A main theme that Steinbeck portrays through animals is Loniness. In “Of Mice and Men”, Candy’s dog represents the fate awaiting anyone who has outlived his or her purpose. Once a fine sheepdog, useful on the ranch, Candy’s mutt is now debilitated by age. ”Well – Hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him. He said proudly”. Candy’s sentimental attachment to the animal and the fact that he raised the dog from a puppy is his plea to Carlson to let the dog live, however in that era and on that ranch this meant nothing. This is because in the era in which this book was written animals were seen as worthless if they were unable to do their job, if an animal was unable in anyway they would have been killed immediately. Although Carlson promises to kill the dog painlessly, his insistence that the old animal must die supports the idea that the strong will dispose of the weak.
A theme that really directs and fuels this story is the American dream, this theme is recited repeatedly. The farm that George constantly describes to Lennie, those few acres of land on which they will grow their own food and tend their own livestock, is one of the most powerful symbols in the book. It invites not only the other characters but also the reader, who, like the men, wants to believe in the possibility of the free, perfect life it promises. Candy is immediately drawn in by the dream, and even the cynical Crooks hopes that Lennie and George will let him live there too. A paradise for men who want to be in control of their own lives, the farm represents the possibility of freedom, independence, and protection from the cruelties of the world. As this is his idea of an ideal world, this world would allow him to have the freedom in which farm animals live in.
In the story “Of Mice and Men” another major character that not only adds to the theme of loniness but also adds to the theme of discrimination is Crooks. In the era of when this book was written people were stereotyped into a hierarchy, and at the bottom of this hierarchy were black people. “The stable buck’s a negro”, this shows that Crooks was treated just as poorly as animals, he was isolated from the rest of the men and was given his own room just because he was black and not allowed to be treated as an equal. Steinbeck really enforces the ideas of the racial issues that were going on at the time, he makes Crooks seem like an animal because that was how he would have been treated in that time. Also when Crooks realises that Lennie is mentally unable, he taunts him, this is because he wants to take out his frustration he has with people on Lennie. This is also how animals work, the presence of the larger animals scare away or eat the smaller or less able animals. Crooks has never felt any power over anyone, he is protecting his own territory trying to confuse Lennie so he feels in charge as the “top dog”.
Later in the story Lennie kills his puppy by stroking it too much. When Curley’s wife tells Lennie to stroke her hair he gets over excited and clings on, she then screams and to shut her up he accidentally kills her, just like he killed the puppy. This is an example of foreshadowing which happens throughout the story as at the beginning he kills the mouse, the puppy, Curley’s wife and then in the end he is killed himself. In parts of the story when something horrid or important is about to happen, animals act in strange ways “A pigeon flew in through the open hay door and circled and flew out again.” this is Steinbeck’s way of using the animals in the story to give an indication of what is either about to happen or has happened, also to inform us that something distressing has happened which the animals can sense. Another example of this in the play is “the horses shifted their feet and rattled the halter chains. Old Candy lay down in the hay and covered his eyes with his arms”. Steinbeck also uses the animals to symbolize or reflect the different emotions the characters are experiencing. Once Candy realises that all his dreams are over he becomes angry with Curley’s wife for ruining his dreams, he also feels trapped as though he will never be able to live comfortably. This is shown in the horses, which are also angry that they are chained up and the horses feel restricted in their places just like Candy does now that he will never have his dream.
Steinbeck introduces his last chapter with pathetic fallacy, “the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes”. The beginning of this chapter has a very peaceful and slow pace he has slowed the mood right down so you know something terrible is about to happen. At the end of the chapter Lennie is killed. Lennie is killed the same way in which Candy’s dog was killed. Lennie was shot at the back of the head and this is the way somebody would kill an old or out of control animal. This is the last time Steinbeck compares Lennie to an animal and he does it is the most devastating and meaningful way.
Steinbeck is an extremely thoughtful writer as he manages to apply the animals to show almost all the themes in “Of Mice and Men”. He has a key character that represents a animal in many ways (Lennie), he has people that are treated like animals, he shows how the American dream for ranch people is to have a farm with many animals, he lets the senses of the animals predict or illustrate and display emotions of the events that will occur or will have occurred, he makes the animals show foreshadowing and he shows how the animals were treated at the time. These are all the main points that I have discussed in this essay to answer the question “how does Steinbeck use animals to show the main themes in “Of Mice and Men?”.
