Characters as Archetypes
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While Of Mice and Men occurs in a very specific time and place, each of the characters can be thought of as symbolizing broader populations. Though...
Settings as Symbols
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The pool by the river is the place where Lennie and George’s story begins and ends. It is a safe sanctuary to meet and a place free from society, wh...
Rabbits
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When George first tells the story of the dream farm, it's because Lennie's desperate for him to "Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and ab...
Mice
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Mice represent the false hope of a safe space for Lennie. The title is a good hint that mice are important here, but the first mouse we encounter is a...
Morality Play
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In the European medieval period, all the kids were going nuts for a type of drama called a morality play, in which the hero (often a guy named, clever...