Campfires Spark Relationships

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck centers around the relationship between two itinerant farm hands, George and Lennie. Steinbeck introduces that relationship in the first chapter by using the symbolic device of a campfire.

The reader meets the two men as they begin to set up camp for the night beside a river. George establishes his role as the leader of the pair when he orders Lennie to “‘ go get wood. An’ don’t you fool around. It’ll be dark before long’”and as the provider when he starts the fire and cooks the beans that make up their dinner (8, 11). Lennie watches George “explode” with anger through the growing flames of the fire, and when George calms down and realizes how much he has upset Lennie he “look[s] ashamedly at the flames” as if the campfire is the heat of his own anger (11, 12). Then, as the men turn to eating and telling stories, the fire becomes a gentle blaze that “light[s] the trunks of the trees and the curving branches overhead” (13). As George and Lennie prepare for bed and their thoughts turn inward, the motions of the fire continue to match them: “They made their beds on the sand, and as the blaze dropped from the fire the sphere of light grew smaller; the curling branches disappeared and only a faint glimmer showed where the tree trunks were” (17). Finally, as George and Lennie drift off to sleep, the fire sleeps with them: “the red light dim[s] on the coals” (18).

Traditionally, campfires are symbols for togetherness and storytelling. They are homey and comforting, keeping the darkness at bay. Steinbeck taps into that symbolism in this chapter. Lennie and George do not have a home as one might traditionally think of it, but they gain a sense of home from each other. That they both contribute to the campfire, Lennie fetches the wood while George actually lights the fire, demonstrates how, even though it mostly seems like George takes care of Lennie, they both contribute to their relationship. George needs Lennie to talk to and to give him a purpose. The campfire also adds to the arc of the story with in the first chapter. It begins with an idyllic nature scene, George and Lennie come in, there is a bit of conflict and a bit of character development, and then they settle down and the chapter ends with the quiet of nature once again. The fire, which is part of the scenery, but is also built by the two men, helps to carry the reader from the beginning to the end of the chapter.