Discussing Symbolism

Discuss one of the methods that Steinbeck uses to explore his ideas

 

Some of the ideas you could cover are:

Nature

Death

Companionship/Friendship

Cruelty

The World

Frailty

 

Another interesting lesson with Charlie today who was looking into how nature is presented by Steinbeck.  At the opening of the novel we see a perfect place, a beautiful and tranquil setting in which a heron is described exploding into the air and flying off down stream.  We talked about how the heron, for a bird, is a large and graceful, in some ways like Lennie, though graceful may be stretching it: it as least a powerful bird.  Our first introduction to it is quite simple.

 

In the final chapter the heron is described once more, this time Steinbeck writes that its "head and beak lanced down and plucked [the water snake] out by the head."  Charlie suggested that if the heron is Lennie then the water snake could be symbolic of Curley's wife, after all she is killed by Lennie, but furthermore snakes are symbolic of deceitfulness and malevolence, as well as distrust, just as Curley's wife is in the novel.  She is arguably as dangerous as the snake, her words are poisonous after all - remember how she speaks to Crooks when he stands up to her.