How Steinbeck Portrays the character of Lennie & George in 'Of Mice & Men'

Part of Lennie’s character is being uneducated, and slow. Lennie is always forgetting important information. “Lenny looked timidly over to him.” “George?” Yeah, what ya want?” “Where we goin’, George?” “The little man jerked down the brim of his hat and scowled over at Lennie.” “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.(Page 4 of Mice and Men). As you can see this conversation of quotes proves many different points. First, it shows Lennie forgetting where him and George were

- "Go On, said Lennie. George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again…. Hows it gonna be George?" This quote shows that due to the mental disability of Lennie, he is not aware of what he has done, making Lennie think that George and him are going to have a new life (portraying the American Dream). Nevertheless, Lennie always tries to be nice to everyone but he really doesn't fit in the society properly during these ages; he kept petting the mice but he kept killing them, just like with the pup and later on with Curley's Wife (Irony) - "Let go, she cried, you let go! Lennie was in panic. His

Even though George sometimes says how much better his life would be without Lennie, he will always protect Lennie. George is devoted to watching out for Lennie. He is always telling Lennie not to talk because that will probably lead to trouble. If Lennie gets in trouble that will block the both of them from living their dream. So George is inspired to keep Lennie out of trouble.

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

<br>A reader can understand very vividly from his actions and attitudes that George is sensible and able to think quickly in a situation. He seems to have a very good understanding of the nature of others, especially of their attitudes towards Lennie, for example, that if the boss hears Lennie talk and realises his handicapped, then it is unlikely they will get work. He also knows, to make Lennie repeat things two or three times over to himself, to help him remember, for example when he slowly repeats, "Hide in the brush till I come for you, can you remember that?" to Lennie. He also knows that Lennie is likely to do things and attempt to hide them, such as when Lennie appears from his walk in the woods, and is immediately suspected of smuggling a dead

"Of Mice and Men" is a book about two men and their struggle to achieve their dream of owning a small ranch through their companionship. The two men are completely different, one being a retarded fellow (Lennie), and the other, a typical ranch hand(George) who travels with him. On the path to achieving their dream, they run into obstacles, but stick together, stressing the importance of true friendship. Steinbeck wrote this book to tell us how important it is to have a friend to share your life with.

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 a very misunderstood individual. He has some sort of mental issue that makes his life different than normal. Lennie has a thing for soft fluffy things, he likes to hold them and pet them. Most of the time these soft things end up dead which Lennie tries his hardest to keep from George when this happens. George once found a dead mouse in Lennie’s pocket that he had been keeping there for 3 whole days after it died (Lisca). Lennie is a giant of a man. He does not understand how much power he has. This causes a lot of the mistakes he makes. George is there most of the time to correct or stop Lennie from doing these things. There are sometimes when George is not there to stop him and Lennie gets them both into trouble. The two have had to move several times because of Lennie (McMurray). In fact every time they have had to leave a place was because of Lennie’s actions. There was one thing Lennie got them in and they could not run from it. Lennie was in the barn and Curley’s wife came in. He wanted to touch her hair and he ended up rubbing it too hard. She yelled for help and he wanted her to shut up so he

In the novella Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, the relationship between Lennie Small and George Milton is complex. Lennie and George are two companions who look for work and brave the hardships of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression together. Although Lennie and George are both grown men, their relationship resembles more of a child and a single parent, or a boy and his dog. Lennie is portrayed as animalistic and childish through his behavior and Steinbeck’s comparisons. This reveals the crucial power dynamic in George and Lennie’s relationship.

Lennie is compared to a child in demeanor and mental capacity. This means George lacks someone to collaborate, share thoughts, or express his feelings to. He often complains about their situation and a quotation of George’s from the text states, “Why, I could stay in a cat house all night” (Steinbeck 11). However, George doesn’t have sexual intentions when visiting the cat house. Instead, he feels very lonely and seeks a person in a similar social position as himself. On the ranch, most workers appear hostile and only care for themselves, preventing a chance of

Among the most prominent of Lennie’s sympathetic attributes is undoubtedly his frightened nature. This characteristic is conveyed consistently throughout the novel - even when Lennie loses his temper it is due to fear. His timidity is often due to being scared of displeasing George, who acts as Lennie’s father figure: ‘Lennie looked timidly over to him. “George?”’ Here, Lennie appears to be asking for permission from George to ask a question, for fear that George will be angry. This demonstrates Lennie’s timidity and lack of confidence, as well as his childishness and dependence on George.

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

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

Lennie and George have a stunning relationship throughout the story.The fact that George could just leave Lennie in Salinas River where he raped the the girl with the red dress,George could have just let him go to jail where nobody knows why he done that except George his only friend .Lennie Small is huge and lumbering and, in many ways, the opposite of George Milton. Where George has sharp features and definite lines, Lennie is "shapeless." Often he is described in terms of animals. He lumbers like a bear and has the strength of a bear, but his actions are often described like those of a dog.

“If he tangles with you, Lennie, we’re gonna get the can. Don’t make no mistake about that. He’s the boss’s son. Look, Lennie. You try to keep away from him, will you? Don’t never speak to him. If he comes in here you move clear to the other side of the room. Will you do that, Lennie?” (Steinbeck, pg. 29) John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is a tale about what it means to have a relationship. Steinbeck's story of George and Lennie's goal of obtaining their own ranch, and the challenges of reaching that goal, shows the nature of dreams, dignity, loneliness, and sacrifice. Lennie, the giant with mental issues who makes George's aim of owning his own ranch beneficial, ironically becomes the biggest challenge to achieving that goal. One of the most important characters in this story is George because he is different from all the other men of his time. The two words that best describe this character are bossy and diligent.