Of Mice And Men Symbolism Analysis

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The novel “OF MICE AND MEN” written by John Steinbeck, can generally be interpreted as “to deliver a social commentary, which represents the harsh realities of life in 1930’s America”. Symbolism is very important in texts and films as it gives an insight to many different themes, ideas, situations and how it relates to the storyline. Symbolism is a massive part of Steinbeck’s writing because he uses various different symbols which signify significant issues, ideas and themes that still exists and will always exist in society. For instance, in the novella “Of Mice and Men” the solitaire game represents the biggest theme of the novel, loneliness. This is an issue that is experienced by most of the characters on the ranch. For example, George, …show more content…
The symbolism of ostrich feathers helps us identify the characteristics of Curley’s wife. This represents Curley’s wife because before she was married to Curley she had a dream to become an actress. However after getting married to Curley she feels trapped on the ranch as she can no more live her dreams. The ostrich feathers represent her because just like how ostrich have feathers, but they cannot fly, similarly Curley’s wife has a dream, however she is oppressed by Curley due to which she is not able to fulfill her dreams. Another symbol that represented her personality was the colour red. Colour red is often associated with danger, passion, love and seduction. Red is seen as a relevant colour in her life because red represents her crave for attention, love, and seduction and also how these lead to danger for others. In the novel she is seen as danger for men. This is because when Curley would not be around, she would go around the barn dressed in red with her face heavily made up in order seduce other the men at the ranch. The colour red also symbolises the love and the attention she wanted. Since Curley disapproved of her socialising with others, she had nothing but only Curley and loneliness as part of her life. Due to this she would try to get other men to fall for her beauty. Her being dressed in red also symbolises and foreshadows that later in the novel she will be the cause of some kind of danger. The ostrich feathers and the colour red symbolises the reason as to why she was lonely and what she did in order to free herself from the pain of being