This is a novel about opposites; life and death, hope and despair, dreams and reality. It covers the subjects of racism, loneliness, prejudice towards disability and the fight for personal identity.

The story ends where it begins, by the pool. “The Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green.” This description gives us a pleasant feeling about the place. The words ‘deep and ‘green’ present us with the idea that it’s a place of beauty, that it is pure. The significance of the pool being a resting ground, like a ‘freeze frame’ is emphasized throughout their two visits. George is happy there. “Tonight I’m going to lay right here and look up. I like it.” This seems to relax Lenny, within this space he is more animal-like “snorting into the water like a horse.” Lenny is content within nature. This could show that Lenny, like the wilderness, is not man-made, not moulded by society.

Steinbeck uses lots of symbolism to set up the final scene. At the beginning a water snake is gliding along, its head held high. “A water snake slipped along the pool, its head held up like a little periscope”  The word ‘periscope’ seems almost scientific, as if  you were being observed. It gives contrast to the surroundings. In the wild, Lenny is free to be himself. He is safe from the watchful eye of society. Science versus nature. Conformity versus freedom. Opposites. By the end the snake is being eaten. “A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically” This may symbolise how vulnerable Lenny was to being consumed by the judgement of his community. At the beginning he was filled with hope. He holds that hope till the very end. Even when the water snake is being eaten, it tries. It scrambles for its freedom. Yet, it isn’t enough. The heron is too powerful.

Steinbeck was controversial with his choice of ending. He wanted to shock his audience into recognition. “and George raised the gun…he pulled the trigger.” He needed people to understand that this kind of thing happened all the time. He wanted people to question our perception of right and wrong. Lenny was misunderstood, misjudged, mistreated. This ending seems almost inevitable. “I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun.”  If George hadn’t got to him first Lenny’s fate would have been in the hands of Curley; an arrogant, hate ridden man of power. Before Lenny dies, George creates a world of dreams and possibility. “Everybody gonna be nice to you. There ain’t gonna be no more trouble” He does in death what he could never do in life. Through imagination, Lenny achieves his dream. The last gift George gave to his dear friend was an escape; an escape from the turmoil of living, his only option-death.

Steinbeck created a world; a world of dreams and hope. Lenny carries these qualities. With the destruction of his character came the destruction of these childish fantasies. Steinbeck uses the immense power of the written word to show the struggle of immigrant workers, he knew as a child during the American depression. The ending was indeed shocking but it shows the strength of George’s love for Lenny. It was the most amazing act of kindness he could bestow upon his friend. Our world does not take well to difference. Lenny was different, childish even. The way he was stereotyped made him another victim of our society.