How Does Steinbeck’s Portrayal of Lennie in Chapter One Help to Prepare Us for the Dramatic and Tragic Events Later in the Novel?

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The title itself ‘Of mice and men’ foreshadows the events that unfold and the ultimate tragedy of all the characters referring to Robert Burns poem ‘To a Mouse’ This is virtually the whole story - The shattered dream, the grief and pain instead of the promised plan. Steinbeck accomplishes a number of goals in the first chapter of his story. He sets the tone and atmosphere of the story's location as the story takes place in the time of the great depression when during this period of failed businesses, harsh poverty and long term unemployment, hoards of migrant workers came to California from other parts of America in search of work. These men mostly traveling alone, migrating from ranch to ranch on short term, poorly paid contracts, this being the only type of work available to them. Steinbeck employs great economy of language and pays careful attention to word choices and repetition. The attractive simplicity of Steinbeck’s writing in this novel is that he achieves the difficult task of telling an unusual story in a convincing manner without having to explain in any detail why it happened. When the story opens, for example, the setting is a few miles south of Soledad, California, near the Salinas River. "Soledad" is a Spanish word that translates into "loneliness" or "solitude," a reference to one of the novel's main themes which recurs throughout the novel. Steinbeck introduces his two central protagonists George and Lennie first by their description and then with their names making the reader have a clear image of them, their physical portrayal emphasizes both their similarities and their individuality. They both wear similar clothes and carry blanket rolls, and the larger man imitates the smaller. George being short of stature, intelligent and projects self-confidence; Lennie, on the other hand, is a giant of a man, ponderous in his gait and has the mind

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