Of Mice and Men: Theme of Light and Dark

“Although there was evening brightness showing through the windows of the bunkhouse, inside
it was dusk”.
This shows that the light tries to get in but never manages to penetrate the darkness. This is important
to the themes of the story because the light is a symbol of hope and this implies how the characters
aspire for dreams. However the fact that it never manages to penetrate links to the idea of the
American Dream being unobtainable during the 1930s where the Great Depression led to job loss.
The inside of the bunkhouse being dusk shows that there is no escape from the cruel world and as
darkness represents death, it could be foreshadowing the intensifying death throughout the novella.
Crook’s eyes “lay deep in his head, and because of their depth seemed to glitter with intensity”.
The combination of darkness and light here implies that even with his struggles in the racist society in
the 1930s, he still aspires for a dream. Or in contrast, it could imply that the dream acts as an aspect
and a way of coping with the struggles a colored man would have faced during the time. It is the light
of hope for the itinerant workers. Glitter may also represent the intelligence that he cannot show due
to the stereotypes of colored people at the time.
“In the stable buck’s room a small electric globe threw a meagre yellow light”
The light in Crooks’ room is ‘meagre’. The small light suggests the small hope Crooks has. “yellow”
symbolizes cowardice and sickness.
“the sun threw a bright dustladen bar through one of the side windows”
The contrast in light imagery may suggest isolation in the barn. Section 2 prison bar like light coming
in through the window into the barn.
“the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off.”
When Curley’s wife first appears in the bunkhouse, both Lennie and George notice that the rectangle
of sunshine in the doorway is cut off. This represents that her ‘femme fatale’ trait and foreshadows
that she will bring danger and ruin their dreams.
Just before Curley’s wife dies “the sun streaks climbed up the wall”.
This suggests that the innocence and the purity is trying to escape.
After Curley’s wife has died: “the suns streaks were high on the wall by now, and the light was
growing soft in the barn”
The sibilance in ‘sun streaks’ and ‘soft’.
High up looking down – how everyone looks down at her and how women were ignored in the
patriarchal society.
As the story reaches its tragic conclusion: “The light climbed out of the valley”.
The valley at the beginning was beautiful and has the similar description at the end – cyclical structure
(futile nature of American Dreams) but it has a very different tone.
The continuous imagery of sun climbing or escaping suggests that the hope is trying to escape the
barn and it suggests the futile nature of American Dreams.
As Lennie’s captors advance on him: “Already the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes
of the Gabilan Mountains, and the hill tops were rosy in the sun”.
‘rosy’: beautiful color that Curley’s wife aspires to be rises up away from the character and it suggests
that it is impossible to achieve. Or that it is only achieved when she is dead ‘in the sun’.