How Does Steinbeck Present The Theme Of Foreshadow In Of Mice And Men

Spoilers for movies, television shows, books, or any source of entertainment is frowned upon in our modern civilization. Directors and authors actually give off hints about what’s going to happen in the future with code words or hidden symbols as the book or the movie progresses. The hints or symbols are called foreshadow, an element of fiction. Authors and directors incorporate this element into each of their creative works. In John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, George Milton and Lennie Small overcome an oodles of hardships while adjusting to their new job. This proves to be difficult seeing as Lennie is mentally-ill and they both are recovering from their morbid past. The end of the novel covers the predictable death of Lennie. John

The solitaire hand, dog references, and water snakes are three prominent foreshadows in Lennie’s death. One of George’s few possessions is a deck of cards, he often lays them out to play a game of solitaire. “He went back to the table and set out a new solitaire hand” (Steinbeck 33). Solitaire is a card game that is played by a single player. It is indicated that George plays this single-player game often, seeing that he has to set out a new hand. Due to the fact that solitaire is a played by one person, this suggests that George will be in solitude, in contrast from his usual company, that being Lennie, in the near future. To add onto, Steinbeck describes the way Lennie does things like a dog. “Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to it’s master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again” (Steinbeck 9). As can be seen, Lennie is constantly being compared to a dog, which becomes a symbol of his predicted death. As the story progresses, Candy’s dog, being old and cripple, gets a bullet through the back of his head. The reasoning behind this death claims to be putting the poor dog out of its misery, thus