During the 1930s, many Americans fell victim to the Great Depression that had ferociously gripped the nation. Millions of people did not have a stable income and were forced to travel across the country in search of work that could support them for a while longer. Most of these people had a similar goal; everyone dreamed of reaching a heavenly place where they didn't have to worry about anything and had everything they ever wanted. This is also what George and Lennie feel in the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. These two men wander Northern California in search of stable work that will allow them to settle down and possibly even provide them with enough money to purchase the land of their dreams. However, their shared dreams fade away at the end of the story when George is forced to put a bullet in the back of Lennie's head. Among the themes represented by Steinbeck there is one that is the most significant. No matter how much people try to realize their dreams, fate will inevitably destroy them. Steinbeck uses symbolism to show George and Lennie's efforts to achieve their dream. One of the symbols used in this novel is shown in the scene in the barn, where Lennie accidentally kills his puppy and tries to hide it from George. "'I didn't know you would be killed so easily.' He worked his fingers on the puppy's floppy ear.(86) The puppy that Lennie kills symbolizes the dream of the land that he and George are trying to reach. Lennie does his best to try to keep the puppy alive as much as possible as long as possible, however, he ultimately fails to do so and kills the puppy (dream), just as he does with everything else he tries to keep alive. The puppy is also much larger than everything he tries to keep alive , but it's...... middle of paper ...... doesn't make him face real life and what is actually plausible and possible. This shows that realizing this dream of his is not possible in real life, because he has stopped dealing with real life (the cards). His dream land would always remain in dreams and would never appear in the "game of life". All the foreshadowing and symbolism that Steinbeck provides in this novel all point towards a central theme of loneliness, hopeless dreams and ultimate failure. All this shows that even if people work so hard to achieve their dreams, their dreams will ultimately be destroyed by fate, no matter what. Steinbeck used many literary devices perfectly, all cleverly woven together in a wonderful way. Each of the different literary devices comes from different paths but they are connected to each other and all lead to a universal theme.