"Of Mice and Men's" main characters, Lennie and George are as different as night and day. That simile, along with others taken directly from text, is a technique John Steinbeck uses frequently and effectively in the story. The following comparisons using like or as are short in length, but they easily paint a picture and draw the reader into the story right from the beginning.
One simile, from the first chapter, begins "Slowly, like a terrier, who doesn't want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again." This is a vivid word picture. The reader can imagine a small dog playing with its owner. The animal wants to give the ball back almost as much as it wants to keep it. Therefore, it draws back and approaches the
master several times. Like the dog, Lennie doesn't want to turn the dead mouse he's found over to George. But George insists and then must explain that this is for Lennie's own good. As a reader, I felt Lennie's hesitation and George's forcefulness.
"Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages." This comparison comes from the second chapter. Steinbeck is describing Curley's wife as both George and Lennie see her for the first time. The full description of her creates a picture of a woman with heavy make-up, perhaps cheap looking. When she speaks, her voice has a nasal sound; the reader can see her clearly from this description, from the sausage-like curls atop her head to the tips of her red, feathered mule shoes. In that short pa
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