Lennie is immediately identified with animals. John Steinbeck portrays him as an untamed bear and a dehydrated horse. “He walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws” and “snorting like a horse” is evidence of this. He can’t control some of his animal instincts, it seems. Right from childhood he has befriended animals before people and it is generally cuddly animals that he adores. His Aunt Clara used to give him mice to play with. He’s stubborn and very possessive over his animals e.g. over his pet mice, pup and his dream of tending his own rabbits. However there is a sense that nature provides a companion for humans if they desire one.
The novel is interlaced with references of the myth, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. It is a myth that expresses human suffering i.e. their exile from the garden. During the novel different objects and animals are used to link both novel and myth together. In chapter 1 after Lennie has become temporarily in touch with his environment a “water snake slipped along the pool.” A snake is used in this particular case to represent evil as it is a sinister creature the lures Eve into eating the apple in the Fall of Man. In the early stages of the novel George decides that they will stay at the pool all night. The pool is a place of primeval innocence, like Eden but it cannot protect Lennie because he has ultimately fallen. Another reference to the Fall of Man is when Lennie becomes sexually tempted to Curley’s wife. Her femininity is a danger to Lennie like the enticing red apple was to Eve. The town from which Lennie and George has both travelled from, Weed, suggests after Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, they felt a sense of imperfection. This is because weeds are undesirable in a garden. This myth is connected with the novella in order to show a human’s relationship with the natural world.
Within the book nature reflects on variety of different topics. Nature can be a kind, loving place however it can also be a sinister place as it is so vast therefore it doesn’t care about others problems. The relationship between Lennie and George replicates the behaviour of the outside world as well. For example when Lennie was forced to get rid of his mouse, it was thrown into “a darkening bush” but when they were entering the new village for a fresh start it was “a hot day” and “the rabbits sat as quietly as little gray, sculptured stones.”
Through out the novel nature and light is made use of to describe the time of day e.g. “the sphere of light grew smaller.” However it can also set the mood in the episode etc. Later on in the story when all of the ranchmen await the dreaded sound of the gunshot, the darkness and silence contributes to eeriness of the scene; it is almost a character in itself. In addiction darkness is associated with the grim reaper who looms over death. The light can also be linked to the themes of the story. “In the stable buck’s room a small electric globe threw a meagre yellow light,” is evidence of this. The light in Crook’s room is meagre which suggests a relationship between light and his role in the ranch, which is ranked extremely low. This brings up the major theme of loneliness and an element of fragmentation.
In conclusion nature and light play a large role in the way that the novella is read and understood. Both are linked in the same dramatic effect; for instance if something dies then the light turns to darkness and something sinister/evil from nature is used as a simile. By using reference to Adam and Eve etc one can relate to the story and empathise with the position of the two young ranchmen, Lennie and George.
By Josh Leader 3205 Weymouth
