Lennie Sympathetic Character

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Steinbeck wrote a great book about friendship called Of Mice and Men. This book was about George and Lennie, two best friends that went to work on a farm. They tried to make money to start their own farm, but the problem was Lennie had a developmental disorder that made it hard for him to talk and interact with people. Lennie was portrayed as gentle, strong and unintelligent who apologized for his mistakes. In this book, Steinbeck made Lennie a sympathetic character that people felt sorry for. Lennie was gentle because he would never intentionally hurt a fly, he was a child trapped inside of a man's body. In the book, Slim said Lenny would never hurt anyone. Also, Lennie pet animals because of their smooth, soft fur. The author described the character as a gentle person that did not like getting yelled at. On page 46 In the book it said, “He ain't mean,” said Slim. “I can tell a mean guy a mile off.” This trait affected the story because even when Lennie made a mistake, the reader still felt sorry for him because they knew he did not mean what he did. Since he was gentle, Lennie did whatever George told him to do. This hurt him as a character because he had to live with feeling bad about what he did. …show more content…

He killed Curley's wife's by pulling her hair too hard. This was an example of his strength. On page 63 Steinbeck wrote, “Curley's fist was swinging when Lennie reach for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand. George ran down the room. “Leggo of him Lennie let go.”” This showed that Lennie was much bigger and stronger than Curley. This trait both helps him personally and also hurts him.His strength helps him get jobs on farms that takes strength. The trait hurts him as a character because other people are afraid of him. This trait is also bad because he hurts people without

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