Lennie Mental Illness

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.

In the first place, George shows how he cares for Lennie by bargaining with him by allowing Lennie to tend to the rabbits if he stays out of trouble. In chapter 1, George shows pride and encouragement toward Lennie by telling Lennie that he might be able to tend to the rabbits after all. ""Good Boy! That's fine, Lennie! Maybe you're getting' better. When we get that coupla acres I can let you tend the rabbits all right."" (Steinbeck 15) George exclaimed. With this selection you can see that George tries to encourage Lennie to keep remembering and listen to him. George and Lennie have been together for a while so their bond has strengthened over time, George shows compassion toward Lennie multiple times in the book.

Lennie never does anything without the consent from George. He knows he has to listen to George, If he doesn't he knows he will end up in trouble like he did while picking weeds. In all the trouble that Lennie gets in, he doesn't do it on purpose. Lennie has a good heart and never means to hurt anyone. His mental disability causes all his action.

John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men follows the journey of two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, who struggle through the navigation of working on a ranch in California and fulfilling their dreams together during a time of financial depression. The novel begins with George and Lennie traveling through the California wilderness to get to a new ranch just south of Soledad where they are going to begin new work. They had to leave their previous jobs in a town called Weed because Lennie had caused trouble with a girl by holding on to her red dress because he wanted to feel it, and this incident spiraled into rape allegations against Lennie. As George and Lennie make their way to the new ranch, Lennie; who is a large, but simple minded man; found a dead mouse and wanted to keep it to pet because he likes soft things. George, who is more serious and protects Lennie, takes the mouse away from him because even though it’s dead, he should not be messing with it. Lennie often does not realize his strength because of his mental incapabilities and as a result, he causes a lot of trouble and harm. George finds taking care of Lennie to be taxing, but he knows that their friendship is an important bond that he does not want to be without. In order to comfort Lennie in the wilderness, George tells the story of their shared dream to own their own ranch where they can follow their own rules and live as they please. When they finally arrive at the ranch the next day, George and Lennie

Lennie is dim witted but still has conscious when he first got to the ranch he decided not be acquainted with Curly and instead take a liking to Candy. George and Candy say that George say that Lennie is just some dumb person who doesn't know at he's doing. Mostly, Lennie dreams about having different colored rabbits and in doing so it takes him away from the real world. John Steinbeck portray Lennie as this person who has a compulsive need to have rabbits. On page 28 Lennie said "An' rabbits," Lennie said eagerly. "An' I'd take care of 'em. Lennie's obsession for Rabbits affects the story because he's so fixated on them he has so little awareness is in the book with very little thought or comprehension of anything else. Lennie's obsession with rabbits doesn't affective his relationship with the character that much except with George, whenever they start or have a conversation it almost always comes back to Lennie bringing up the farm with a place for the rabbits and how he would get to feed them. Lennie's personality is severely hindered by the fact that he wants rabbits so much because he just doesn't have the want or urge to make friends or talk to people besides the case with accidentally running into the stable boy.

Another one of Lennie's character traits is that he is reliant. Lennie demonstrates this trait various times in the book because he relies too much on George. One of the times when Lennie is reliant is when he relies on George to tell him what to say. George tells Lennie what to say because they think if their employer knows about what Lennie did in the other town he might not want them around. In this case Lennie relies on George to tell him what to say because George and Lennie want the job, so in case Lennie messes up George can cover for him. Lennie is also reliant when he and George are by the Salinas River and they are camping out. “Lennie just stood there while George gathered the food and fire wood” (page 12). This is important because Lennie relies on George to provide food and warmth. A final example of why Lennie is reliant is when George tells Lennie that he can’t ever talk or make any contact with Curley’s wife. “She said

On Page 20, George explains why Lennie acts like a harmful kind of guy. No one believes George so he tells the story on why they had to skip town in Weed. Lennie saw a girl in a red dress walking down the street. When Lennie sees silky or soft things he likes to pet them, so he went up to the girl and grabbed her dress and the girl got scared so she started to scream. Lennie didn’t mean to hold on so tight but the girl screaming scared him so he held on even tighter. George saved Lennie and got him out of there and hid in a ditch. A couple days later, they ended up skipping town. This shows how Lennie acts like a violent type of guy. His personality and how he acts towards people who don't make him mad shows how harmless of a guy he can be. He almost seemed like a shy person who wouldn't even kill a fly. Once someone scares him like scream or yells at him, he becomes mad and holds on even tighter and won't let go until the thing or person will stop moving. Another way that Lennie acts violent in the book was on page 45 when Lennie and Curley's wife talking in the barn. Lennie acted hesitant at first because George saw she can act like a bad lady but Lennie didn’t think so. He petted the puppy and it kept squirming so he shook it and killed it but didn't mean to. Curley's wife helped him calm down and she talked about how soft her hair felt so she let Lennie touch it.

He can rarely think for himself and make his own decision. “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you were by yourself” (Steinbeck, p. 14). George does not trust lennie to live by himself. He thinks Lennie would not be able to hold his own and get a job. George is sympathetic towards lennie so he lets lennie stay with him. Lennie Would make a mistake like touching a girl for too long and hurting her which would cause everyone to run after him and he could not do that without George. This makes us sympathetic toward george because he makes bad decisions and gets himself into a lot of

Although Lennie has the mental capacity of a child, he is innocent to doing anything wrong to George. George just seen him as a potential threat.

    George took Lennie in after Lennie’s aunt died. George knew his aunt pretty well. Lennie had nowhere to go afterwards, so George let Lennie come along with him. George wasn’t always nice to Lennie in the beginning. George would tease him and trick him. Lennie didn’t know any better than to listen to George, even if it was a taunt. After an incident happened to Lennie, George stopped tormenting him. He felt bad for Lennie and how he treated him. From this moment on, George actually took into consideration of Lennie’s mindset. In the book, Steinbeck writes,

Lennie Small is a character that readers are drawn to right from the beginning of the book. His innocence stands out from the grimey coverings of loneliness and hopelessness that the other characters wear. The reason Lennie is so innocent is because he has a mental handicap, one that prevents him from understanding complex human emotions such as guilt, or concepts such as death. In addition Lennie has trouble remembering things, “" I tried and tried [to remember]...but it didn't do not good." Consequently, Lennie has trouble fitting in with society. Ultimately his mental disability is what leads to Lennie's demise at the end of the book. Another trait that is an essential part of Lennie's innocent character is his devotion to his closest friend George. In fact, the only times Lennie is shown to be angry is when George is insulted or threatened. When Crooks, the crippled, black, stable hand, implies bad things about George, this devotion is clearly shown. “Suddenly Lennie's eyes centered and grew quiet, and mad. He walked dangerously toward Crooks. 'Who hurt George?' he demanded" When it comes to George, Lennie would deviate from the normal passive motives of his persona. More support can be found when George is the only one who can convince Lennie to “get him[Curly]” when Curly attacks him, as well as being the only one to stop him. Perhaps the most prominent support for Lennie's childlike innocence is in his utter belief of George and his dream. No matter how

In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck makes Lennie a very sympathetic character because of his lack of intelligence, his kind heart and his large body type. In the book Of Mice and Men, 2 men Lennie and George search to find work so that one day they can accomplish the dream of owning a farm. Lennie and George go to do work on a ranch and they stay in a bunker with a couple other guys. Lennie and George's boss of the ranch is pretty tough on them and so is the boss's son Curley. Lennie and George hope that the dream of having their own plot of land will one day come true. Steinbeck was successful at making Lennie sympathetic because Lennie is A very affectionate person who does not like to hurt anyone and he really cares about other people.

Throughout the novel Lennie is shown as innocent. When he is told by George he could eat if there was food for him, Lennie responds by saying “But I wouldn’t eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it”

Lennie is talking to himself because he is in a current state of panic from killing Curley’s wife and he remembered to hide in the brush from when George told him to go whenever he got into trouble. Lennie believe that if George finds him and sees that he remembered and listened to what George told him about hiding he may be slightly more forgiving for what he did to Curley’s wife. Lennie wants to be able to tend the rabbits and if George finds out that he got into trouble again he knows he won’t let him tend any rabbits. Once again, Lennie’s only concern is for tending the rabbits and not the human life he just took due to his mental problems that has now consistently and increasingly ruined George’s American

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.