Of Mice and Men

Rabbits symbolize hope and the promise of a new beginning for Lennie. The motif of tending to rabbits motivates him to behave. He believes that once he and George attain their dream farm, he will be able to raise and care for rabbits. This belief is rooted in the false hope that he would not harm the rabbits because they are bigger than mice. Throughout the novella, Lennie remarks that he won’t be able to tend to the rabbits when he makes a mistake, whether simple or fatal. When Lennie kills his puppy and later kills Curley’s wife, his response to both deaths is the fear he will lose his chance to raise rabbits.

Small, soft creatures hold a certain appeal for Lennie, whose gifts are more emotional than intellectual. Animals are likely to accept Lennie more readily than other humans do because animals, like children, have fewer demands and expectations. However, few pets are large enough to withstand Lennie’s energetic attentions. With this comparison in mind, small animals, in their vulnerability, symbolize Lennie himself as well as the innocent and trusting nature of his character. The comparison between Lennie and small animals is made even stronger as the novella progresses. First, the dead mouse in Lennie’s pocket alerts the reader to the presence of death in the novella. Second, the revelation that Lennie has repeatedly killed other mice signifies his pattern of destructive behavior. Third, Lennie’s dreams of raising rabbits are poignant even in the question that such a dream inspires: Is Lennie really capable of looking after small creatures without inadvertently hurting and/or killing them? The novella quickly resolves this question, as Lennie’s mice foreshadow the subsequent deaths to come. When the newborn puppy dies at the hands of Lennie, the demise of Curley’s wife approaches soon after. Curley’s wife, whose person is never named or revealed in any kind of deep or significant way, is among the nameless animals that inhabit the farm alongside the men who work the land. Just as Lennie is unable to conceal the animals he has killed, the body of Curley’s wife is quickly discovered, signaling Lennie’s own impending death.

George and Lennie, like many other men and women, are in pursuit of the American dream. For these two farm laborers, the farm that they will buy and run in their imaginations symbolizes the American dream for them and for many others at this point in American history. That the farm is out of reach financially, and ultimately, impossible to achieve, makes the dream more poignant. Depression-era farms suffered losses and great hardship as a result of poor weather conditions for growing, so even if George and Lennie were able to achieve their dream and buy a farm, recent climate conditions offer no guarantee of financial security.

At certain moments in the novella, Lennie longs to hear George talk about the dream farm. George’s imagination spins a colorful and wholesome yarn of security and domestic comfort, full of tasty and plentiful food and a whole hutch of rabbits for Lennie’s nurturing pleasure. At the end of the last chapter, George uses his habit of describing the dream farm to soothe Lennie in his most vulnerable moments, the ones leading up to his death. This way, George ensures that Lennie is in a happy place in his imagination when he dies, which is the kindest thing he can do for Lennie before mercy-killing him.