Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men is an extremely structured work in which each detail anticipates a plot development that follows. Almost every scene points toward the inevitable tragic ending. In the first scene, we learn that Lennie likes to stroke mice and other soft creatures, but has a tendency to kill them accidentally. This foreshadows the death of his puppy and the death of Curley’s wife. Furthermore, when George recounts that Lennie once grabbed a woman’s dress and would not let go, the reader anticipates that similar trouble will arise at the ranch, especially once Curley’s flirtatious wife appears on the scene. Finally, Lennie’s panicked but brutal squeezing of Curley’s hand anticipates the force with which he grabs Curley’s wife by the throat, unintentionally breaking her neck.

The events surrounding Candy’s dog, meanwhile, parallel Lennie’s fate. Candy is devoted to the animal, just as George is devoted to Lennie, yet the old man must live through the death of his companion, who is shot in the back of the head, just as Lennie is killed at the end of the book. When Candy voices regret that he should have shot his own dog rather than allow Carlson to do it, his words clearly foreshadow the difficult decision that George makes to shoot Lennie rather than leave the deed to Curley’s lynch mob. The comparison between the two “gentle animals” is obvious; both are victims of a plot carefully designed for tragedy.