How Steinbeck Creates Two Contrasting Characters In Beginning Of Mice and Men

Throughout Of Mice and Men, George never leaves Lennie’s; however, George does not seem to like being around Lennie: it is a responsibility he accepts. In one scene at the beginning of the book, George grows intensely frustrated with Lennie and begins a lecture which leads into a one-sided fight. They settle down for the night next to a river, when one insignificant question from Lennie sets George over the edge. He chides Lennie about how he holds him back instead of pushing him forward, and rants, “‘You can’t keep a job and you lose me every job I get. Jus’ keep me shovin’ all over the country all the time. An’ that ain’t the worst. You get in trouble’” (11). As George berates Lennie, he gives the impression that he does not enjoy being with Lennie and instead, treats Lennie like he is an unintelligent child and grudgingly takes him in. If George claims to be a suitable friend of Lennie,

Lennie is mentally disabled and so always ‘does bad things’, because of this, he constantly depends on George to protect him and get him out of trouble. For example, in Weed, Lennie constantly ‘wants to touch

The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck is set in America in the 1930’s and it describes the lives of migrant farmers as they go from farm to farm looking for jobs. It also shows the loneliness of the characters and the hard work that they put in. The main characters of the book are Lennie, a man-child, and George, a small man but very powerful character that takes care of Lennie in their journey. Also when they get to the farm they meet the bosses wife who is very lonely and looks for company in the workers. Steinbeck uses characterization to bring his characters to life using various techniques.

In California during the Great Depression, Lennie Small and George Milton are two ranch workers going from job to job with the dream of saving enough money to purchase their own land to “live on the fatta the land”. As events unfold in the novel, George, Lennie, and other characters such as Candy and crooks reveal how their own hopes and

George takes care of Lennie many ways. George has taken care of Lennie for a long time. George took him under his wing even though he didn’t need to. George genuinely cares for Lennie. He feeds him, makes sure he is safe, also he gives him hope. George is constantly watching Lennie. George is a good friend to Lennie; however, George gets annoyed with Lennie very easily. He does this to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble or lost. He never leaves him by himself. This is shown when Lennie offers to leave, but George tells him “I want you to stay with me Lennie”(Steinbeck 104). George really cares for Lennie.

The long, hard war of human equality in society, has been a war since the beginning of civilization. The Great Depression, a tragic time in America’s history, reflects American determination, but also social inequality. In the fiction novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses symbolism and characterization to address ableism and sexism in society. Steinbeck addresses these flaws in society in an attempt to ultimately bring awareness these riffs before society falls.

One of the main reasons that we feel sympathy for Lennie is because he is intellectually disabled. He hasn’t the ability to learn or remember much, he cannot live independently, he needs to have someone to look after him and make sure he doesn’t step out of line or get in to trouble, this person happens to be George, we feel sympathy for him for having Lennie tied to him, Lennie also feels Sympathy for George and cannot bear to see George angry at him, George says to Lennie in the first chapter “god a’ mighty, if I was alone I could live so easily. I could get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at al, an when the end of the month come I could take my fifty buck and go into town and get whatever I want” and Lennie says” George if you want I should go away and leave you alone “ which tells us that he also feels sorry for George.

At this point in the novel, we have heard George mention twice that his life would be improved without Lennie. However, George still seems to feel a need to look out for Lennie. That said, he protects Lennie from conflict by explaining to everyone they meet that he is just a “big kid”.

Lennie’s mental disability is one of his most defining traits of how he tends to forget everything. The origin of his mental disability is unclear but his mind seems to be like a two year old and forget everything. George seems to stick around Lennie because he cares for him but most importantly for his disability. In the first chapter when Lennie and George are settling down by the

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 disability is one of the main reasons he struggles in life, but Georges companionship keeps him sound. George gets frustrated often, but tends to give Lennie slack when he makes

John Steinbeck in his novel, Of Mice and Men, uses the conflict between Curley’s wife and Lennie to emphasize Lennie’s rash character. Steinbeck uses the conflict between Curley’s wife and Lennie to highlight Lennie’s rash character. While stroking Candy’s wife’s hair, “Lennie was in a panic… She screamed then, and Lennie’s other hand closed over her nose and mouth” (91). Curley’s wife was scared that her hair was going to be messed up, so she screamed for him to stop. That gave Lennie flashbacks to Weed and he did not want to get in trouble again. This is a reflection of the event in Weed where Lennie got accused of raping a girl and how he had to move town with George. This highlights his rash character because he has gotten in trouble before

George sees possible complications in the future and gives Lennie advice about what he must do in order to help their future. While George can be rational, he also gets frustrated and angry with Lennie because he can’t control his strength. An example being when Lennie killed the mouse and kept it in his pocket and lied to him about having it there "What'd you take outa that pocket?", "Ain't a thing in my pocket”. George's anger quickly goes away when he remembers Lennie's innocence and that he can’t remember things clearly.

In the book “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck describes a world where the American Dream was all about helping others and keeping others safe. Steinbeck paints a very visual picture of looking out for your family in America in 1930. In the book “Of Mice and Men” Steinbeck reveals a very crucial ending. In the book Steinbeck tells us about Crooks. Crooks is so named because of a crooked back caused by a kick from a horse. Crooks is the stable hand who takes care of the horses and lives by himself because he is the only black man on the ranch. But Crook has been so beaten down by loneliness and prejudicial treatment of that he is now suspicious of any kindness he receives.

He knows that George isn't going to hurt him but he knows that George is going to be mad at what Lennie had done. When he says that ¨I've knew George since- I forget when- and he ain't never raised his han' to me with a stick. He's nice to me. He ain't gonna be mean." Since he is always nice to Lennie since he met him. I know that he is always have been nice to him because when his aunt appeared in front of him and she even said "He been doin' nice things for you alla time. When he got a piece of pie you always got half or more'n half. An' if they was any ketchup, why he'd give it all to you." Lennie probably thinks that George would end up forgiving him like before they had arrived Lennie had gotten into trouble and was getting accused of