Character Analysis Of George Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Imagine if you had almost no money, only had 1 true friend, and one goal that you will do anything to achieve. That's the life of George and Lennie, two farm hands who are about to start working on a ranch in Salinas, California. It seemed like everything was going well for the two of them, or at least they thought it was. Steinbeck argues, throughout Of Mice and Men, that we as humans need to be able to comprehend the fact that the American dream is impossible, so when we fail at that, we won't fall as hard as we might if we had full faith in it, and he develops this stance using diction choices, imagery, and characterization.

Additionally, Steinbeck uses Lennie’s childlike behavior to show Lennie’s lack of intelligence. At first, Lennie’s naivety is subtle, but it changes throughout the course of the book, and he eventually gets into big trouble because of his lack of intelligence. Lennie is forgetful, like a child, and has little social etiquette. In Of Mice and Men on pg. 4, Lennie asks George, “‘Where we goin’, George?’” And George responds, “‘So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy bastard!’” Through this dialogue, Steinbeck shows that Lennie is so unintelligent that he must rely on George to remind him about everything. Additionally, on pg. 63, when

First of all, Lennie is childlike, the way he speaks you can tell he might have a speech impediment and the way he is always forgetting things makes him childlike. This characteristic makes people feel sympathetic for him. Because they feel bad he doesn't understand what going on and people get mad at him because of that. During the story, George always talks about how Lennie isn't the brightest but he's a great worker. On page 34 in Of Mice and Men George says "He ain't bright. Hell of a good worker, though. Hell of a nice fella, but he ain't bright.” His childlike trait causes George to get mad at him often. As you can see in the quote George is talking about how Lennie isn’t smart but is a very good worker. George was telling Slim this so Slim wouldn't yell at Lennie for forgetting things and not thinking clearly. Also, this characteristic makes it hard for him to build new relationships with other. It gets him into trouble a lot and doesn't help him. An example of one time he got in trouble in Weed he wanted to touch a girl's dress because he thought it looked soft and when he did she screamed, but he didn't let get because he was scared. That got him and trouble and chased out of his job. Being childlike works against Lennie, but it causes people to feel sympathetic for him.

Have you ever dreamed of becoming someone important or doing something exciting and memorable? Would you give up or refuse to let go of your dream until you achieve it? Has that obsessive under-minded your success? Many people have dreams that they want to accomplish, but there are obstacles individuals have to cross over in order to achieve their goals, such as facing reality. In the book of Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, the story is a tale of two drifters working from farm to farm, trying to make a living, and save some money to have their own place someday, which is their dream during the Great Depression. The characters face the hardships

At first, people see Lennie as a very strong and dumb character. But, Lennie is only child-minded and he doesn’t understand how strong he really is. For example, when George introduces Lennie, he says, “We kinda look after eachother. [...] He ain’t bright. Hell of a good worker, though. Hell of a nice fella, but he ain't bright,” (34). This quote shows that, many people, meeting Lennie at first, think that he is strong but not that smart. Ironically, despite him being a big guy, he can’t grasp on how strong he is. It shows that people think this way about Lennie when they meet him, but, unless they know him, he’s not that dumb. Just childish. Another example, is when Lennie breaks Curley’s hand, “But Lennie watched in terror the flopping little man whom he held. [...] George slapped him

In his novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses many characters to show his assertion that man is basically evil. When Curley’s wife confronts Lennie, Crooks, and Candy in Crook’s place, she notes that the others “left all the weak ones here” (77). The “weak” ones that Curley’s wife refer to all attack each other in a vicious circular firing squad. Crooks taunts Lennie about the possibility of George not returning, and takes “pleasure in his torture” as he “[presses] forward for some kind of private victory” (71). Curley’s wife calls Candy and Lennie “a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep” (78) and threatens to get Crooks “strung up on a tree” (81). Meanwhile, all the other characters are the ones that make those Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife feel “weak” because they are disabled mentally, disabled physically, black, and female, respectively. In this way, Steinbeck shows that all men are basically evil as they do not lend a hand to each other and instead simply attack and prey upon each other.

Lennie’s brute strength is one of the key elements in how Steinbeck foreshadows pivotal events in the novel. Firstly, George recounts the time where Aunt Clara gave Lennie pet mice in their younger days and George would “pinch their heads” and unfortunately die (page 11). Secondly, Lennie is sent to go pick up branches to fuel the fire (page 12). Thirdly, in the fight between Curley and Lennie, Curley’s hand is crushed by Lennie’s. Fourthly, the puppy dying from being petted too hard by Lennie and finally, Curley’s wife being killed through a broken spinal cord. These events support the idea that Lennie’s brute strength is his undoing and therefore proves that Steinbeck uses Lennie’s strength to foreshadow key events due to the fact that he harms nearly everything he touches and in most cases, he unintentionally kills it. This therefore gives a dark tone to the novel, with the constant theme of death lingering at every key event.

George solves most of Lennie’s problems that happens in Weed and on the California ranch. For example, George runs away with Lennie after the “rape” situation in Weed, and even ends up killing him on the California ranch so the other guys will not torture him to death. Lennie does not get to confront his actions or even explain his side of the story. Lennie does not to experience the negative side of his actions, causing him to maintain innocent. If George would have let him experience the effects of his actions, Lennie might have grown as a person. Also, his child-like mind could start to grow

“‘’Course he ain’t mean. But he gets in trouble alla time because he’s so God damn dumb. Like what happened in Weed---’ He stopped, stopped in the middle of turning over a card.” (p. 41) Lennie already got in trouble once and they had to run. George may love Lennie like a brother, but I doubt he would want to keep running. If it happened once it is more than likely it will happen again. Then George would never reach his dream. “‘Why do you got to get killed? You ain’t so little as mice. I didn’t bounce you hard.’” (p.85) And “Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand. ‘Leggo of him, Lennie. Let go.’” (p. 63) Lennie can break animals' necks just by petting them and can break bones in a man's body too. Lennie is too strong for his own good. He does not know how to control his strength either. It will cause more problems in the future and he does not remember things well, so he would keep making the same mistakes. It also could be worse every time he makes a mistake. “‘So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy bastard!’ ‘I forgot,’ Lennie said softly. ‘I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, George.’” (p.4) Lennie is a little kid in an adult's body. He doesn't have the ability to understand the things that

Crook’s characteristics go hand in hand with the portrayal of Social Injustice relating back to the fear of loneliness. He continuously faces countless hardships mainly because of the way the workers of the ranch treat him, unethically and selfishly. For example Steinbeck stated, a man will go crazy without anyone, without companionship; what is he to do with only books (Steinbeck 67)? As shown, he exhibits overall no authority; suggesting the emptiness Crook’s is put through all because of his skin color. However, he struggles with being optimistic because he believes he partakes no reason to do so. “You’re crazy, I see men just like you come and go with the same idea in their heads, you ain’t ever going anywhere with that dream” (Steinbeck 69). Along with that, the way Crook’s has been denied of happiness for nearly all of his life certainly influenced his view of the people around him. Regardless, being deemed upon as if you are no greater than an animal will definitely bring thoughts of hopelessness to your mind. "I could get you strung up on a tree so fast it ain't even funny"

but he accidentally forgot. This dialogue illustrates Lennie’s behavior perfectly. As a child does not act upon the request of their parent, Lennie forgets to listen to George. Lennie’s mental instability restricts him from being independent and self-determined. George constantly has to look out for Lennie so he does not cause trouble or harm to anyone.

How can we justify and condemn George’s actions at the end of the story. In the story of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters George had both condemned and understandable actions at the end of the story. I think George had a hard time shooting Lennie, but at the same time he had a semi-reasonable reason to shoot him. It was hard for him to shoot Lennie because the two of them had traveled everywhere together ever since they were young.

Another way, Steinbeck shows How Gorge is a true friend to lennie is through how reliable he is to Lennie. An example of this is Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife in the barn and accidently killed her, by him doing this it made all the workers want to kill him. But instead of them killing Lennie George went off and “pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again, Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand and lay without Quivering,” (106) This quote shows how Gorge is a true reliable friend because A true friend will do whatever they think is good for you. Just like how George went off and killed lennie, so that way he didn’t have to go through even more hell. This shows readers that

In life every boy reaches a time in life where they become a man. They become independent and self reliant, but in Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small never grows up. Lennie can often be compared to Forest Gump, as both men act foolish but they are rather loyal. Unlike Forest Gump, Lennie is rather dependent on George. Overall, Lennie is childish, loyal, and dependent.

Lennie paced around the room, pounding his fists on any wall he could find. With a sour face, he checked every nook and cranny between the page and the text for something taking on the form of a door. A way to escape.