Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Symbolism
- Animals are symbolic of the
cruelty of life
- George throws away Lennie's dead mouse
- Lennie 'hurled' his dead
puppy away in the barn
- Slim drowns most of his
puppies
- Animals aren't treated with
respect on the ranch
- Candy had his dog since it was a puppy
- When Carlson wants to shoot it,
it becomes useless
- No one defends Candy or
helps him save his dog
- Reflects how American Society at the
time treated the weak and vulnerable
- No sense of life being valuable
- Similarities between Candy's dog's
death and Lennie's death
- Both shot in the back of the head
- Lennie lies 'without quivering'
- Carlson promised Candy his dog
'wouldn't even quiver'
- Light and Dark symbolise Hope and Despair
- Things seem to get
darker and darker
- There is a warning
that 'It'll be dark
before long'
- At the end the light fades and
disappears completely
- 'The light climbed out of the valley'
- It's the end of the day and the end of Lennie's life
- Symbol of hope
- As light fades, George and
Lennie's hopes of getting a
ranch fade
- Paradise is out of reach
- George says, 'I think I knowed we'd never do her'
- Religious Symbolism
- George and Lennie's dream farm
can be seen as a symbol of
heaven
- When Lennie kills Curley's wife, he has
done something unforgiveable
- Destroys their dream
- Slim is portrayed as 'Godlike'
- Has 'authority', is 'ageless'
and has 'calm Godlike eyes'
- Encourages George to
confide in him about what
happened at Weed
- George's voice has a 'tone of confession'
- just like a sinner confessing to a priest
- Curley's wife is a bit like the
snake in the Garden of Eden
- She tempt the men and wears red like the devil
- Red is the magic colour
- The colour of danger, warning
and bloodshed
- Also associated with sex so sex = danger
- The only colour used to
describe Curley's wife
- The colour of the girl's dress Lennie
touched in Weed was red
- This emphasises that the story is a cyclical structure from which the can't escape