How Does Steinbeck Present Lennie Small

Lennie symbolizes ignorance. More specifically, he is the American dream. Lennie is an inadequate thinker, and more importantly, has little common sense. In this section of the book, Lennie killed a pup by playing with it too harsh, his ignorance and stupidity doesn't help: “Why do you got to get killed? You ain't so little as mice. I didn't bounce you hard” (Steinback 85). This justifies Lennie’s ignorance. Lennie's mind troubles to process little everyday issues, therefore, he has to have George to help him survive in a society of snobs. He’s incapable of doing things on his own, George is his mind and tells him everything of what to say and do. Lennie went back and looked at Curley’s dead wife. The puppy lying close to her. Lennie picked

Lennie’s inability to think for himself and know the difference between right and wrong is most apparent in his actions when he talks. Even though Lennie’s physical strength makes him appear to be a person of power, his physical strength is the only form of power that he possesses. Lennie is constantly powerless against his mind’s perception that limits him to behave in a child-like manner against the consequences of his actions. For example, he knows that he needs to act correctly and does not want to do bad things, however he lacks the mental capability of an adult that lets him differentiate what’s right from wrong causing him to rely on George for protection and guidance.

Lennie is one of the most prejudged characters in the novella. Throughout the novella, Lennie is perceived as uneducated and insane, while showing traits of autism. While there is no official evidence to prove he is autistic, he shows traits such as; difficulty in social interactions, communication and over sensitive. Lennie functions in a similar way to a child through the way he speaks, acts and thinks. Other characters treat him differently as a result, and not always in a positive way. While Curley’s wife is less flirtatious and more paternal, her

For George, relying on Lennie is a handful. Lennie’s personality is different from other characters in the novel. From the way he talks and behave, Lennie sounds like a person who uses their left brain a lot. From what it looks like from chapter one, Lennie is a person who forgets things easily. George is there to help him remember and tell him what is right and wrong.

Lennie is a pivotal character as he is the literal demonstration of how a person can be both bad and good. Lennie is immediately shown as childlike when he hides the dead mouse from George on the walk to the ranch. ‘I ain’t got nothing George. Honest’ said Lennie which also shows his love for soft little things which is common amongst children, this is exemplified by the many animal connotations throughout. An example of this is when ‘Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water’. This is imagery of a bear which references the size and strength of Lennie but his lack of intelligence. He is very simple-minded and cannot even remember his own Aunt Clara. Being such a simpleminded person, Lennie does not comprehend the intricacies of laws in society like the majority of people do. Lennie depends on George to lead and guide him and to show him what’s right and wrong. We learn that Lennie tries to be good and repeatedly asks George to hear the dream of the rabbits and their planned simple life on a farm but when Lennie is met with a situation like with Curley’s Wife in the barn, he is unable to fight his evil actions because he himself does not understand nor realise that they are evil. Furthermore, he is incapable of distinguishing the difference

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

With Lennie, the reader feels compassion for him during the majority of the book rather than just during specific instances. From the very beginning of the book, it is no secret that Lennie exceedingly unintelligent, especially when it comes to other humans and the way that they act. It is made very clear that Lennie has a learning disability. He definitely struggles with maturity, and as a result he is in trouble or being yelled at quite a bit, even though he is the sweetest most kindhearted man. He is full of tenderness, however his strength and inability to understand it causes him to be quite reckless at time and even accidentally kill small creatures. One specific time where the compassion the reader may feel is skyrocketing is during one encounter with Curley, the boss’s son. From the moment they first met, Curley didn’t like Lennie in the slightest. So when Lennie was just chuckling when Curley was being made fun of (and not actually participating in the name calling), Curley took the opportunity to attack Lennie. Lennie tried to fall back. He tried to stay out of the fight and not get in any trouble, but no matter how hard he tried, Curley came at him with a punch straight to the nose. Lennie’s face was smeared in his own blood, but didn’t lay a hand on Curley. He cried and pleaded for George to make him stop, but Curley did not stop. The compassion and sympathy the reader feels

Lennie’s is described as being soft and not very tough (6).And is described by slim as a very attentive and straight forward guy as “He ain’t mean, I can tell a mean guy a mile off”(42) And witch these by this quote of the book “George gonna wish he was alone an’ not have me botherin’ him’’ (100). This truly confirms lennies inner guilt and turmoil about bothering George and holding him back. And because of these problems with his confidence and his constant insecurities when it comes to his friendship with george and

Finally, Lennie is a very sympathetic which makes him really nicely. Lennie always makes friends and when he accidentally does something he shows lots of sympathy towards it like when he killed a mouse he would still pet or make a grave for it. Lennie being sympathetic allow him to be really nice to people and living things, but it makes him do stupid things because of

Lennie has a good heart, but there is another side to his personality. He has a mental disability and is unaware of when he is causing harm to others. Several of Lennie’s crimes are mentioned in the book, the worst ending in the death of Curley’s wife. After killing Curley’s wife, Lennie seems bewildered and whispers, “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing” (Steinbeck 473). Lennie’s ill-behaved actions are nothing new to him; however, he never learns his lesson. George is always pulling Lennie out of the holes Lennie digs for himself. There is nothing George can do to help Lennie this time; he commits a sickening crime. What if Lennie continues to injure others and can’t be controlled? Lennie is a dangerous, powerful criminal, and George is able to end the possibility of another life being damaged or

He is also like a child, waiting for George to answer for him and is mentally handicapped, with no ability to understand some words. Basically, Lennie is focused around George, just like a dog to it’s master. He always thinks about what George will do to him if he does something wrong. When Curley was looking for his wife, he saw Lennie still grinning about the memory of the farm so he began to attack the big guy. Lennie had no idea what was going on, so he just put his hands up to defend himself.

He never learns his lesson and one day kills Curley’s wife which leads him to his own death. If Lennie had cared a little more about his own responsibility for the things he possessed then he could have been the caretaker of the rabbits on the farm George and him planned to purchase.

Man found dead shortly after killing woman A woman was found in the stables of her husband’s ranch a few miles south of Soledad lying half covered by hay, her neck broken. According to witnesses, it was immediately assumed that one Lennie Small was the culprit, due to his size and tendency to violent outbursts. Because of this assumption the men of the ranch, following the boss and husband of the womans orders, grabbed weapons and went out looking for Lennie Small. Lennie Small was killed soon after this by George Milton, who shot him in the back of the head at the banks of a river.

He has a huge heart, and nothing but good intentions. He wouldn’t want to hurt a fly, but he ends up hurting everyone he touches. To say Lennie is misunderstood is an understatement. He lives a life hidden under his infirmities. In the story, Curley despises Lennie due to his large size.

I do think George’s actions in the last scene was necessary because Lennie was not going to get better moreover, would of got worse as he aged. Yes, Lennie did not mean to do all the things he did like back in weed and killing the puppy he got. The only reason he killed Curley’s Wife was because she allowed Him to touch her curls knowing Lennie was somewhat dangerous. She started to get feisty when she thought he was going to mess her hair up. Lennie got scared because George would of yelled at him for touching her hair or even talking to her. Lennie stated “ George gonna say I done a bad thing. He ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits.” (Lennie Page 91). He was scared and George did what he had to do. In my opinion, it was better for George