Complete 4 page APA formatted essay: Symbolism in Of Mice and Men.Download file to see previous pages... It is not surprising that nature assumes such an important role in Steinbeck’s work, because

Complete 4 page APA formatted essay: Symbolism in Of Mice and Men.

It is not surprising that nature assumes such an important role in Steinbeck’s work, because the author is a native Californian and his interest in natural sciences was triggered by his close friend, Ed Ricketts, a Californian marine biologist. The most important symbol in the novel is the little clearing by the green river. At the very outset, the author describes this space using images of the pastoral, evoking moments that are peaceful and soothing in order to elicit the dream of his characters, that is, of owning land and their own small farm. To them, this little spot becomes symbolic of a safe haven. George tells 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.” For literary critics, interpretations of the pastoral provided various symbolic possibilities, but one that is most suggestive for Of Mice and Men is as a metaphor for the Garden of Eden in Spanish, an image that is associated with the setting of the Californian West. Steinbeck's careful choice to situate the story close to Soledad, an authentic Californian town in the Salinas valley, is also symbolic of the central theme in the narrative. The word Soledad means “loneliness” in Spanish. Another important symbol in the novel is rabbits. This symbol serves several purposes. Rabbits are said to be symbolic of childishness or innocence. However, literature is full of examples where rabbits also stand for class tensions, adultery and murder. Lennie, the mentally retarded migrant worker, dreams of owning land with his friend George one day and of raising rabbits there. Throughout the book, Lennie repeatedly asks George to tell him “about the rabbits”, as a way of asking George to daydream aloud about living off of the land and being self-sufficient: “Ever six weeks or so,” George said, “them does would throw a litter so we’d have plenty of rabbits to eat an’ to sell…” Not just a mode of self-reliance, rabbits also happen to symbolize something else for the dim-witted Lennie: something soft to stroke and nurture, something innocent and childish he himself can parent. On being asked, “What makes you so nuts about rabbits?” he responds, “I like to pet nice things.” Unfortunately, the wife invites Lennie to pat her own long hair – thereby symbolically making herself into a rabbit, or prey. She grows angry when he gets rough, struggles to get free, and he inadvertently breaks her neck, a common technique, by the way, for killing rabbits grown for meat or fur. (Davis, Susan E., DeMello, Margo.