How Does Steinbeck Make Lennie A Sympathetic Character

In my opinion, Lennie Small is the most interesting character in Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck does a very good job describing and characterizing Lennie's personality. Lennie's character is, indeed, quite unique. A large man with enormous strength, yet kind and childlike, he seems to find joy in simple life pleasures like petting a furry animal and making the water ripple. Lennie's greatest difficulty seems to be remembering; and it is the lack of the ability to remember that ultimately leads to his tragedy at the end of the book. In the novel, Steinbeck seems to reinforce Lennie's characteristics of strength, kindness, childlike manner, and somewhat animal-like personality.

Both Lennie and George would be nothing without each other. Steinbeck clearly shows how important friends are and how they can support and help you in a number of different ways. Lennie needs George for basic survival and without him, Lennie’s life would not be very long. George on the other hand, needs Lennie for a purpose in life. The conclusion of the novel Of Mice and Men illustrates what life would be like for George and Lennie without the other.

Not every human is perfect, but there is a limit between natural flaws, and problems that could seriously get in the way of things, especially when it came to jobs during the Great Depression. George and Lennie both have their problems, but their problems are major, and can potentially cause them to lose their job. Everyone knows that George has a short fuse. That temper problem usually gets lashed out on Lennie. If George were to let that anger out on someone else other than Lennie, say Curley for

In Mice And Men, there are a variety of characters that have many different personalities. Some are mean, kind, and there are some that are just plain jerks. One character in particular that has a distinct personality in Mice And Men, is Lennie. Lennie is misjudged, underestimated, and treated unfairly just because he has a mental disability. Society and many different characters treat him differently in the book.

If you were mentally challenged and could not perform daily tasks like everybody else, would you want to be shamed and belittled to words such as ‘crazy’ or ‘retarded’? This was the situation for Lennie Small in the novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck. In the novel, Lennie works on a farm with his friend, George. George and other characters in the book trivialize and dismiss Lennie as crazy, instead of what he really was; mentally disabled with cases such as Autism, Asperger's, or even mild down syndrome. Lennie possess many characteristics that are very similar to those who have mental illnesses. Also, during the time that the novel Of Mice and Men was published, these illnesses

Everyone has had a caretaker or guardian to protect and care for them at some period in time. Developing into an adult is often times when a person becomes able to live independently. However, this is not the case for Lennie Small from the story, “Of Mice and Men” as a result of his disability. Being dependant on other people, Lennie needs a caretaker because of the lack of family to protect him. Someone without family relation, George, rises to the position as his caretaker in the harsh, unforgiving circumstances they have at the moment. Dreaming of a better future, George has to carry Lennie from job to job in order to eventually collect enough money to finally claim their land as their own. George has good, honest intentions for Lennie and only strives to give him the best conditions even if it meant he had to pull the trigger against him.

Lennie is the most sympathetic character in Of Mice and Men because he’s not very bright when it comes to things and happens to forget a lot. As George and Lennie are walking to go to a new ranch George asked Lennie

In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck makes Lennie a very sympathetic character because of his lack of intelligence, his kind heart and his large body type. In the book Of Mice and Men, 2 men Lennie and George search to find work so that one day they can accomplish the dream of owning a farm. Lennie and George go to do work on a ranch and they stay in a bunker with a couple other guys. Lennie and George's boss of the ranch is pretty tough on them and so is the boss's son Curley. Lennie and George hope that the dream of having their own plot of land will one day come true. Steinbeck was successful at making Lennie sympathetic because Lennie is A very affectionate person who does not like to hurt anyone and he really cares about other people.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about two men, George and Lennie who travel from ranch to ranch hoping to make enough money to buy their own land. Buying the land is what George and Lennie talk about constantly, this is in fact their American Dream. They have recently left a town called Weed because of an incident that happened there and are now heading to Soledad to work on another ranch. John Steinbeck was successful in making Lennie a sympathetic character because he portrays Lennie as a big strong muscular man that has basically no brain, so he doesn’t really know his own strength so when he hurts someone or does something bad you can’t really blame him.

After the death of Lennie, the ranch was not the same. The weather was in horrible conditions and crops weren't as good as before, everything was slowly dying. Everyone had separated from each other except for George and Slim, even though everyone saw each other they just went along with their day. It had been 6 days since Lennie's death and George was still empty inside and felt very lonely.

Steinbeck projects Lennie as a sympathetic character through his childlike characterization shown by his innocent actions and simple dialogue. In the first part of the book, George and Lennie are camping out by a river before they start their new job the following day. George scolds Lennie for being forgetful and reminds him that he shouldn't get in trouble at their new job. Lennie then put his hand in his pocket to check for the work card he doesn't have and George quickly notices that he has something in his pocket. When George then discovers that Lennie has a dead mouse in his pocket, he demands him to “Give it here”, but Lennie, responding like a child, begs to keep it saying, “Awe, leave me have it, George (Steinbeck 5).”Eventually, “Lennie’s closed hand slowly obey[s]” George's command and he gives up the mouse (Steinbeck 6). The fact that Lennie begged George to keep a dead mouse in his pocket just so he could pet it definitely shows his innocent childlike characteristic. The way he refuses to give it up makes the reader have sympathy for him since he is a grown man acting like a confused whiny child not understanding why he should

In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, he frequently compares Lennie to animals based on his behavior. He compares Lennie to dogs, bears, etc. For instance, on page 2, it states, “... and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.” To clarify, Lennie is obviously being compared to a bear, which means he acted in a way that no human would act. He would act correspondingly to an animal.

The author does a good job portraying Lennie as a sympathetic character by the actions that Lennie does. In the beginning of the text Lennie found a dead mouse. Lennie told George that the only reason he had the mouse was that petting the fur on the mouse was comforting to him. ( “I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along” Steinbeck pg 6) This shows the innocence of Lennie that brings you to sympathize towards Lennie. It shows the innocents that he justs needs something to comfort him like a teddy bear to a child that is nervous. It gets him in trouble because he does not need a dead mouse and that shows how frustrated George gets at him because he is so innocent. If he were to just act his age it would be a lot simpler.

Chapter 3 begins with Slim and George coming into the bunkhouse after a day's work. Slim had agreed to give Lennie one of his new born pups, and George thanks him, explaining that although Lennie lacks intelligence, his intentions are not harmful. Slim appreciates George’s compassion and friendship with Lennie, for he respects this rare occurrence of friendship among men. Within this conversation, Steinbeck further establishes George and Lennie’s relationship by having George tell a story of the two when they first met. He explains that after countless cruel jokes on Lennie, he finally comes to moral realization that it is wrong to take advantage of the weak. In this instance, Steinbeck contradicts the cruelty of the ranch workers. With examples of old dogs, weak newborn dogs, and even isolated disables, there are many instances where George and Lennie’s relationship are positive influences in this world of cruelty toward weaker beings.

In conclusion, Lennie, George, and Crooks are characters in which the readers of Of Mice and Men, can sympathize with. We all know someone like Lennie, slow on the draw and not very bright. I can relate to George, as he too had to watch over someone who was mentally disabled. And we definitely all know a Crooks, who is mad at the world for not being treated as an equal. So as a whole, crappy book, somewhat understandable