The Unsusceptible Heron and the Vulnerable Snake

Of Mice and Men is written in the 3rd person perspective, giving us a more objective view rather than one that is subjective and personal. In a lot of books, the 1st person narrative creates a more powerful effect to relate and sympathise with the speaker/protagonist. In Of Mice and Men, I think this could have also worked well however, our view of other characters other than the speaker may have been different because of the characters 'personal opinion.' For example, if George was the narrator, we may not see the value of Slims presence in the novel as much as we do when it is in 3rd person.

Some of the characters represent a category of people who are the subject of some sort of prejudice, who are the following:
Lennie: disability
Candy: elderly/handicapped
Crooks: racism
Curley's Wife: stereotypes of women

Steinbeck outlines the problems associated with the prejudice present at the time in which he wrote it, and despite these judgements not being as severe now as it used to be, it still proves powerful; Steinbeck wanted to see a change in the way people treated each other.

As well as viewing the characters in 3rd person perspective, Steinbeck also sets the scene for us at the bringing of every section. Especially comparing the start of the 1st and 6th section, Steinbeck describes the same scene but in two different times of the day. The contrast between these two introductions also reflects the mood and atmosphere of the following events in that chapter.

Section 1: Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves. The
shade climbed up the hills toward the top. On the sand banks the rabbits sat as
quietly as little gray sculptured stones. And then from the direction of the state
highway came the sound of footsteps on crisp sycamore leaves. The rabbits
hurried noiselessly for cover. A stilted heron labored up into the air and
pounded down river. For a moment the place was lifeless, and then two men
emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green pool.

Section 6: The deep green pool of the Salinas River was still in the late afternoon.
Already the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan
Mountains, and the hilltops were rosy in the sun. But by the pool among the
mottled sycamores, a pleasant shade had fallen.
A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from
side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a
motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and beak lanced
down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake
while its tail waved frantically.
A far rush of wind sounded and a gust drove through the tops of the trees like
a wave. The sycamore leaves turned up their silver sides, the brown, dry leaves
on the ground scudded a few feet. And row on row of tiny wind waves flowed

up the pool’s green surface.

By comparing these two passages, we can tell that its the same place even without us being told. Steinbeck repeats the image of the sycamore trees in both passages, indicating that they are in the same setting. Also, Steinbeck introduces us to this heron in the first section, which at first seems to have very little significance. Like the setting, we are told the heron is 'stilted' which mimics the stillness of everything around it. When this image returns in the 6th section, it kills a water snake:

• Maybe this is linked to the previous killing of Curley's wife; where Lennie represents the heron and C's wife represents the water snake. It says that the heron 'plucked it out by the head' which seems effortless and reflects how easy it was for Lennie to accidentally kill Curley's wife because of his strength. Also the description of the water snake 'gliding smoothy up the pool, twisting its periscope' also reflects Curley's wife, by creating a tempting, yet graceful figure. When the presence of  Lennie interrupts the Heron, 'it pounded the air with its wings' which again, recounts the attempts made by Lennie to run away from the scene.
• As well as the killing of Curley's wife, it could also resemble the killing later on in the chapter. 'Stood in the shallows' could represent that Lennie is not aware that George is about to shoot him, and represents how oblivious he is to every situation he's been in. If the water snake was related to Lennie, the fact that the water snake 'glided smoothly up the pool' could represent his mentality: despite everything going on in the world around him, he seems to be quite peaceful at mind with nothing but the image of his own dream ranch with the rabbits. With George as the Heron, the 'silent head and beak' could represent how calm he was about the situation. At no point did he seem angry at Lennie which made the shooting more shocking to us; a more intense version of the killing of the water snake. After the water snake had been killed, the next paragraph says that 'A far rush of wind sounded and a gust drove through the tops of the trees' which could mimic Curley, Slim and Carlson rushing through the woods and to George immediately after, almost as an interruption. This foreshadowing shows us that the fate of Lennie and George had already been decided by Steinbeck, and we could even assume that he is mentally preparing the reader before the 'real thing'. 
• The 'motionless heron that stood in the shallows' that 'swallowed the little snake' could represent the insignificance of the situation. Although Lennie is portrayed as 'huge' and has great physical strength, he is just the little snake on the ranch; his value in the eyes of the other ranch hands is quite low despite how well he works. The heron could represent life: not only on the ranch, but in general. The fact that it 'stood in the shallows' creates a haunting feel for the reader; it suggests that in life, anything could be hiding right behind the corner.