In the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses minor characters to represent the types of people in American society. He uses the motifs of darkness and lightness to both characterize the characters and foreshadow how these characters will act.
In the first few chapters in the novel, the author symbolizes darkness as Curley’s wife, but as time progresses on, Steinbeck shows the lightness in this so called “villain”. Steinbeck(page 31) starts off with Curley's wife entering a scene in the story. “Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of light was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, in the insteps of which little bouquets of red ostrich feathers… I’m lookin for Curley, her voice having a…show more content… Darkness is revealed by Candy's fear of being disposed like his dog because he is of no use in the ranch, so he's going to get kicked out. Candy had his dog for a long time and he felt depressed when his dog was put out of his misery displaying darkness. “S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I ain't much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How’d that be? (page 59). Candy was contributing to Lennie and George's dream, by paying half of the ranch’s cost. Due to Candy, Lennie and George’s dream almost comes true. This signifies lightness for Candy because he believed on the new ranch, he wouldn't be thrown out due to his age. Like his dog, Candy is characterized as an old, crippled person and Steinbeck wants to show how the elderly were forgotten.
Steinbeck puts character to relations to the darkness and light. Lightness and darkness is an important factor in Of and Men because it displays the purpose of the book and the reality of life. He uses darkness and lightness to many different levels in each characters. They are used to foreshadow events, help the reader analyze the characters better or help understand why certain events occurred. Each minor character were used to show the relation of light and darkness in the
