Yash PatelMrs. CohenEnglish 1 Honors12 March 2014OMM Essay on SymbolismJohn Steinbeck created a short story about two people trying to realize their American dream "An' live off the made the lan'" (Steinbeck 14). In the allegory Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck the characters, places and animals used by John Steinbeck all symbolize something. Using symbolism gave the book a deeper meaning. Characters play an important role in symbolism in this book. One of the characters, Lennie Small, symbolizes innocence, mental disorder and physical strength. Lennie is a character who has a mental disability, he is tall and strong. “Tired and tired […] but it was no use” (Steinbeck 4). This quote shows that he is not that smart. He keeps trying to remember something George tells him but it turns out he can never remember it. “Curley's fist swung as it reached him [....] Curley sat on the floor, looking in wonder at his crushed hand” (Steinbeck 63-64). This quote is where Curley mauled Lennie. So George told Lennie to fight back. Then Lennie took one of Curley's fists and began to shake it. Afterward, Curley's hand was bleeding and broken. This shows how strong Lennie is because he managed to break his fist in less than a minute with one hand. The character of Lennie truly symbolizes everything Steinbeck wanted. The next character is George Milton. Steinbeck made George symbolize friendship, brotherhood and loyalty. "Those like us, who work on ranches, are the loneliest in the world. They have no family[....] It's not like that with us. We have a future. We have someone to talk to who will give us hell about ourselves" (Steinbeck 13-14). This is where George tells Lennie like the others... middle of paper... a little house and a room all to ourselves. Small iron stove, and in the winter we keep the fire going. [...] We shouldn't have to fight barley eleven hours a day. And when we have a harvest, well, we'll be there to harvest the harvest. ” (Steinbeck 57-58). This quote is when George tells Lennie about a ranch he could purchase to fulfill their American Dream which was to live off the land. Their ranch nicely symbolizes the American Dream during the Great Depression. John Steinbeck wanted his story to be an allegory and he completely succeeded, making every character, place and animal in the book represent something. Because Steinbeck added a lot of symbolism, it gave the reader an understanding and connection deeper with the other characters, animals and places in the novel symbolized something.