Nature

Question 1

Natural lighting to visually portray the metaphor for the dark and different life Lennie lives through

Answer 1

• ‘a little dead puppy that lay in front of him’
• ‘shouts of men, playing, encouraging, jeering’
• represents the dark side to the life of neurodivergent people during Great Depression
• the other men would never understand
• society needs attitudes to change in order to help free neurodivergent people from their dark futures of mental asylums

Question 2

Animalistic imagery

Answer 2

• ‘her body flopped like a fish’
• Lennie has been killing animals throughout the entire novella who had no prospects for any significant life, e.g. mice or puppies
• this similar logic can be reflected in Curley’s wife through the simile comparing her to a fish (again an insignificant animal)
• Metaphorically it shows the restrictions and futility of life for women during 1930s society.
• It was almost as impossible for a woman to make any significant future for herself as it would be for a fish.
• The prejudice and oppression in society has reduced women so far that their insignificance is equating to a fish.

Question 3

Human desire for power over nature

Answer 3

• novella begins describing an idyllic riverbank, where “the golden foothill slopes”, ‘twinkling’ imagery
• When humans enter the scene tone shifts: there is a path “beaten hard by boys” and “an ash pile made by many fires.”
  -This early passage demonstrates the uncertain and harmful relationship between humans and nature
• This can be seen by G&L’s dream to own land and to be self-sufficient; their idea of success is dominance over nature
• To them, nature central to their future and that it why the setting of the brush is vital in creating a cyclical structure to reflect that