The novel "Of Mice and Men" is written by John Steinbeck. He is a master in symbolism and almost all of his books are loaded with symbols. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck takes the help of the animals to portray the nature of his characters and also to convey some themes of the novel. This essay investigates the use of animal imagery in the first chapter, how it foreshadows the end of the novel and how it portrays the character of Lennie, the effect on the setting and themes.

Of Mice and Men was actually a poem written by Robert Burn. Steinbeck before giving the title "Of Mice and Men", he gave it as "Something That Happened" which would be appropriate to the ending, but the poem is like a small version of the novel, the poem says the same thing as the novel. It just uses...