John Steinbeck uses several cases of foreshadowing in his novel, "Of Mice and Men". He illustrates the technique of foreshadowing through the elaborate dialogue and the actions of the characters, as well as through their descriptive body language.
In the first chapter, George tells Lennie:
"...'if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush.'
"'Hide in the brush,' said Lennie slowly.
"'Hide in the brush until I come for you. Can you remember that?'
"'Sure I can, George. Hide in the brush till you come.'"
This is yet another scene in the book in which based on the tone of the character, an occurrence is foreshadowed. First of all, just the mere fact that George told Lennie that if he finds himself in trouble meet back in a specific area raises a nerve of suspicion and as a result makes the reader doubt Lennie's reliability even more and assume that it is going to happen again.
Lennie James
Lennie James
Lennie JamesIn chapter 5, Lennie inadvertently kills Curley's wife, and the reader's prediction from the author's foreshadowing is fulfilled.
Immediately at the opening of chapter 5, the reader discovers that Lennie has been playing with his pup, and, underestimating his strength, killed it as a result. The following event from chapter 1 foreshadows this when George tells Lennie consolingly,
"'Trouble with mice is you always kill 'em.
"'Tell you what I'll do, Lennie. First chance I get, I'll give you a pup. Maybe you wouldn't kill it. That'd be better than mice. And you could pet it harder.'"
Finally, the mishap Lennie had had with the girl in the red dress foreshadowed the death of Curley's wife. In chapter 3, as George recounts the events of Weed...