It is said that you can tell a lot about a man by his handshake. In the short story Of Mice And Men, Steinbeck uses hands as a strong motif to help us understand the essence of each of the characters. At the end of the story everything comes together and we discover the ingenious hands symbol and how it fits together. Lennie's hands, or "paws," tell us that he is powerful but clumsy. These monstrosities represent dangerous domination. They are like superpowers in that they can be used for good or evil. This is shown several times throughout the story. For example, he kills mice by petting them too hard, kills a puppy by playing with it too aggressively, kills Curly's hand by squeezing it too hard, and kills Curly's wife by impulsively stroking her hair. Sure, it does an amazing job hauling barley, but it comes at a price. George is the complete opposite. George's hands are small but sturdy, which is exactly what he looks like. He controls Lennie and for good reason. I think it's cute the way George takes care of her tits...