Although John Steinbeck’s novelette Of Mice and Men included a vast away of interesting characters, Lennie was one that sparked my interest the most. Small’s personality is similar to that of an innocent child’s; he is also often depicted like an animal, as he is as strong as a bull (as Milton describes him), but acts like a dog. Small is also mentally handicapped, feels security when it comes to touching soft items, and does not understand many abstract ideas. We can look at all of these traits through his devoted dependency towards George. Though he acts this way, he does not actually comprehend this idea of loyalty. As a result, he often gets into trouble without the intention of doing so, and once he does, only defines his
In this novel John Steinbeck used a lot of allusions to help develop characters. The allusion being used to develop Lennie’s character is when Curley and he are fighting. Lennie and Curley are being described as David and Goliath. Lennie is strong and big like Goliath. Curley is small like David. In the end Curley defeats Lennie, just like David defeats Goliath. This allusion showed the character trait of strong and big. Another literary device used in this novel is a simile. “ Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again”(Steinbeck 9). This shows that Lennie is very unsure and nervous.
“Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in little splashes; rings widened across the pool to the other side and came back again. Lennie watched them go. "Look, George. Look what I done”” (Steinbeck 3)
The author, Steinbeck, uses his own personal experience to “serve as an inspiration…” (Johnson 1) when writing this particular story. His past experiences also helped him for the future. Lennie, of all characters, is the least dynamic. He undergoes a significant amount of change and develops throughout the story. He has been isolated with George throughout his life. His sole purpose in life is to make George happy and to own a farm with George and take care of the soft rabbits. Lennie is the most innocent and defenseless. He also is the largest and strongest, which does not help in certain situations. Lennie is the protagonist in the story. He gains the readers sympathy by his intellectual disability and helplessness. Lennie murders things by accident such as the mouse in his pocket, the puppy and Curley’s wife. He enjoys the touch of and somehow uses those murders and experiences to scare him from doing it again. George’s opinion means the most to him.
Lennie Small has a very symbolic importance in the novel Of Mice and Men. In the novel George Milton and Lennie Small both migrant workers pursue their dream of someday owning their own ranch by travelling around working as ranch hands to earn a living. The dream they share is to be able to "live off the fat of the land,". Lennie Small is a very complex character, although he may not appear to be at first glance. Lennie is the most interesting character in the novel because he differs from the other is many ways. Lennie Small ironically is a man of large stature and is very strong. He is child-like in his emotions and has a diminished mental capacity. Lennie's feelings are much like that of a normal person when you take into
George and Lennie are different as they have each other for support, friendship and much more. Lennie is able to give George hope, hope that things will get better by continually talking about the dream of ‘livin’ of the fatta the land’. This in turn brightens George’s spirits and motivates him to keep on working hard and believing that ‘we got a future’. Even though Lennie helps George in many physiological ways, he also helps him physically. Lennie’s pure size and strength is so great that he is often compared to a ‘bear’ by Steinbeck; an animal which has immense power. This strength helps them gain work as ‘man, (Lennie) can work’. Without Lennie, George would have much difficulty finding manual labour jobs due to his small size.
Lennie was a migrant worker always looking for a job, but always would get into trouble and always keep moving. Lennie Small was a strong worker, lacking mental resources, had George to always look out for him. Steinbeck compared a bear to Lennie to represent that he was a large and strong man. Steinbeck describes Lennie, “Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws” (Steinbeck 2). Lennie was a large man that always would walk behind George towering over him. Lennie always has George looking after him and making sure he doesn’t get in trouble. As George is looking out for Lennie he comes his aid, “I was jus’ a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’
Steinbeck’s character, Lennie, is large and strong, but his mind is weak and slow. His companion through the story, George, looks after Lennie and has plans for a good life for
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.
The narrator, Brother, tells the story of Doodle, his brother, and his childhood with all his disabilities; starting off by telling about Doodle when he was a baby and toddler, about how he could not do much for himself for a long time, but eventually learns to crawl. He soon moves onto when Doodle got a little older and Brother would have to take him everywhere he went and how the two would take on the mission of teaching Doodle to walk; they spent almost everyday out in the woods making Doodle stronger and stronger. On Doodle’s sixth birthday, they showed the family what he could do;
Little things by author Raymond Carver is a short story that really gives the reader the opportunity to use just a few clues, not any major details to create their own story inside of his. The author’s message of the story “Less is more” is clear to the reader throughout the whole story. The Author repeats and mentions darkness over and throughout the story symbolizing the tones hostility and aggressiveness of the story. This story has three main strong themes which are lack of communication, struggle, and separation which are identified throughout the story. The Author symbolizes foreshadowing through the
In the first three lines of the story, the reader is given a sense of Donny’s virtue during youth and how it
Hemingway was explaining that Nick was using this to help himself cope with things in life as an example of what Nick’s wants in life or self-realization. Hemingway writes later in the story when Nick sees the big trout in the river and decides not to go after it. Perhaps Nick sees it as the swamp is the misery in his life and the trout is the feeling way down deep that he does not want to obtain until he is ready. It seems that memories are the only hindrance that would keep him from getting closer to being fulfilled.
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
A. CASE ANALYSIS “Growing Big while Staying Small: Starbucks Harvests International Growth” by IAN E NIS TIRYAKI