Lennie In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

There are more than 4.6 million people in the United States that suffer from intellectual disabilities. n the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck one of the main characters suffers from retardation.Lennie would have been better off in today's world than he was back in the 1930s.

Lastly, Lennie is relying on George all the time based on how he relates to George in the text. Lennie is always with George because they have a relationship like a mother and a son, Lennie's relations with George prove this. George has been with Lennie for a long time and George feels like Lennie has been holding him back. When George yells at Lennie he says, “When I think of the swell time I could have without you” (Steinbeck 12). This quote proves that Lennie has been with George for a long time, long enough to drive George into a rage of regret and sorrow. The reason they have been

George is one of people in the ranch that had big goals to achieve, but he couldn’t accomplish any of them because of Lennie. George taking care of Lennie affects his dreams in a big way because every time George gets closer to his dreams Lennie completely ruins it. In the story it states George saying “ dumb bastard likes to touch everything he likes”(steinbeck 41). This is very important because this shows how childish lennie acts. The most important thing to him was to have dreams to have a farm and his own place with Lennie. This quote “ we got a future “ (Pg . 14) shows that he had a dream worth living for. Another way George had gotten his dreams taken away was when Lennie killed their boss’s wife. I know that George was a very lonely person because in the story he talks about guys like him in the ranch . “ guys like us , that work on a ranch are the loneliest guys in the world” (Pg . 13). This is very important because it shows his feelings towards being lonely.

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.

Mice and Men is a fantastic novel that shows how hard it was in the times of the Great Depression. The difference between Lennie and George compared to the migrant workers is that they had each other. In the novel, it shows how George takes care of Lennie who has a mental disability. Most of the migrant workers wanted to achieve the success of the American Dream that was different for every American. Lennie and George too wanted to the euphoria of achieving their American Dream. Lennie and George’s dream was to own a ranch and live off the fatta of the land and for Lennie to tend the rabbits.

Without Lennie, George is relieved of stress and liability. George promised Clara, Lennie’s aunt, that he would take care of Lennie. Providing for Lennie was too much on George’s plate. It was more than he could handle. Often times George snapped. In chapter one, before arriving at their new job George vocalizes “God a’ mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy…I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shovin’ all over the country all the time. An’ that ain’t the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out”(11). Taking care of Lennie took a toll on George because, Lennie has a mental disability. Lennie restricts George of opportunity and a sense of ownership. Regularly moving from job to job due to Lennie’s wrong doings, George never could settle down. For instance, Lennie and George got fired from a ranch in Weed. George explains “Well, he seen this girl in a red dress. Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk...that girl rabbits in an’ tells the law she been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie.” Life without lennie simpifies life for george and protects other people and

Evidentially, George does not believe the dream will ever become reality as he rhythmically reels off the words to Lennie as a matter of habit rather than optimism. That said, it is clear that although George does not believe the dream will come true he is thankful to have Lennie by his side ‘somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us’ which perhaps implies that although Steinbeck presents the pair as victims, he also presents them as lucky in the fact that they have each other and care for each other enough to build a firm relationship. To Lennie the dream is all about the rabbits he intends to keep and pet, rather than an engine of hope which drives George to continue the struggle. Lennie excites in the idea that one day he will own a rabbit hutch ‘An’ have rabbits’ because he is unable to see further than his own desires, however George dreams of simplicities such as ‘how thick the cream is on the milk’ implying that all he would like is a stable home. Regardless of their differences in the importance of aspects included in the dream, their dream bonds them together in a shared goal which is to get a ‘stake’ so they can buy ‘a little house and a couple of acres.’ Many migrant workers shared in dreaming of a better future but had nobody to share it with as everyman was for himself, making George and Lennie’s relationship a rare occurrence.

Lennie’s obedience to George has led to life-threatening consequences. Lennie’s dependence has led to his despair and seclusion. Lennie converses with himself saying, “‘I’ll live there… so I won’t be no more trouble to George’” (Steinbeck 99). He views himself as a burden to George as he could not follow George’s directions. Lennie grasped the severity of his mistakes and the pain he may cause to George. He was disconsolate due to the idea of being rejected by George, therefore considered living

The human body is intruiging because it acts involuntarily and subconciously; thus, occasionally revealing our inner thoughts via movement. Involuntary and subconcious movement, such as fidgeting and licking one’s lips can divulge secrets. Likewise, John Steinbeck develops the word “ranch-hand” by revealing key components about each character within Of Mice and Men via hand description. Particularly, Steinbeck develops Lennie’s character by descriptive means.

Lennie is described with animal-like qualities many times throughout, Of Mice and Men. The first three times are found in the first chapter. At the time we first meet Lennie, he is being compared to a bear, "...and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws." I feel that this imagery is very important for the reader to see and be able to understand that Lennie, on his own is like an animal not truly knowing right from wrong, very simple and having a one track mind. In doing so, Mr. Steinbeck is controlling how we as the reader see and respond to Lennie and how much if any we will hold him accountable for his action.

How would one feel if they were stuck alone with someone? Would they grow to resent them or care for them? In Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, two men, George, a man with a dark face and restless eyes, and Lennie, an immense man with sloping shoulders, go to work on a ranch after having to leave home when Lennie touched a woman’s dress and she told the police it was rape. They make friends with other workers on the plantation. They are both strong workers, but Lennie, however, is considered “nuts” when he does some things that get him into a lot of trouble. George gets frustrated with Lennie and disregards him, but George really just wants a solitary life and is really nurturing toward Lennie.

Lennie small would be the other major character in John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”. He has often been described as the complete opposite of George Milton; while George’s features can be understood as sharp, Lennie’s , on the other hand, would be deemed “shapeless”. In addition, George’s physical stature has been described as small, and Lennie would be described as “huge and lumbering”. Lennie has been dehumanized by Steinbeck throughout the novel in his portrayal of Lenny’s animistic qualities. As a matter of fact, Steinbeck has described Lennie’s strength as that of a bear; he has been shown to lumber like a bear and his actions have been described as dog-like.

As a result of Lennies short attention span and absence of focus aside from the exception of lovely delicate soothing things, he gets into inconvenience either on the grounds that he doesn't listen to guidelines and does the opposite of what hes told, and/or in light of the fact that he doesn't listen to people, for example; Curley thinks he is being ignorant deliberately for instance “What the hell you laughin’ at?” Lennie looked blankly at him, “Huh?” Lennie was in his own particular minimal world thinking about rabbits as Curley got all up in his face as he thought Lennie was ridiculing him. Thus due to his moderate thinking capacity he can't recognize right from wrong, and as a result of this he doesn't know the outcomes of his actions,

Everyone has encountered someone who was very harsh, mean and cold hearted. Through that hard shell there is a warm hearted, loving, and caring human being. In the book Of Mice and Men Lennie is a character known as George's best friend , George is not always the best to Lennie he is the one who gets Georges cold hearted side. In the friendship of the two george is the more dominate, smart, and in charge one of the two. In that case lennie just sits back and lets George do all the talking and decision making. George has seniority over Lennie so he can take advantage of Lennie because thats all that Lennie really knows.

Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck is about two men known as George and Lennie, who have recently been run out of their town. They are homeless and start jobs at a ranch nearby where they meet many interesting people. George is very controlling and Lennie is kind of like his servant. Some may think of him being his servant because Lennie is not that bright, so George forces him to do everything he tells him to. Steinbeck was successful at making Lennie a sympathetic character because he cares for other humans and animals and he doesn’t mean any harm in his actions.