How Does Steinbeck Explore the Idea of Survival in Nature?

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How Does Steinbeck explore the idea of Survival in Nature? Steinback explores the idea of survival in nature through both the Natural World – By his use of animals – and the idea of Survival of the Fittest. Throughout the book, he displays a very clear message – the lives of the best are often ruined by larger forces which can’t be controlled. The idea of Survival of the Fittest is a key theme which is displayed throughout the novel and Steinbeck explores it through the death of animals to larger forces. A key example being Lennie crushing mice when he “just petted them a little”. The use of the word “just” indicates that Steinbeck is letting us know that the fault doesn’t always lie with the killer, but it’s just the way nature works. In this example, Lennie is the larger force, and despite not having bad intentions about the mice, he still ends up killing them. To a larger extent, and more prominently, the death of Candy’s dog indicates Steinbeck’s thoughts about nature and the world. Despite Candy having his dog “since he was a pup”, because “he ain’t no good to” him anymore, Carlson indicates that he should be shot. Not only is Steinbeck indicating that the dominant animal (Carlson) always gets what it wants (shoots Candy’s dog) without reasoning (because he is an inconvenience), he’s also showing his thoughts on nature being cruel and unrelenting. This is shown through Carlson’s insensitivity towards the fact that Candy and his dog are friends. This is Steinbeck indicating how nature is unfair, but there’s nothing you can do about it. As indicated by the word “good”, Steinbeck is presenting a satirical look, not only on nature, but on society of how if something isn’t useful, it shouldn’t be there. The largest and last indication of this is with the death of Lenny. Throughout the whole novel, Steinbeck indicates Lenny’s childlike understanding of the world

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