Clearing where they wander-evokes Eden in its serenity and beauty

Opens with Idyllic scene-creates a background for the idealized friendship between the men

Introduces the romanticized dream they share of farm life

Opening pages-establishes sense of purity & perfection which the world, with its cruelty, will be unable to sustain.

Establishes relationship between George and Lennie

Uneducated laborers But emotionally rich Lennie-sweet, innocent, has a mental

disability, undying devotion to George, habit of petting soft things

George-rants about how life would be easier without Lennie, but his speeches always end by revealing his love for and desire to protect his friend.

They symbolize the downtrodden in the society of the depression

George-constantly tells of the farm they will one day own

This piece of land represents a world in which the two men can live together just as they are, without dangers and whithout apologies

No longer will they be run our of towns, or subject to demeaning work

As novel progresses, their situation worsens George and Lennie’s desire to attain the farm grows

desperate Vision-so powerful it will eventually attract other men George’s story of the farm and the mutual devotion

between George and Lennie lay the groundwork for one of the novel’s themes-the idealized sense of friendship among men

True to the nature of a tragedy, the vision of the farm is so beautiful and the bond so strong, that the fall will be that much more devastating

From the beginning, the fall is foreshadowed The clearing where they stumble may resemble Eden,

but danger lurks at every turn The rabbits that sit “Like gray sculptured stones,”

hurry for cover at the sound of footsteps, hinting at the predatory world.

The dead mouse in Lennie’s pocket serves as a potent symbol of the end that awaits weak, unsuspecting creatures.

Despite Lennie’s great physical features, his childlike mental capabilities render him as helpless as a mouse.

Repeated comparison between Lennie and animals (bears, horses, terriers) reinforces he impending sense of doom.

Animals in the novel all die untimeley deaths.

The novel’s tragic course of actions seems even more inevitable when one consideres Lennie’s troublesome behavior that got George and Lennie chased out of Weed.

Anticipates that problems will arise wherever they go.