Symbolism, Irony, and Juxtaposition in Of Mice and Men Essay Example

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men focuses on the awful truth that people are primarily concerned with how others see them and this is the main source of all of humanity's problems. This is demonstrated when Steinbeck uses symbolism to show all the different aspects there are to life while remaining simple. Steinbeck explores irony throughout the book to show how the things that hurt us the most can be those closest to us. Lastly, Steinbeck explores juxtaposition throughout Of Mice and Men.

Steinbeck demonstrated symbolism to show all the different aspects there are to life while remaining simple. Candy had a dog, but as it got older and slower, it became irrelevant to the other works or even a burden. Candy’s dog symbolizes that the fate of those who outlive their usefulness will become no longer be worth the trouble. This is shown when Carlson said, “I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I got old an’ a cripple” (Steinbeck 45). Steinbeck even went as far as having a character say he would like to get shot if he was in the dog's position, which comes to show that if you are not useful, the fate of your life is out of your control. Another great symbol Steinbeck used was Lennie’s puppy, which showed the victory of the strong over the weak. Throughout the book, Lennie had multiple different little fuzzy animals that he killed by accident since he was so strong, such as his puppy. Throughout the story, Lennie kills Mice, Rabbits, Curley’s wife, and the puppy all by accident because he doesn’t know his strength. The farm that George explains to Lennie has a few acres of land in which they will grow their food and have their cattle. It makes the reader and other characters believe there is a better way of life and that they can accomplish it. This was said talking about the farm they aspired to own one day. “An’ we could have a few pigs. I could build a smokehouse like the one gran’pa had, an’ when we kill a pig we can smoke the bacon and the hams, and make sausage an’ all like that. . . .” (Steinbeck 56). Steinbeck showed us how this farm will sustain them and give them a true future. This farm also had some strong connections with a part of this story involving significant irony. 

In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck used irony a lot throughout the book, but most of it revolves around Lennie. when George killed Lenny to save him from further torture and suffering. This was a very ironic situation also because they were good friends and they had a big dream they wanted to accomplish together. It was also very ironic that Lennie tried to be so gentle, and he was such a loving and caring man but caused so much harm to those around him. These incidents caused most of the problems he ran into. He loved soft and cuddly things but ended up harming or even killing them without even trying, since he didn't even know his strength. He killed many things throughout the story including the mouse, the bunny, the puppy, and what causes the most issues is Curley’s wife. The incident with Curley’s wife is what caused George to kill Lennie before Curley could make him suffer. It was also very ironic when it ended up being George that killed Lennie, since throughout the majority of the story George was Lennie's protector and kept him safe. This was surprising that his friend and protector were the one to end his life and end up harming him the most. All of these ironic situations are very similar, yet have different types of irony and in different aspects of these scenes. There were not a lot of ironies except this one very ironic scene that also ends up having lots of juxtaposition in it as well.

Finally, Juxtaposition is very evident throughout the story, and just like irony, it mostly revolves around Lennie for many reasons. The first example of juxtaposition is George and Lennie, since George is smart, smaller, and kind of weak while Lennie is dumb, tall, and strong, which makes them different. This becomes not an issue but very relevant in the book and especially since George is smart and Lennie does not make a big difference in many situations in the book. There is also juxtaposition when Lennie loves all the small soft cuddly things when he is big and strong. This is why he ends up killing most of them or causing issues because he doesn’t know his strength, but loves little cuddly things. There is also juxtaposition when they talk about some of the scenery around the farm, especially the barn in section 5. At the beginning of this section, it talks about how peaceful the barn is with the sun shining through the cracks. Then at the end, it talks about the darkness and loneliness there is in there, which also happens to be after Lennie kills Curley’s wife. These are different images Steinbeck puts into our heads within the same section of the book that is different yet in the same place.

In conclusion, Steinbeck used Symbolism, Irony, and Juxtaposition to help convey so many aspects of the hardships of life and friendships. He showed his readers that life is not as simple as everything makes it seem and that yes, you can dream, but most times it does not end up coming true because life can be hard and cruel.