In the book Of Mice and Men Lennie is the one with a disability. George is Lennie’s keeper and takes care of him. George and Lennie go everywhere together and they are always together. Lennie is very unique you could say. Lennie doesn’t really get things all the way and he can’t really remember things that George tells him.…
People always tell him bad things and he believes it or doesn’t want to believe it and ends up threatening the person. “Jump in the river Lennie”(Steinbeck,40). Lennie also does whatever george tells him to do. So if George tells him to kill someone, Lennie won’t hesitate and go and do it with no mercy.…
He does not know his own strength and he tries to pet the animals to hard and then he hurts Curley’s wife. I do not think that Lennie is trying to hurt them on purpose but, again he does not know his own strength. Even George did not think that he did it on purpose “Yeah,’ said George. ‘I’ll come. But listen, Curley. The poor bastard’s nuts. Don’t shoot ‘im. He di’n’t know what he was doin’.” If everyone knew that he killed several mice and the puppy he most likely would be punished but it is only when they find Curley’s wife dead that they want to take action. George did not want this to happen but Lennie needed to be punished for his…
An important theme in Of Mice and Men is innocence. Through the character of Lennie, Of Mice and Men forces us to ask if Lennie’s ignorance absolves him of guilt and responsibility for his actions, or if he is truly a bad person. (3, 5, 17, 32-33, 41-43, 73, 92,…
To further explain, George’s actions couldn’t have been changed due to the fact that Lennie would just do it again, Curly didn’t allow George to stay behind, jail wouldn’t be pleasant for Lennie, George doesn’t kill Lennie out of hate for what he did. To begin, Lennie would unwillingly just keep making the same mistakes over and over again. For example, Lennie touched the girl’s dress in Weed and now he killed Curley’s wife. In the book it states, “Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch ever’thing he likes.”(Steinbeck 41) This quotation shows that no matter how many times they run away to another job Lennie will just keep making mistakes. This also shows that he won’t learn that touching nice things…
George has a job as a ranch hand out on the ranch. He does a little bit of everything. From making sure that the animals are in good health, and to helping the boss with anything he needs. George even watches over the slaves, to make sure they are doing what they need to be doing and are staying away from the whites. He carries a lot of responsibilities! He is also doing Lennie’s job at the same time. As we found out very quickly, Lennie is not the best at doing the task, due to his mental illness. He doesn’t know his strength, and tends to hurt/kill people and animals. Lennie has a heart of gold, and means absolutely no harm.…
George, the Everyman, is pierced by companionship’s double-edged sword because of Lennie’s infamous actions that have led to the pair’s constant look for work and vulnerability to plights that wouldn’t affect the average man. Steinbeck illustrates the trouble Lennie has caused numerous times throughout the novel, but George’s true feelings about the situation are most accurately portrayed in the beginning of the novel. George tells Lennie, “ ‘God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy… You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get’ ” (Steinbeck 11). While George fixes up beans for dinner, he explodes and grieves about all the trouble Lennie has caused when Lennie asks for ketchup. This outburst reveals that Lennie is mentally…
Throughout the novel, Lennie already kills several creatures such as mice, puppies, and eventually a human being like Curley’s wife. When Lennie uses his strength to kill other people, he does not even notice what he is doing. Lennie cannot restrain himself when Steinbeck states that, “She struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she writhed to be free; and from under Lennie’s hand came a muffled screaming… He shook her then with anger. ‘Don’t you go yelling,’ he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”(91) The quote explains that Lennie does not know how strong he is because he is child-like. He cannot control his strength very well and does not even know what problems he might cause by using his strength. In addition, Lennie is not rational; he always does something with emotional like shaking Curley’s wife with his anger until she dies. Fortunately, George kills Lennie. Therefore, the workers on the ranch do not have to concern about risking their lives to work with this uncontrolled guy. Killing Lennie is right because no one gets injured and workers live safely. However, some people argue that George is wrong to kill Lennie because men cannot take other men’s lives easily and Lennie is not willing to kill Curley’s wife, he’s unconscious of doing it until she’s already dead. Nevertheless, the point is not important because Lennie has mental challenges and he does not mean to kill Curley’s wife. All the workers on the ranch are also lonely, so they do not want to help Lennie as well since Lennie is a new guy on the…
It isn’t very long into the book that we learn that Lennie is different from the others around him; he is slower mentally. He does not perceive things as they appear to others and cannot really tell right from wrong. Although his…
In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the character Lennie Smalls is a large man who is physically fit but immature emotionally. He poses a danger to the other characters, as he is responsible for the death of various creatures, the accidental injury of Curley’s hand, and the gruesome murder of Curley’s wife. Although the outcome of the situations was unintended, innocent lives were lost as a result of his lack of fast reaction and childish mentality. Through the actions of Lennie and the negative reactions that followed, Steinbeck reveals that Lennie’s powerlessness over his physical strength acts as his Achilles’ heel.…
Do not judge a book by its cover. One must read the book in its entirety to appreciate the story, and fully comprehend its meaning. The character of Lennie Small in the novel, Of Mice and Men, can be compared to a book; it is easy to judge Lennie by looking at the outside cover; however, to truly understand him, his inner soul must be explored. One can appreciate the extent of Lennie's troubles, and how, understandably, he is so often misjudged, by examining his psychological disabilities, physical characteristics, and emotional behavior.…
Before you criticize an innocent human being, do you walk a mile in his shoes? Everyone has heard it at some point in their lives, and most would unconsciously agree that it is morally correct to do so. Unfortunately, some individuals do not understand how big of an impact this life lesson has on society and simply ignore the common proverb. The negative impacts of this decision are portrayed through John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men. Lennie Small, a mentally handicapped individual, has challenges thrown at him throughout his short journey of life, making it even more painful to live. Lennie is a misunderstood, naive, poor, pathetic human being who gives much more than he receives, and is walked all over by all, even the one he trusts.…
In Of Mice and Men Lennie, throughout the novella, “does a bad thing”. Lennie however, can not fully comprehend what bad thing he did. George keeps protecting Lennie through the whole novella, thus not…
Lennie is innocent and ever meant to hurt to fly, as shown from his addiction to touching soft things.“Lennie looked sadly up at him. “They was so little,” he said, apologetically. “I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead-because they was so little” (Steinbeck 9-10). This quote shows that Lennie never had bad intentions, he just liked soft things, the same way he like Curley’s wife’s hair. Soft things seem to be calming or therapeutic to him in a way. This quote isn’t direct in showing that…
When Lennie kills curley’s wife George blames it on that. Lennie really do not know what he has done until it's over. In the book he says “and then he whispered in a fright, I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing” (Steinbeck 91) Lennie was just trying to make Curley's wife be quiet and he did not know his own strength and he pushed to hard and killed her. He did not know what he was doing because he was…