Essays

Of Mice and Men

Disclaimer: Please remember, I provide these essays to you as an outline for your own. Plagiarism, using one's work as your own, can have severe consequences. There are many tools integrated into teaching software that can detect plagiarism. It's also as easy as plugging in one sentence into Google to find this essay. I want these to be available to all those that may need an outline or inspiration for their own assignments, however, I know some have used my work and have been caught. Please, don't just copy and paste my work and earn yourself a zero on the essay or fail your class. Thank you for reading and I truly hope that these essays will help. Good luck! If you ever need a peer reviewer for your essay, message me!

I just have to say that if you haven't read the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck then do it NOW!!!) It's a really good story [aka it's AMAZING]) There will be MAJOR spoilers if you haven't read the book [or watched the movie I guess] SO BE WARNED!!

The prompt was: Show and explain examples of foreshadowing from Lennie and Curley's wife that foreshadowed Curley's wife's death

Decisions and Control
    After we are born and as we grow we present varied characteristics. Our hair color, eye color, what makes us laugh, or cry. As we grow and learn we get shaped into who we will be. Some of our defining features, however, were not chosen by us at all, such as the color of our eyes, or the way our brain functions. Although there are properties of our appearance and mind that may be out of our own control, many aspects of life can be altered by the choices we make. In the novella Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters, Lennie Small, has a mental illness (this illness is not specified within the novella). As we move through the pages, we encounter many of his challenges and are given insight into what has occurred to him, because of the combination of his illness and choices, in his past. Steinbeck's writing style allows for small tidbits of information to break through and foreshadow the unexpected murder of another character, Curley's wife, at Lennie's hands. Foreshadowing is the indication or hint that a future event may happen. Throughout Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck foreshadows Curley's wife is in danger through the dialogue, actions, and the pasts of these two characters.

    Through the first chapters of the novella, Steinbeck suggests that Lennie might get into trouble at the ranch through conversations with his friend George. At one point, George complains about Lennie's past actions saying, "' ... An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out'" (Steinbeck 11). From this, Steinbeck shows that Lennie can get into trouble fairly easily and that he has many times. George later says to Lennie, "' ... Well, look. Lennie- if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush'" (Steinbeck 15). The action of George giving Lennie a specific place to hide signifies that Lennie will go there soon after. In these two interactions with George, we are shown that Lennie gets entangled in situations easily and that he can't always get himself out alone.

    At several occurrences in the book, we are presented with evidence showing that Lennie is strong, but that he can't always control his strength. In the first chapter, Lennie tries to explain to George why all the mice he gets end up dead. He describes his actions saying, "'I'd pet 'em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and they was dead- because they was so little'" (Steinbeck 10). This shows that Lennie could not realize his strength compared to his small mice. It also indicates that during that split second, he decided to hurt the mouse to stop it. Later, Lennie gets himself into an altercation with Curley, the boss's son. As Curley wails down on Lennie as he cowers until George exclaims, "'I said get him'" (Steinbeck 63). Lennie then uses his strength to take hold of Curley's fist. After a moment of realization, George says, "'Leggo of him, Lennie. Let go.' But Lennie watched in terror the flopping little man whom he held" (Steinbeck 63). While in the past where George would watch over and guide him in the right direction, at that moment he could not get through. After they get him off, Steinbeck illustrates that "Curley sat down on the floor, looking in wonder at his crushed hand. Slim and Carlson bent over him. Then Slim straightened up and regarded Lennie with horror" (Steinbeck 64). Through this episode, we are first exposed to Lennie's real strength and what he is capable of when he can't control himself.

    There are very few places in the novella that we hear about George and Lennie's past. When we finally do, we see why they were forced to leave. There too, Lennie got into trouble easily and, like with the mouse, he liked to pet nice things. After leaving Weed, George says, "'Jus' wanted to feel that girl's dress- jus' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse- Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide...'" (Steinbeck 11). In wanting to feel something he deemed nice, Lennie got himself, and George into a mess. George later further explains saying, "' ... that girl rabbits in an' tells the law she been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie...'" (Steinbeck 42). In one false move and assumption, that she would not mind if he touched her dress, Lennie causes an incident that demands them to leave, if they wanted to leave in one piece. This moment is one that they don't want to repeat, but it does imply that something similar could happen at the new ranch.

    Although Lennie was the main physical force that causes Curley's wife's death, Curley's wife too made choices that foreshadowed that she could be placed in danger. As soon as George and Lennie are introduced to the bunkhouse and the ranch, Curley's wife strolls in. During their quick introductions she "put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward" (Steinbeck 31). After she leaves George and Lennie are told that she hangs around quite a few of the workers and the ranch. This depicts that she wants attention and that she is going to some flirtatious lengths to get it. A time later while talking to Lennie and some others she says, "'Well, I ain't giving you no trouble. Think I don't like to talk to somebody ever' once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?'" (Steinbeck 77). This time, we can see that though she wants attention, it is because she is lonely. Curley's wife, in search of recognition, wanders around the ranch to find someone that she can confide in, running amuck, unnoticed. 

    Throughout this novella, Steinbeck drops little hints of foreshadowing towards Curley's wife's death. He shows us that Lennie cannot control his strength, that he has gotten in big trouble in the past, and that Curley's wife sought attention from the people on the ranch. Towards the end, she confided in Lennie, talking to him and letting him stroke her hair. Not being able to control himself and his strength, combined with that she wanted to be noticed, led Lennie to snap her neck as she struggled. We are not given a choice in what we are born with, it is what we do with it that matters. Lennie, unfortunately, could not control the cards he was dealt with.

A/N: I so happy I got 93/100!