Foreshawdowing
There are several examples in the novel that foreshadow what may happen at the end in Of Mice and Men. In the very first chapter of the novel, George and Lennie are walking to the new ranch where they will begin working. Lennie finds a dead mouse somewhere along the road, and keeps it in his pocket to pet it. When George discovers this, he scolds Lennie and tells him to get rid of it. When Lennie wants another mouse, he starts to recollect a woman who used to give mice to him, and George exclaims, "Lady, huh? Don’t even remember who that lady was. That was your own Aunt Clara. An' she stopped givin' 'em to ya. You always killed 'em" (Steinbeck 9). The dead mice indicate that death may occur later on in the novel. Because he does not realize his own strength, Lennie additionally kills a puppy, and eventually Curley's wife. Another event that indicates foreshadowing is also in the first chapter of the story. Lennie forgets where they are going, and George has to once again explain to him why they were run out of Weed: "Jus' wanted to feel that girl's dress- jus' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse- Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the country" (Steinbeck 11). Additionally George tells Lennie, "Lennie- if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush...Hide in the brush till I come for you. Can you do that?" (Steinbeck 15). Not only is Lennie told to remember where to hide if something bad happens, but the reader gets the feeling that since Lennie is always in trouble, what is to stop it from happening again. In Contemporary Literary Criticism, Howard Levant states, "In fact, Steinbeck uses every possible device to thin out the effect of the materials. Foreshadowing is overworked. Lennie's murder of Curley's wife is the catastrophe that George has been dreading from the start. It is precisely the fate of that a fluffy animal like Curley's wife should meet at the hands of Lennie, who has already killed mice and a puppy with his overpowering tenderness. When Curley's wife makes clear her intention to seduce the first available man and the course of events abandons Lennie to her, the result is inevitable" (9). Curley's wife is compared to the mouse in the beginning of the story: Lennie's actions causing death were not intentional. Ironically Lennie's kindness and compassion towards the animals only causes death. The final example of foreshadowing in Of Mice in Men, is when Candy's dog is shot by Carlson. Candy later says to George, "I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog" (Steinbeck 61). At the end of the book when George finally shoots Lennie, it is a comparison of Candy's dog. Candy did not take it upon himself to kill his own dog. George feels that Lennie is his responsibility, and his own. Instead of having other men kill Lennie, George will shoot him to protect him.