The Role Of Fate In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows that even if one meticulously plans out the road to their American Dream, fate will inevitably intervene and lead one to desolation and loneliness.
Steinbeck uses extended metaphors and _____________ to demonstrate how humans plan ahead to ensure their own happiness and success. Throughout the novel, a deck of playing cards, as well as games of solitaire and euchre, are used to illustrate how one searches and draws out a path to their American Dream. As George sits down to talk with Slim, “George stacked the scattered cards and began to lay out his solitaire hand” (Steinbeck 40). The deck of cards are used throughout the story as an extended metaphor for the continuous cycle of George and Lennie’s tragic fate. The scattered cards reveal the happenings of

George and Lennie’s past, as well as how his life has been thrown, yet again, into a chaotic mess.

When the cards are stacked, it is made evident that George has moved on (from what?), and refocused on his vision of living “‘on the fatta the lan’” (105). A hand of solitaire is laid out, and the first step of his plan is taken (change this). Prior to the quote, George confesses to Slim about how (doesn’t flow well) he used to fool around with Lennie, constantly taking advantage of his mental disabilities. The cards’ depiction of life also metaphorically shows the way in which George and Lennie’s relationship has changed. They start out scattered, Lennie sticking to George, and George pushing him away, as one would see in a pile of unorderly (find different word) cards; a group of a few cards here, a random outlier there. George eventually realizes the cruelty of his doings, stacks his cards, and pulls out a new solitaire hand. Steinbeck uses the cards as an extended metaphor for life and fate because of its random and luck-based games. One cannot choose what cards are dealt to

them, but is able to choose what is done with their cards. Life can change (use a different word), just as the cards in one’s hand changes in a game of solitaire, but the rules remain. Plans are adjusted to fit (find different word) the new cards, and games continue.
Steinbeck shows how fate will eventually obstruct the path to one’s final objective through _________________ and _______________.
The use of extended metaphor and foreshadowing unveils fate’s merciless effect on one’s happiness. As George and Lennie talk, George shuffles and sets out another solitaire hand, using a “deliberate thoughtful slowness.” Lennie takes a face card from the game, observing it right side up, as well as upside down. “‘Both ends the same,’ he said. ‘George, why is it both ends the same?’” (Steinbeck 55). When Lennie reaches for the face card and examines it upside down, he hinders George’s game, foreshadowing how he will continue interfering with George’s plans, turning them upside down and leaving him with only another pile of scattered cards. Lennie realizes that both ends of the cards are the same, but George does not since he is too focused on finding the perfect plan that will lead him to his American Dream. Steinbeck uses the cards to evidently show how both ends of fate are the same, and how fate is just a tragic circle of reoccurring events. It does not matter what cautions are taken to avoid one’s fate, or what path is taken to try and reach one’s dream, fate does not compromise, and will only give you the same result (word this better). Steinbeck describes George’s planning as a deliberate thoughtful slowness, foreshadowing how fate will go full circle and eventually lead George to killing Lennie. He lets Lennie die happily, thinking of the dream he had George so often repeat. How is it done deliberately, thoughtfully, and slowly? The cards show that fate is inescapable, and no matter what route is taken to reach a goal, the boundaries of fate remain, and will only finish its cycle. Steinbeck brings the story a full circle when he ends the story at the same place of where it began (reword). At the beginning of the story, George and Lennie arrive at a river, where a sunny gentle breeze blows across green leaves, where rabbits hop in and out of the brush, and (yes and? no and?) where George and Lennie establish a safe haven in case of any trouble. At the end of the story, Lennie returns to the river, but “the sun had left the valley”, and “a gust drove through”, tossing around the “mottled sycamores”. At the river, a heron swallows a “little snake while its tail waved frantically” (Steinbeck 99).