How Does Steinbeck Create Sympathy In Of Mice And Men

George uses his relationship with Lennie to preoccupy himself and, to a certain extent, to dissociate himself from the reality of the situation. George’s transience forces him to put a great deal of energy and time towards Lennie and his own internal dilemma about what to do with Lennie. This causes George to lack proper relationships and delay creating new ones. George’s relationship with Lennie seems to be more obligatory or habitual as he states, “‘When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin’, Got kinda used to each other after a little

The story “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is one of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature. “Of Mice and Men” is about two characters George and Lennie. George is very smart, but short. Lennie on the other hand is the complete opposite. He is big and has a mind of a child. In “Of Mice and Men” George and Lennie have a dream to own a piece of land somewhere in California. In this story Lennie is being made sympathetic by Steinbeck so, then the story is more relatable. Steinbeck is doing this by showing Lennie to have some mental problems and also to make him act like a child in a manly ranch in California.

In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Lennie and George have both similarities and differences that are revealed throughout the storyline. These comparisons and contrasts are used to explain their unique friendship and dependency on one another. The story begins with the description of their physical and intellectual differences and establishes their roles of who is the dominant one. The story shares the obstacles that have stood in the way of them obtaining their “American Dream” to own land, even if they if they have different motivations. The story concludes with the difficult choice that George makes to end Lennie’s life himself, out of his love for his friend.

Over the course of the novella, George’s attitude towards Lennie changes from impatience, controlling, to sympathy.

Another one of Lennie's character traits is that he is reliant. Lennie demonstrates this trait various times in the book because he relies too much on George. One of the times when Lennie is reliant is when he relies on George to tell him what to say. George tells Lennie what to say because they think if their employer knows about what Lennie did in the other town he might not want them around. In this case Lennie relies on George to tell him what to say because George and Lennie want the job, so in case Lennie messes up George can cover for him. Lennie is also reliant when he and George are by the Salinas River and they are camping out. “Lennie just stood there while George gathered the food and fire wood” (page 12). This is important because Lennie relies on George to provide food and warmth. A final example of why Lennie is reliant is when George tells Lennie that he can’t ever talk or make any contact with Curley’s wife. “She said

George and Lennie have a very interesting relationship. George acts as a parent to Lennie all of the time. George exhibits many qualities as a parent such as protecting Lennie, instructing him, and loving him. Lennie is unable to make basic decisions in everyday life.

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck succeeded in making Lennie a sympathetic character. What makes him a sympathetic character is his childlike, kind, and unintelligent. Of Mice and Men is about two men, George and Lennie who are just arriving at their new job after getting kicked out of their last job. They arrive at their job searching for their American Dream. To be able to live on their own piece of land with their own harvest and their own animals. The second man Lennie is a big man who doesn’t understand how strong he is. He’s not the brightest and his kind, childlike features make you want to root for him. When things don’t go his way you feel bad for him. Steinbeck does a great job of making you feel sympathetic for Lennie

I could also notice when I was reading through the first chapter that George has a sense of authority over Lennie, “you gonna get that wood”. This is like a parent telling a child to do his chores. On some occasions though George shows a bit of hatred towards Lennie, he thinks of what he could have if Lennie wasn’t around and contrasts that with George.

Have you ever felt compassionate towards someone or something? Maybe even had a dream you strived for? In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck displays compassion through main character, George Milton, by having him take care of Lennie and being kind to him. George has dreams of being independent and having his own farm. George shares this dream with Lennie who is easily excited about the idea of tending the rabbits. George is happy when he can please Lennie and is nice to him rather than being cruel to him. Compassion is being fully present with someone no matter the circumstances of his or her life. George watches over Lennie, always stays with him even if he is slower and gets into trouble, and George takes care of him.

In John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men we are introduced to two main characters, Lennie and George. In the book, George acts like the leader of the two men. In that sense, Lennie is viewed more so as the incapable one in the group. Lennie also can’t seem to remember anything that’s important to George and their life together which makes Lennie a character that readers feel sympathy towards. Lennie also looks up to George which makes him the more vulnerable character because he feels that he need permission from George if he wants to do something. Since Lennie is described as such and innocent character, John Steinbeck made the reader feel sympathetic to Lennie.

The personality of George and Lennie are demonstrated by the use of different verbs and adverbs. Typically, the descriptive words used towards Lennie demonstrate his absence of maturity. For example, when Steinbeck mentions “dabbled,” “shapeless,” and “timidly,” he is trying to display Lennie’s indecision and hesitation when it comes to dealing with struggles, conflicts, or anything. On the other hand, Steinbeck uses adverbs such as, “sharply” and “gently,” which suggests the fact that George thinks deeply before he speaks or takes action. Overall, the reader is able to surmise, that Lennie still has state of mind where he requires the care of an adult, in this case, George. In addition, Lennie looks up to George as a role model because he believes if he emulates what George does, he will not land in

George is the type of person who is temperamental and combative, but also very compassionate. He is also extremely insensitive to Lennie’s mental disability which allows his aggravation get a hold on him. One of George’s imperfections is he does not have much tolerance with Lennie. One example of this in the book is in the beginning of the novel when George and Lennie were going to the

George, a main character in the novel, often displays characteristics of an archetypal caregiver to support the main message. When Lennie

Although George traveled with Lennie throughout his life he is not able to call him a friend more than a child. Due to mental disabilities and the death of his Aunt Clara, George has taken the role of caregiver towards Lennie because he knows

Sympathy means feeling, showing, or expressing pity. Words don’t always have the power to hurt you, unless the person who said it, means the world to you. In Of Mice and Men there are three characters that showed sympathy throughout the book. As the reader begins to read a few chapters of the book, the reader will realize that Lennie was one of the characters that deserved the most sympathy. A reasoning for that is because as the reader reads a few pages of the first chapter, the reader will get to know a lot about him. He was described as a giant men, with a mind of a child. For an example ; He carries a dead mouse and begins petting it. If the reader thinks about it, no mature people would do such a thing. Another example I found in the book would be when George and Lennie were walking, George says “In a single file down the path,stay behind the other.” (pg 2) Which tells that he isn’t mature enough yet to look after himself. In the book Lennie’s known as a mentally disabled guy, that can’t live independent, or be on his own.