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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Part 1
Explanation and Analysis—You Always Killed 'Em:
In the opening scene of the novella, Lennie and George sit by a pond while traveling to Salinas, California. There, George forces a reluctant Lennie to throw away a dead mouse that he was carrying in his pocket. Their conversation, which reflects upon events in the past, foreshadows the novel’s tragic ending:
Lennie sat down on the ground and hung his head dejectedly. “I don’t know where there is no other mouse. I remember a lady used to give ’em to me—ever’ one she got. But that lady ain’t here.” George scoffed. “Lady, huh? Don’t even remember who that lady was. That was your own Aunt Clara. An’ she stopped givin’ ’em to ya. You always killed ’em.” Lennie looked sadly up at him. “They was so little,” he said, apologetically. “I’d pet ’em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead—because they was so little.”
Sad that he has been forced to throw away the dead mouse, Lennie recalls that someone in his past used to give him mice to pet and play with. George then reminds Lennie that this woman was his own aunt. Additionally, he notes that Aunt Clara stopped giving mice to Lennie because he “always killed ‘em.” A contrite Lennie acknowledges the truth of this statement, noting “apologetically” that he never meant to hurt the mice and that he only killed them accidentally.
This brief exchange foreshadows later events in the novella. Drawn to soft textures such as the fur of the mice, Lennie strokes the hair of Curley’s wife, accidentally killing her after she screams. Throughout the novel, Lennie fails to understand his own strength, often with tragic results.
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Part 3
Explanation and Analysis—Shot That Dog Myself:
Though George is at first skeptical when Candy requests to join him and Lennie on the farm they intend to purchase, he realizes that their dreams might bear fruit much sooner with the help of Candy’s savings. After they plan excitedly for the future, George warns them not to speak of their ambitions with others on the ranch. In a somber moment, Candy expresses his regret for allowing Carlson to shoot his dog, a task which he feels he should have done himself. This solemn turn in their conversation foreshadows tragic events that occur later in the novella:
George said quickly, "Don't tell nobody about it. Jus' us three an' nobody else. They li'ble to can us so we can't make no stake. Jus' go on like we was gonna buck barley the rest of our lives, then all of a sudden some day we'll go get our pay an' scram outa here." Lennie and Candy nodded, and they were grinning with delight. "Don't tell nobody," Lennie said to himself.
Candy said, “George.” “Huh?” “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”
Despite their excitement about the farm, George recognizes that their plans are not certain and warns Candy and Lennie to avoid the others. Ultimately, their plans are derailed when Lennie fails to heed this warning and gets too close to Curley’s wife. Additionally, Candy notes that he should have “shot that dog” himself instead of allowing a “stranger” to do it. This foreshadows the ending of the novel, in which George kills Lennie in order to spare him from greater pain at the hands of an angry mob. George, then, takes Candy’s words to heart, and decides that he, as the person who cares the most about him, must be the person to kill Lennie.
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