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Charles Homoki
Mrs. Dill
English III
3 June 2015
Biblical Allegories in Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck wrote his novella, Of Mice and Men, to show the life of itinerant farm
workers in the Western United States. He alludes to the Bible in the novella, and in other works
as well. Steinbeck, an American Modernist, came from a Christian background. He grew up
learning about the Bible, which is why he uses so many allusions in his works. In Of Mice and
Men, he alludes to the stories of Cain and Abel and Adam and Eve. Steinbeck intentionally wrote
Of Mice and Men using Biblical parallels to convey the novellas themes.
One of the major themes of the novella is the fall of the American Dream. Through the
novella, George and Lennie have dreams of owning their own ranch. They want to be
independent and self-sufficient, or as Lennie puts it, Live of the fatta the lan (Steinbeck 14).
Steinbeck creates an image that shows America as fat and Edenic. He boosts the image of the
American Dream by making it appear possible to George and Lennie. Then George kills Lennie,
and all of the previous possibilities are gone forever. No matter what it seems like, There are
no Edens in Steinbecks writing, only illusions of Eden the Promised Land is an illusory and
painful dream (Owens, "Of Mice and Men"). Not only do George and Lennie fail to achieve
their dream, but also Steinbecks migrants fail to achieve their collective dream (Zeitler, The
American Dream). By constructing George and Lennies dream as a possible fate and by killing
the dream along with Lennie, Steinbeck shows one of the major themes in the novella: the death
of the American Dream.

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George, Lennie, and Curleys wife each represent a different character from the story of
Adam and Eve. For example, George parallels God. He forbids Lennie to go near Curleys wife
when he stresses, Dont you even take a look at that bitch. I dont care what she says and what
she does (Steinbeck 32). Steinbeck gives George a God-like authority with Lennie to parallel
Gods role in the Adam and Eve story. Despite Georges orders though, Lennie interacts with
Curleys wife and touches her hair. His direct disobedience to George symbolizes Eves
disobedience in the Bible (McEntyre). Utilizing Lennies vulnerability, Curleys wife acts as a
temptress, convincing Lennie to go against the word of George. Her devious ability to sway
Lennie mirrors that of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. George, Lennie, and Curleys wife
mirror Biblical characters from the story of Adam and Eve.
By using his characters as Biblical parallels, Steinbeck uses the story of Adam and Eve to
show the destruction of the American Dream. For example, Lennie disobeys George when he
talks to Curleys wife. Lennies disobedience parallels Eve when she takes and eats fruit from the
Tree of Knowledge after God forbids it. Lennies disobedience ultimately triggers his own
downfall, along with the downfall of his and Georges dream. Steinbeck uses this to show that
there is no serious hope that George and Lennie will ever achieve their dream farm (Owens
Of Mice and Men). The fact that George and Lennie will never get their Edenic little place
resembles Adam and Eves expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Steinbeck completely destroys
any chance for George and Lennies dream to come true. He is trying to convey is that the
American Dream is dead, and he uses the allusion of Adam and Eve as a vehicle to carry his
message.
Another crucial theme in Of Mice and Men is the theme of isolation. The theme is
directly seen in the novella, as Steinbeck places the setting A few miles south of Soledad

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(Steinbeck 1). In Spanish, the towns name, Soledad, means solitude, implying both a physical
isolation and a psychological loneliness, writes literary critic Michael Zeitler, who analyzes the
significance of the setting in the novella (Zeitler, Isolation in Of). The lonely atmosphere takes
a toll on the several characters, Crooks, Candy, and Curleys wife. They all suffer from an
isolation that renders them powerless (Zeitler, Isolation in Of). Solitude is common for every
character in the novella except George and Lennie. Slim, the jerk-line skinner, reveals, Aint
many guys travel around together," he mused. "I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole
damn world is scared of each other" (Steinbeck 35). His statement is powerful in that it is normal
for people to travel alone rather than with a companion. George, the only character with a
companion, ultimately ends up alone, which drives the theme of isolation to prominence in the
novella.
Steinbeck creates another Biblical allegory where George is Cain and Lennie is Abel.
George mirrors Cain in the reasoning for killing Lennie. He kills Lennie not out of anger, but
because he must eliminate the foil that is holding him back:

Rather than returning to God to understand the terms of acceptable sacrifice, and
being willing to seek what would please Him, Cain seeks instead to eliminate the
offense of comparison by eliminating the foil that defines him as a failure. For
George to dream of making a stake so he and Lennie can have their little
place hardly seems culpable, based though it is on the very notions of private
property, possession, ownership, and exclusion that relate capitalism to the sin of
Cain. (McEntyre)

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Killing Lennie is the same sin that Cain committed in the Bible: the murder of a brother. Lennie
resembles Abel because he is an innocent victim to the harsh reality of the world. Lennie, due to
his mental illness, has always been innocent, and Abel is also always innocent. George, who is
Lennies brother, kills Lennie, spilling innocent blood upon the ground. Steinbeck mirrors Abels
death in his novella by using George and Lennie to play the roles of Cain and Abel.
Steinbeck uses the story of Cain and Abel to show a theme of isolation in Of Mice and
Men. As literary critic William Goldhurst writes, The implications of the Cain-and-Abel drama
are everywhere apparent in the fable of George and Lennie and provide its mythic vehicle
(Goldhurst 378). To begin, George and Lennie are great friends, and they accompany each other
everywhere they go. George and Lennies camaraderie is rare, different, almost unique in the
world of George and Lennie inhabit; other men, in contrast to these two, are solitary souls
without friends or companions (379). Unlike the solitary characters in the novella, George and
Lennie look out for each other. Despite Georges charity towards Lennie, Cains question is
[still] the question at the heart of this novel: Am I my brothers keeper? (Owens, Of Mice
and Men). George knows it is against his morals to kill Lennie; however, he kills Lennie
anyway to grant Lennie mercy, which parallels with the Cain and Abel story. George and Cain
ultimately meet the same fate from their murders: isolation.
Steinbeck also provides the theme of innocence in the novella. Lennie is the only
innocent character in the novella, and he tends to stay quiet unless he is around George. Lennie
is indeed innocent, and also, like a child, manipulative and scheming in his own limited way,
literary critic Marilyn Chandler McEntyre writes (McEntyre). He is only concerned with himself
and George, and he is oblivious to everything else. The harsh realities of the world do not reach
Lennies thoughts, and he has a monocular vision of his dream of owning a ranch with George,

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and most importantly, tending the rabbits. When Lennie speaks with Crooks his simple-minded
innocence really comes to light when he informs Crooks: The rabbits were gonna get, and I get
to tend em, cut grass an give em water, an like that (Steinbeck 31). Lennie does not realize
that his dream is a difficult to obtain, but his innocence lets him have hope. Lennies innocence is
a prominent theme in the novella.
Steinbeck not only uses the Cain and Abel story to show a theme of isolation, but also he
uses the allusion to portray the theme of innocence. He uses Lennie as a vehicle to advance the
theme of innocence. Because he is innocent, Lennie relies on George to protect him. George
cares about Lennie, and he tells him in the event of an emergency to go to the river thicket and
hide. For Lennie, it is physically impossible to remain there, and this symbol of primeval
innocence becomes translated into terms possible in the real world (Lisca 343). When George
kills Lennie by the river, he unintentionally lures him to his death, just as Cain lures Abel to the
field to kill him. Cain kills his brother out of anger. George kills Lennie to preserve his
innocence: one mans innocence may require another mans guilt (McEntyre). Steinbeck
provides a theme of innocence, and portrays it through an allusion to Cain and Abel.
The plot and characters in Of Mice and Men contain Biblical parallels to Cain and Abel,
and Adam and Eve. Steinbeck utilizes the allusion to Adam and Eve to portray the decadence of
the American Dream. He uses the Cain and Abel story to show themes of isolation and
innocence. The allusions apply to both the characters and the plot in the novella, though his
allusions are not from the Bible verbatim. Steinbeck carefully places his characters in situations
that can be compared to the Bible in order to showcase the common themes from the Biblical
allusions in Of Mice and Men. Not only does Of Mice and Men contain Biblical parallels, but

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also Steinbeck alludes to the Bible in many of his other works. Steinbeck absolutely wrote Of
Mice and Men as a biblical allegory, using the latter allusions to portray the novellas themes.

Works Cited

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Goldhurst, William. "Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck's Parable of the Curse of Cain." Western
American Literature 6.2 (Summer 1971): 123-135. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary
Criticism. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton. Vol. 21. Detroit: Gale, 1982. Literature Criticism
Online. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
Lisca, Peter. "Motif and Pattern in Of Mice and Men." Modern Fiction Studies 2.4 (Winter 1956):
228-234. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Thomas Votteler and Christopher
Giroux. Vol. 75. Detroit: Gale, 1993. Literature Criticism Online. Web. 7 May 2015.
McEntyre, Marilyn Chandler. "Of Mice and Men: A Story of Innocence Retained."The Betrayal
of Brotherhood in the Work of John Steinbeck, edited by Michael J. Meyer. Lewiston, NY:
Edwin Mellen Press, 2000. Quoted as "Why Of Mice and Men Is Not a Parable." in
Bloom, Harold, ed. Of Mice and Men, Bloom's Guides. New York: Chelsea House
Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
Owens, Louis. "Of Mice and Men: The Dream of Commitment." John Steinbeck's Re-Vision of
America, 100106. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1985. Quoted as "Of Mice and
Men: The Dream of Commitment" in Bloom, Harold, ed.John Steinbeck, New Edition,
Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008. Bloom's
Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
Owens, Louis. John Steinbecks Re-Vision of America. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press,
1985. Quoted as The Significance of George and Lennies Dream. in Bloom, Harold,
ed. Of Mice and Men, Blooms Guides. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006.
Blooms Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print.

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Zeitler, Michael. "The American dream in Of Mice and Men." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed.
Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's
Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
Zeitler, Michael. "Isolation in Of Mice and Men." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed.Encyclopedia
of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011.Bloom's Literature. Facts
On File, Inc. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.