diagnosed with a mental disorder, but that was a different story during the 1930s. Nobody knew why people behaved like Lennie did. The only solution they would have come up with was the idea of throwing him into a mental asylum. Because of his childish behavior, he is unable to think for himself. Therefore, he is not to be blamed for his immature behavior. But Curley did not know that, and Lennie had to go through suffering that he did not even deserve. John Steinbeck uses this quote to explain the cruelty of life inside somebody, even though he does not deserve it. The relates to how people feel pity for those who are diagnosed with a mental

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