There are literal deaths and one symbolic death in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Not surprisingly, the deaths of mice, Candy's dog, Lennie's puppy, Curley's wife and Lennie are all linked to the symbolic death of the dream farm which George, Lennie and Candy hope to go to and "live nice." The farm is an illusion of paradise. It is a place of innocence where George can relive his childhood, Lennie can "tend rabbits" and Candy can "hoe in the garden." Indeed, the dream farm is the garden of Eden where the men will be free from the toil and alienation which plagues their lives on the ranch.
Death, however, ultimately extinguishes this dream. The early deaths of the mouse Lennie is carrying in his pocket, Candy's dog and Lennie's puppy prove to be foreshadowing of the human deaths which will take place in the final two chapters. These human deaths are symbolic of a loss of innocence and because they occur, they disrupt and destroy the dream of paradise, where death, sexual urges and loneliness are unknown.
In Chapter Five, Lennie is alone in the barn lamenting the death of his puppy, which he has accidentally killed, when Curley's wife sneaks up on him and urges him to have a conversation with her. Apart from the sexual seductress and manipulator that has been her character portrayal thus far, in this scene she brings humanity and even a certain innocence. She has been the victim of circumstance and her longed for dreams have been shattered. She also recognizes the innocence in Lennie. Just as Crooks had determined in Chapter Four, Curley's wife understands that she can talk to Lennie about anything. In a "passion of communication" she tells him about her life before meeting Curley, showing herself to be capable of the same types of dreams which drive George, Lennie and Candy. Unfortunately, as she attempts to soothe Lennie over the death of his puppy by allowing him to stroke her hair, she falls prey to the same plight as the puppy when Lennie becomes fearful of her screaming and accidentally breaks her neck. After her death, Steinbeck describes her dead body as that of an innocent person, without malice or corruption:
Curley’s wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young.
Her death marks the end of innocence and the loss of the dream. Lennie has now stepped beyond the boundaries of humanity and his punishment in the next chapter is conceived by George as soon as he is witness to the dead body of Curleys' wife. Candy too realizes the consequences of Lennie's action and knows that the dream is over as he repeats the "old words" about "a circus or a baseball game" and the "little fat stove."
In the final chapter, George tells Lennie to look at the Gabilan Mountains just across the river and he can see the dream farm:
“We’ll have a cow,” said George. “An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens . . . an’ down the flat we’ll have a . . . . little piece alfalfa—” “For the rabbits,” Lennie shouted.
The bullet to Lennie's head is the last nail in the coffin of the dream. Lennie's innocence and obsessions with "tending rabbits" are over. For George, there is really nothing left other than a "whorehouse," a "pool room" or a "gallon of whiskey." Fittingly, in the final scene he is on his way with Slim to "get a drink."
No comments:
Post a Comment