Yash PatelMrs. CohenEnglish 1 HonorsMarch 12, 2014OMM Symbolism EssayJohn Steinbeck created a short story about two people trying to achieve their American dream "An' live off the fatta the lan'" (Steinbeck 14). In John Steinbeck's allegory Of Mice and Men, the characters, places, and animals used by John Steinbeck all symbolize something. By using symbolism, it gave the book a deeper meaning. The characters play an important role in the symbolism of this book. One of the characters, Lennie Small, symbolizes innocence, mental deficiency and physical strength. Lennie is a mentally challenged character who is tall and strong. “Tired and tired [...] but it was no use” (Steinbeck 4). This quote shows that he is not that smart. He keeps trying to remember something George says to him, but it turns out he never remembers it. “Curley's fist swung as he grabbed it [...] Curley sat on the ground, staring in wonder at his crushed hand” (Steinbeck 63-64). This quote comes from where Curley mauled Lennie. So George told Lennie to fight back. Then Lennie took one of Curley's fists and began to squeeze it. As a result, Curley's hand was bleeding and broken. This shows how strong Lennie is because he was able to break his fist in less than a minute with one hand. The character of Lennie truly symbolizes everything Steinbeck wanted. The next character is George Milton. Steinbeck made George a symbol of friendship, brotherhood and loyalty. "Guys like us, who work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They don't have family. (...) With us, it's not like that. We have a future. We have someone to talk to who doesn't give a damn about us" (Steinbeck 13-14). That's where George tells Lennie about other people... middle of paper... little house and a room all to ourselves. A small iron stove, and in the winter we kept a fire going in it. [...] We wouldn't have to brew barley eleven hours a day. And when we had a harvest, well, we'd be there to harvest it. "(Steinbeck 57-58). This quote is where George is talking to Lennie about a ranch he could buy to fulfill his American dream of living off the land. Their ranch symbolizes the American dream during the great depression. John Steinbeck wanted his short story to be an allegory He fully accomplished this by making every character, place, and animal in the book represent something. Since Steinbeck added a lot of symbolism, it gave the reader a. deeper understanding and connection with the other characters, animals and places in the story symbolized something..