Symbols In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

1. Of Mice and Men contains many symbols. Discuss two of these symbols. Two prevalent symbols in “Of Mice And Men” by John Steinbeck are dogs and rabbits. Dogs are used in the novel to represent Lennie, and they way he’s treated. Dogs are known for being a person’s perfect companion, always following orders and staying loyal. Throughout the book, Lennie follows George’s orders. One example is when Lennie and Curley fight, and Lennie attacks Curley because George told him to. He then stops because George orders him to. After Lennie releases Curley from his crushing grip, he says to George, “‘You tol’ me to, George,’”(64). During that encounter, Lennie’s hands are also referred to as “paws”, usually associated with dogs. Moreover, Lennie always stays loyal to George. For example, when George talks to Crooks, and Crooks wonders what would happen if George got hurt or died, Lennie gets very defensive of George. It’s written, “Suddenly Lennie’s eyes centered and grew quiet and

Lennie is oppressed for having a mental disability. Many people take advantage of him for his lack of intelligence, including George. When George explains to Slim how he knows Lennie, he mentions how he used to play jokes on Lennie for being so slow. He says, “‘Used to play jokes on ‘im ‘cause he was too dumb to take care of ‘imself. But he was too dumb to even know he had a joke played on him. I had fun. Made me seem God damn smart alongside of him,’”(40). Lennie admits to Slim that he used to be mean to Lennie to make himself seem superior. Seperately, Crooks is oppressed for being black. When he speaks out against Curley’s wife, she threatens to have him hanged, because black men weren’t allowed to disrespect white people. She says, “‘Well you keep your place then Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny,’”(81). She uses a racial slur and threatens him with her white