Lennie Forgetfulness Essay

This is why Lennie isn’t violent. Whenever Lennie does something bad, he suddenly thinks back to George, not being violent, or the fact that he just hurt someone. This shows that he can’t help the things he does, he always needs someone looking after him. One example of this is on page 91, when Curley’s wife starts screaming: “Please don’t do that. George’ll be mad.”

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.

Throughout the novel, Lennie is put to the test against obstacles he has to overcome; he always turns to George for the right answer. Lennie trusts George to make the right decision for him. When Curley was fighting Lennie, Lennie was covering his face with his hand until George screams, “Get ‘im, Lennie” and instantly Lennie puts his hand on Curley and breaks the bones in his hand (Steinbeck 63). Lennie can’t think for himself and never truly means to be mean. Lennie doesn’t know how to control his own body, “He was so little… I was jus’ playin’ with him…an’ he made like he’s gonna bite me…an’ I made like I was gonna smack him… an’…an’ I done it. An’ then he was dead” (Steinbeck 87). In other words, it foreshadows that he is too strong for his own mind and that something potentially worse could happen. Sadly, George made the right decision for Lennie by killing him to prevent future suffering and

Lennie has his mind set on one thing. That is getting out of the barn and getting his own piece of land with George. This dream motivates Lennie to always listen and follow what George says. There he can finally tend the rabbits he has always wanted. Lennie loves petting things such as small animals and dresses which usually leads him to trouble.

His inability to control his own strength and his temptations of physical stimulation for soft things have caused him to get into series of trouble. Despite his inability to control himself and his low mental capability, he has the ability to recognize the morals of right and wrong. For example, when he accidentally kills Slim’s puppy, he understands that he did something wrong and knew the consequences, whereas he says “George ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits”. Since he has the knowledge and ability to distinguish right and wrong situations, he should have kept himself away from Curley’s wife when she tries to approach him. He should also have avoided touching Curley’s wife’s hair as he knew that George told him interacting with Curley’s wife is a wrongful action. He has a realisation that he did something wrong as he once said that “George gonna say I done a bad thing”. Unfortunately, he chose to silent Curley’s wife in wrong way, meanwhile, he accidentally kills and leading to the incident where George has to kill him before Curley does. Therefore Lennie is partly responsible for his own

Finally, John Steinbeck shows off the bullying and meanness as intentional and contrasts it to Lennie’s unintentional meanness, such as when he hurts the puppy (pg 85), the mouse (pg 5), and kills Curley’s wife (pg 91). When Curley wants to fight it is intentional and violent. George explains Lennie’s violence when he says that Lennie "never done it in meanness" (pg 104). Lennie kills because he does not know his own strength – he cuddles or loves to hard. Also, he panics and reacts without thought, such as when he pulled the woman’s dress. (pg 41) Also, showing a contrast in motive is that Lennie is so upset by what he has done, especially to Curley’s wife. He is the only one who shows real remorse.

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

The author continually exemplifies the negative effects of dreams and hopes, specifically the “American Dream” throughout the book. This dream can also be explained by an individual overcoming all obstacles and beating all odds to one day be successful. However, in the setting of Of Mice and Men, it interprets more commonly in relation to owning land, leading a better and richer life, and living an independent lifestyle. Steinbeck uses Of Mice and Men to show how although the

John Steinbeck’s simple-minded, static character Lennie is apposite to the universal theme of the American dream. He has merely one desire; the desire to tend to rabbits on the homestead he independently owns with George. Throughout the novel, he repeatedly expresses this fervid aspiration. For instance, as George discusses his respective dream, Lennie enthusiastically interjects with, “An’ live of the fatta the lan’...An’ have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages (Steinbeck 46).” Although this single anecdote effectively represents Lennie’s eagerness to achieve his dream, the reiteration of this desire causes it to gain greater intensity. This is shown upon Lennie’s first dinner at the ranch, when he inquires, “George, how long’s it gonna be till we get that little place an’ live on the fatta the lan’—an’ rabbits? (93)” This quote exemplifies Lennie’s manifestation of his hope and desperation in relation to achieving his dreams. However, Lennie’s dream remains unfulfilled because of the conflicting reality present that results from the occurrence of the Great Depression. Specifically, the emplacement of great economical strains upon workers hinders his ability to own and maintain homesteads due to the lack of money. The premise of a better life keeps him hopeful throughout the novel.

Lennie enjoys mice and always captures them, but always ends up killing them by accident. Lennie doesn’t intend to do this and doesn’t realize it’s wrong. He eventually ends up killing Curley’s wife without actually meaning to. This causes Curley to become angry and George to realize that something needs to be done to stop Lennie. “I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im”(Steinbeck 98). This shows that Lennie killing Curley’s wife really did make Curley mad, and if George didn’t kill Lennie himself, Curley was going to. Without realizing it, Lennie makes people upset or mad because of things he doesn’t know are wrong. George killing Lennie was an option because either he had to get it over with or Curley was going to take it upon

The only way George knew how to deal with him was letting roam around unsupervised .The day Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife, he is left all alone, unattended while George and the other guys play horseshoes this . He could have stopped the event from ending so badly if he just let Lennie watch them play or give him a small thing to do to keep him distracted keeping his eyesight. George may care for Lennie, but he fails to keep him safe . An example is when Curley out anger and embarrassment punches Lennie over and over in the gut and the stomach instead of helping Lennie, he just sits back and tell him to fight back. This shows how he would rather prove a point of him being able to fight his own battles then actually helping him out of danger. On one hand Lennie was able to squeeze his hand and subdued him, but on the other hand Lennie is not mentally an adult is severely mentally challenged and has a huge

Lennie is an innocent, unknowing of what's going on around him type of person. All he really knows is that he likes things that feel soft and that is what ends up getting him kill. He is so focused on not having George mad at him and not letting him tend to the rabbits that he accidentally kills Curley's wife. “"Don't you go yellin'," he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”(xx) Lennie just killed Curley's wife and he has done a lot of bad things but never murdered someone. This is the last straw for George and when he hunts him down in the woods, he kills Lennie because he is at a loss of hope for Lennie. Lennie has a tendency to kill small animals by accident and

After reading the novel, Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck, I felt relieved and shocked. The novel ends with George shooting Lennie in the head because he killed the bosses sons wife. Lennie was born with a mental disability causing him to look up upon George. When Lennie killed Curry’s wife, a whole lynch mob was on the look out for him. George saw no other choice but to take Lennie out of his misery. I felt relieved because it wasn't the first time Lennie had caused a scene, previously they had to leave town because of an incident Lennie had caused. George already knew Lennie could not control himself and some point he couldn't try to control Lennie forever. In the last chapter is states “George still stared at Curley’s wife. “Lennie never done it in meanness,” he said. “All the time he done bad things, but he never done one of ‘em mean.” He straightened up and looked back at Candy. .. He said sharply, “I ain’t gonna let ‘em hurt Lennie.” George loves Lennie unconditionally, this makes him choose to kill Lennie

Lennie is unquestioning in his loyalty to George. We see this in George’s anecdote about the Sacramento River. “‘Jump in.’ An’ he jumps”(P66) Lennie has a childlike obedience. Steinbeck shows us this in the fight between Lennie and Curley. Earlier on, George tells Lennie to not fight with Curley, Lennie remembers this and due to his childlike obedience, his “hands remained at his sides; he was too frightened to defend himself.”(P91). Once George tells Lennie to “Get him”(P91), Lennie immediately crushes Curley’s hand completely. Most mature people would know whether they should break the rules or not, because they wouldn’t get as badly hurt, but with Lennie, it is a different story. It is this childlike obedience that Steinbeck uses to show us how George needs to act as a parent towards Lennie.

When we try to chase our dreams, we end up in our own diminutive lonely world. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, has taught readers that the American dream can only ever be accomplished through hard work and determination. More times than others, we are distracted by the dream itself, and don’t chase the reality, which can then lead to high expectations, and without hard determination, that can then failure. In the end, we have been lonely for so long, chasing a dream, that when reality hits us, we become isolated and lonely. For George and Lennie, they have each other, until the American dream seemed too hard to chase.