Of Mice & Men:
Steinbeck’s love of
nature is very clear in
the book. Discuss.
By Ben & Sacha
Steinbeck shows the world of nature to be a
beautiful and peaceful one, but threatened by
the actions of men.
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When the book opens, the scene described is a very peaceful , calm and beautiful
one. “…the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and
green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow
sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the
river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan
Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees—willows fresh
and green with every spring…”.
Everything has it’s place and is untouched and unspoilt. However, as the
description continues we see where man has made its mark on nature, and not
necessarily in a positive way. “There is a path through the willows and among
the sycamores, a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to
swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down
from the highway in the evening to jungle-up near water. In front of the low
horizontal limb of a giant sycamore there is an ash pile made by many fires;
the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it.”
The beginning of the novel sets this pattern,
as the creatures at the pool are disturbed by
George and Lennie's approach.
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“Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves.
The shade climbed up the hills toward the top. On the sand banks the
rabbits sat as quietly as little gray sculptured stones.”
Up until this point, everything is peaceful and calm. The animals are in
control, they are in their natural habitat and are peaceful and calm.
Then… “And then from the direction of the state highway came the sound
of footsteps on crisp sycamore leaves. The rabbits hurried noiselessly for
cover.” This is an expression that people use when they’re running from a
bomb or an explosion – they run for cover – which implies that man can
cause a lot of damage to nature.
“A stilted heron labored up into the air and pounded down river. For a
moment the place was lifeless…” Steinbeck obviously feels that nature is
alive, and it is the animals that create this feeling, so without them nature
dies. “…and then two men emerged from the path and came into the
opening by the green pool. They had walked in single file down the path…”
The ranch and its buildings, being created by
men, are in contrast with the natural world.
Notice that the bunkhouse, for example, is
quite bare and stark.
“…the Salinas River
drops in close to the
hillside bank and runs
deep and green. The
water is warm too, for
it has slipped
twinkling over the
yellow sands in the
sunlight before
reaching the narrow
pool. On one side of
the river the golden
foothill slopes curve
up to the strong and
rocky Gabilan
Mountains, but on the
valley side the water
is lined with trees—
willows fresh and
green with every
spring…”.
Compare the
colours: golden,
green vs. black,
white (washed).
The natural world
is vibrant and
colourful, the
manmade one
plain and
unexciting.
Twinkling vs.
solid.
Unpainted vs.
sunlight
“The bunk house was a long,
rectangular building. Inside,
the walls were whitewashed
and the floor unpainted. In
three walls there were small,
square windows, and in the
fourth, a solid door with a
wooden latch. Against the
walls were eight bunks…Near
one wall there was a black
cast-iron stove, its
stovepipe going straight up
through the ceiling. In the
middle of the room stood a big
square table littered with
playing cards…”
If the natural world is described as a
beautiful place, the men in it are described
as the opposite.
“They had walked in single file down the path, and even in the open one
stayed behind the other. Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim
coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried
tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders. The first man was small and
quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part
of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose.
Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large,
pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his
feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides,
but hung loosely.”
Words like pale, black, shapeless make them seem inhuman. Their actions –
dragging, heavily, hung loosely – imply little energy or life – whereas the natural
world is alive and twinkling.
If the natural world is described as a
beautiful place, the men in it are described
as the opposite.
And no more so than Candy and Crooks who are both deformed or unnatural
in appearance.
Candy: “…a tall, stoop-shouldered old man came in…He pointed with his
right arm, and out of the sleeve came a round stick-like wrist, but no
hand.”
Crooks: “His body was bent over to the left by his crooked spine, and his
eyes lay deep in his head, and because of their depth seemed to glitter with
intensity. His lean face was lined with deep black wrinkles, and he had thin,
pain-tightened lips which were lighter than his face.”
Compared to the vibrant and alive natural world, Crooks and Candy seem
like the complete opposite. Their bodies are broken, certainly not beautiful
and they aren’t able to move freely and easily like the natural world can.
Contrasted to these two characters is Lennie,
who almost seems a part of the natural world
as he is often compared to animals by
Steinbeck in the book.
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“Lennie dabbles his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so
the water arose in little splashes”
“Drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse”,
These two quotes show that Lennie doesn’t have any expression on
his face and is huge.
The way he says “paw” says he’s massive like a bear, the kind of
person you wouldn’t want to approach.
Steinbeck used these particular animals because they’re big, and
strong. A bear can take life, like Lennie does.
Steinbeck uses animals to foreshadow the
events of the book
The animals in the book have a very important role as they foreshadow the
events that happen at the end of the book. This shows that at the end of the day
we are all the same; nature and man; and that we meet the same fate. Steinbeck
describes nature much more positively then man, but obviously sees nature as
equal to man in some respects because their death is the same.
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The killing of the mouse and the puppy foreshadows the death of Curley’s
Wife: these innocent creatures, that have soft hair that Lennie likes to touch, all
die at Lennie’s hands when he is petting them.
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The shooting of Candy’s Dog foreshadows the shooting of Lennie. In both
cases the creatures are put out of their suffering (that which is to come in
Lennie’s case). They are both killed in exactly the same way, and George learns
from Candy’s mistake and makes sure he shoots Lennie himself rather than
letting someone else do it.
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Animals play a large role in the work of the
ranch; without them the ranch wouldn’t run.
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Horses are used to pull the machinery on the farm and the trailers that collect
all the hay and barley that has been picked. Crooks role is to look after the
horses, so the fact they have one person dedicated to look after them shows
how important they are: “Crooks had his apple box over his bunk, and in it a
range of medicine bottles, both for himself and for the horses.”
Animals are also the companions of a lot of the men. Crooks spends a lot of
time with his horses, Candy has his dog, Slim has a dog too. ““Look, Slim’s
bitch got a litter right now. I bet Slim would give you one of them pups to raise
up, wouldn’t you, Slim?”
The sign of a good worker is how well he can work with the animals. This is
why Slim is the “Prince of the ranch” because “He was a jerkline skinner, the
prince of the ranch, capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a
single line to the leaders. He was capable of killing a fly on the wheeler’s butt
with a bull whip without touching the mule.”
Nature is seen as a place of safety in the
book.
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The natural world is portrayed as a safe place because George always says to
Lennie to go back too the brush if anything ever goes wrong: “Well, look.
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.”
Because Lennie feels safe there he even considers living there when he
threatens to go off and live in a cave: “He turned his head and looked at the
bright mountain tops. “I can go right off there an’ find a cave,” he said. And he
continued sadly, “—an’ never have no ketchup—but I won’t care. If George
don’t want me . . . . I’ll go away. I’ll go away.”
The brush is also where Lennie dies and this seems right because it is a place
Lennie remembered and a place where he felt safe: “And George raised the
gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of
Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand
steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and
rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand,
and he lay without quivering.”