Within each scene is a pattern of rising and falling action. In the second scene, for example, the bunkhouse and inhabitants are introduced, suspicion falls on the two men's relationship, Curley and his wife inject an ominous tone (which Lennie repeats with his instinctive reaction to them), Slim soothes the scene, and then they go to dinner. Again, each scene is balanced with this theatrical structure.
The lighting could also be attributed to theatrical technique. The first and last scenes use the light in nature for the focus of the lighting in the scenes. In the third chapter, the bunkhouse is dark, and it is evening. When George and Slim come in, Slim turns on the electric light over the card table. The focus is on the conversation at the card table with the darkness all around. From that darkness, come the voices of Lennie and Candy, but the main focus of the scene is in the middle of the room at the card table where the light is used to draw the reader's attention to the main arena of action. Light and darkness work through the novel to focus the reader's attention, much like light and darkness on the stage accomplish a similar purpose.
A final structural technique is the use of foreshadowing, or transitional connections or signals, to connect and make ideas more fluid. Throughout Steinbeck's novel, there is so much foreshadowing that some critics feel he has over used the technique. As an example, Candy's dog and the circumstances surrounding its death are later repeated in the death of Lennie. The same technique is used when George warns Lennie very early to go back to the bushes by the pool if anything bad happens. This advice is repeated several times in other scenes, including Lennie's thoughts in the barn and later at the pool while waiting for George.
Overall, Steinbeck's novel is tightly structured and intentionally written in an arrangement that uses theatre conventions to produce unity and convey a message.
