The Great Depression affected several aspects of American citizens’ mentality, as well as the type of literature being produced at that time. Whilst John Steinbeck worked among many ranch workers and construction staff, he gained he realized that the worker’s state of mind led many to despair and seclusion. John Steinbeck incorporated this attitude into his writing by the strong use of foreshadowing to add depth to his novels and symbolism that may be of personal significance.
Steinbeck grew up in Salinas, California, an area greatly impacted by the Stock market crash. And although his family was not affected as much as others, he had worked the job of a laborer and pitied those forced to this profession of loneliness and …show more content…
In Of Mice and Men, it is foreshadowed many times that Lennie will be shot due to his animalistic traits. These animalistic traits included liking soft things, drinking from the water even though it could make him sick, and having large, paw-like hands. An example of this foreshadowing includes the claim from the novella in which Candy is Foreshadowing that George will have to kill Lennie because George should not make the same mistake Candy makes. Candy tells George that he should have shot the dog himself and not let someone else shoot his best friend. This foreshadowing reveals to the reader that George will not allow Lennie to be killed cruelly or put in an insane asylum. This is backed up by a sentence found in Great American Writers: John Steinbeck, when the writer says that after George realized that Lennie killed Curley’s wife, he realized he had to shoot him or else the angry mob would get Lennie (Shuman 1462). Many of Steinbeck’s works contain the large use of foreshadowing including another quote from Of Mice and Men which talks about Curley’s hatred towards big people that inevitably foreshadows Curley targeting