Foreshadowing plays a large role in indicating that Lennie isn't going to last long in this harsh world.
The fact that the death of Candy's dog and the death of Lennie are identical reflects on the way his murder was carried out. He was shot by in the back of the head the same way the dog was. Candy told George, "I ought to of shot that dog myself"(p.61) making him chose to kill Lennie himself to save him from dying by the hands of a stranger. Doing it the way that Carlson did it was for the best because, "He won't even feel it."
Steinbeck used the technique of foreshadowing to make the book Of Mice and Men more than just merely a book. He made it a book where the reader can predict what will happen before it happens through hints in the surrounding events. Curley's Wife's death was foreshadowed by Lennie's reputation as a troublemaker, his own death was foreshadowed through relationships between characters and the use of contrast, and the way he was killed was shown through Candy's dog's death.
John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing throughout the story of "Of Mice and Men" to prepare the reader for the final scene. Foreshadowing is the composition of layered hints or clues about what may happen in the future of the story. Early in the story, these lines or events suggest a wide range of possibilities to the audience.
Crooks is a proud, embittered man - a victim of racism. The scene that takes place in his room illustrates several tendencies in the novel. For one thing, Lennie is able to win Crooks over despite (or, actually, by virtue of) his opacity; this allows the reader to see Lennie's appeal as a nonjudgmental, faithful companion. Also, when Crooks rouses Lennie's anger, we see more evidence of the dangerous rage that lurks beneath Lennie's placid exterior.
In opening and closing his novel in nature, Steinbeck is able to connect and compare the actions of his characters with the natural world. The nature scenes comment on the events in question - George and Lennie disrupt a peaceful scene in the opening; the killing of a snake by a heron prefigures the tragedy in the final chapter. Not only does this way of structuring the novel give it a feeling of wholeness, it also