How does John Steinbeck use animals in 'Of Mice And Men'?

   Lennie is described further on “dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws”, creating imagery that Lennie is like a bear. When the majority of people hear the word ‘bear’, they immediately think ‘vicious’, ‘ferocious’, or even ‘wild’. Steinbeck makes it clear that Lennie is none of these things but is in fact a gentle giant who is unaware of the impression he makes upon others. The imagery of a bear is contradicted later on when Lennie is again described to have animal characteristics, those of a terrier. When he is slowly coming towards George, he approaches, draws back, and approaches again.

   When the pair arrive at the ranch, a whole batch of characters are introduced, including Candy and his dog. This is not the only dog on the ranch, as Slim also owns one, one which is pregnant. Candy’s dog symbolises old age and the past while Slim’s represents life and things to come. When Candy is bullied into having his dog shot due to it’s annoyance of others on the farm, it is the separation of a connection to the past, a tie that has been severed. Around the same time, Slim’s dog gives birth and puppies are introduced into the world. The killing of Candy’s dog is a determined action to begin to erase the old and to celebrate for the future. It could be said that this is reflected in the American Dream that happened during the Great Depression. The characters in Of Mice And Men are all working towards a goal or aspiration. George and Lennie realize this when they arrive at the ranch and they see that what they have now is a fresh start. A chance to clear their past and work towards the future.

   The theme of life being reflected in  nature is not uncommon for the rest of the book, and John Steinbeck makes several other references to death and how life continues to move on despite it, as though death is an integral part of life, how it is unavoidable and should be honoured, not mourned.

   This theme plays an important role in the scene where Curley’s Wife meets Lennie in the barn. Before she even enters, George has already killed one of Slim’s puppies by stroking it too hard. This is reinforcing the image of him being bear-like, how he doesn’t know his own strength. When the naïve character of Curley’s Wife begins to ‘flirt’ with him, he says that he likes to stroke soft things and so begins stroking her hair.  When she begins to struggle, Lennie gets scared and doesn’t realize that he breaks her neck. In the book, it says that her “body flopped like a fish”. The reader is now left with the image of a bear with a flailing fish in it‘s paws, not in a malignant way, but in one that is trying to calm it down.

   When Lennie rushes off to the brush where George told him to hide if anything goes wrong at the start of the book, he is met by two apparitions, one of his aunt Clara, and one of a giant rabbit. The rabbit is a connection to the dream that Lennie held at the start. Steinbeck is trying to convey to the reader that the dream that these people in the Great Depression held was too unrealistic, how a series of unfortunate events leads to the compete destruction of the dream.