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In schools, when someone is bullied because of being different or for not having many friends, it shows that society can change to accept someone who i not like them. This shows that people don’t accept others and don’t try to accept them. In Of Mice and Men, it shows that Lennie can't change because of all of the things he has done, like breaking someone's hand and killing someone else. It also shows that society can’t change because they can’t accept someone with a mental illness or anyone that is different to them. After Lennie Small and George Milton left Weed, a town they lived in, they went somewhere else to work. They had to leave because Lennie grabbed someone's dress and wouldn't let go after she screamed. When they got to the farm they would be working, the people noticed that Lennie was different. After Lennie had messed up over and over, he knew he had done …show more content…
While Steinbeck doesn’t directly state that Lennie has a mental disability, it is obvious to the reader because of his actions. It is obvious when he killed Curley’s wife but didn’t know what he was doing until she was already dead. Although Curley’s wife offered Lennie to pet her hair, she asked him to stop and when he wouldn’t she pulled away and Lennie grabbed harder. This shows that Lennie doesn’t understand what not to do just like a child. “Lennie went and looked at the dead girl” “I done another bad thing” (Steinbeck 91-92). Steinbeck also shows that society is slow to change and that Lennie is slow by not knowing what he was doing when he grabbed that girls dress in Weed. “He reached out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk... the guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie” (Steinbeck 41-42). A normal adult wouldn’t grab on to a girl’s dress while a child might, that shows that he has a mind of a
In the beginning he was forgetful and made many mistakes and by the end he was about the same. Throughout the entire book Lennie doesn’t learn from his mistakes as he keeps getting in trouble. At the beginning of the book, he was forgetful and he continues not to remember anything as the story goes on, this got him into trouble multiple times throughout the book. Sometimes he doesn’t even know what to do on his own. An example of this was when Curley was punching him, he needed instructions on what to do. Lennie never grows throughout the book, and this affects him because he needed to change for the better to begin with and he didn’t which lead him to many
Although Lennie was unattractive and has the tendency of accidental violence, compassion was still something readers had for him. Steinbeck constantly reminded us that he has a mental disability which automatically makes someone feel pity for him. Additionally he was ignored and made fun of by other characters, “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you”(Steinbeck 10). Him getting in trouble was beyond his control because of his mental disability which is something else that makes a reader feel sympathetic for him. Also, the readers are solicitous towards Lennie because of how much he looks up to George. This is portrayed when Crooks asks Lennie what he would do if George never came back, “Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?”(Steinbeck 70). Because of his inability to comprehend information, he got extremely defensive and said, “George is careful. He won’t get hurt” (Steinbeck 70). This scene is crafted in such a way that it automatically
Next to being forgetful, Lennie is absent-minded for a good portion of the novel. He is unaware of what he's doing sometimes until he has done it. For example, he enjoyed to pet soft objects. While living in Weed, he was "petting" a woman's dress and the woman started to scream (Steinbeck 11).
At the beginning, the author describes his movement using a metaphor, as Lennie “[drags] his feet… the way a bear drags his paws” (p.2), to show that he is much alike a bear physically. In addition, Steinbeck uses a simile to emphasize Lennie’s animal-like behaviour, as he “[drinks] wit long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse” (p.3). By comparing his physical and behavioural characteristics, this can foreshadow that the author implies that Lennie is seen as more animal than human because of his metal disabilities. George further makes it evident when he infers that “somebody [would] shoot [him] for a coyote if [he] was by [himself]” (p.12). This shows that people are scared of him and his unpredictable, animal-like behaviour because of the lack of understanding about mental health during the early 1900s. Furthermore, this can be the foundation for the theme where the lack of communication and understanding with the mentally disabled can lead to dire and tragic
Lennie was not very smart and couldn't do much by himself. He had to be told what to do or he wouldn't do anything at all. He fits all the profiles for a retarded person. He doesn't have any self-control. When he starts to panic he gets out of control and even kills Curly's wife because she starts to scream. Lennie loves animals and can't stop talking about them. He always says that when they get their own place that he wants lots of rabbits, his favorite animal. To him George is like his father figure, since Lennie never really had any parents. He is easily amused and panics quickly.
Right off the bat, Lennie is described as lesser, and rather than helped he is given a “slap on the wrist”. To begin with, Lennie is always described as less capable or unable to do certain activities to the extent of others. For example, at the beginning of the book George and Lennie were attempting to get a job. George always said, “He can do anything, just give him a try” (22). George implied that the likelihood of Lennie receiving a job is significantly less due to him being disabled. Lennie being less likely to receive a job due to his mental disability shows discrimination and expresses how difficult it could have been for a mentally handicapped person to get a job during this era. Moving forward, rather than George helping Lennie, Lennie is put down and scolded for his mistakes. During a scene between Lennie and George, George exclaimed, “You forget. You always forget, an’ I got to talk you out of it” (23). As it is not necessarily Lennie’s fault, George is in the wrong to put down Lennie for his actions. However, rather than attempting to help Lennie, George puts him down for his mistakes and then is forced to apologize for his own actions later. Lennie is a prime example of oppression against the mentally disabled in Of Mice and Men.
The quote that inspired John Steinbeck was the best laid schemes often go off track can be seen in the novel of Mice and Men. When Curley's wife met a man in her childhood that offered her to be an actress but the chance went away and she later died. Then Curley wanted to be a professional boxer but the dream never happened and he became a farmer then got his hand broken for trying to be tough. George and Lennie were going to buy a farm to live off the fat of the land then Lennie had to get in trouble and George had to give up the dream and kill Lennie for what he had done.
Based on the past of the two characters, they were in a cycle of getting a job, Lennie making a mistake, and moving to another job. In Weed, Lennie accidentally held onto a woman's dress and wouldn’t let go out of fear. This ultimately led to the two moving to Soledad, where Lennie yet again becomes scared and kills Curley’s wife. A vicious cycle was beginning to form from the two moving around for work, and these events could have continued on and on; Lennie would’ve eventually met a rough end. Based on the time period that Of Mice and Men takes place in, those with mental illnesses would not have been treated well. People did not accept or help those who had a mental illness, like Lennie, and would have thrown them into mental facilities. The facilities of the early 1900s were unsafe, and the people inside them were mistreated horribly. Eventually, Lennie would’ve ended up in a place where he would be tortured everyday, and George gave him the out that would protect him from the pain that society could inflict. That pain would eventually be inflicted upon Lennie, as he did kill someone, and he might have been turned into jail to be locked up for the rest of his life. It can be agreed that Lennie didn’t deserve jail, not when he never meant to harm anyone. “I didn’t wanta hurt him,” (Steinbeck 64) Lennie had said after he broke Curley’s hand. He had the innocence of a child who would never mentally grow older, leading to him constantly doing things that no one would forgive him for except
George’s love for Lennie is simply an unconscious effort to make up for Lennie’s mental weakness, yet at the same time his sentiment and kindness is out of sympathy. In chapter one, it is apparent to the reader that Lennie does have a slight mental impairment, but we do not yet know how acute it actually is. For example, when George asks Lennie what he has in his pocket, Lennie responded, “Ain’t a thing in my pocket,” (Steinbeck 5) as if he were intelligent. George knew something was in Lennie’s pocket, yet Lennie still tried to act as if there was nothing there. This gives the reader just a quick glimpse into the thought process of this complex character that is actually quite unpretentious.
As aforementioned they lived in the Great Depression a time where achieving the American Dream was almost impossible to do, especially with all the farms being lost in Oklahoma. Most of the character's perspectives of Lennie was that he was most simply a passive aggressive retard. Later in the novel the reader notices that he is incredible strong which serves to positive and negative effects in the story. Also, his thinking pattern is rather awkward or odd for someone of his age because what keeps him concentrated is this depiction of a farm where they will ¨tend the rabbits..build up a fire in the stove¨ (Steinbeck 14) which makes him mentally ill. When something is said to him about animals, he would instantly recognise with this desire, but for everything else, he is pretty much a useless man but other people who were willing to listen like Slim and Crooks who get to know him understood that he is if anything vulnerable which is what many characters were even
The novel describes Lennie as “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 beat drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely” (Steinbeck 2). Lennie is slow minded as well, but “strong as a bull.” George states in the novel, “He ain’t no cuckoo. He’s dumb as hell, but he ain’t crazy. An’ I ain’t so bright neither, or I wouldn’t be buckin’ barley for my fifty and found” (Steinbeck 37). Because Lennie is slow minded, he often gets impatient with individuals around him, which causes him to have a short fuse. He expresses his anger sometimes, but keeps composer at the same time. The reason Lennie has not been in more trouble than what he has already been in is because he is protected by innocence. One reason Lennie gets in trouble is because his obsession with soft things. For example, Lennie likes to “pet” mice, soft puppies and even hair on someone’s person. Curley’s wife ends up being killed by Lennie in chapter five because she underestimates his strength when she lets him “pet” her hair.
Steinbeck shows that people will trust others because of their personal prejudices. Because of his mental disability, Lennie often acts in inappropriate ways that cause both him and George to lose their jobs. George complains to Lennie that “I got you! You can’t keep a job and lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shoving’ all over the country all the time. An’ the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (Steinbeck 11). Just like in Weed, a town that they have once worked at, Lennie and George has to hide from the townspeople because Lennie grabbed a woman’s dress in panic. Although Lennie acts with innocent intentions, the people around him simply do not spend the time to understand them. As soon as they move into the new farm, the boss and Curley display suspicion and even open hostility toward Lennie. They make their judgments about him before even trying to have a chance know him better. Even Crooks, also abandoned by society, regards him with contempt and disdain when Lennie first tries to enter his room. Lennie has no intention of hurting the other people, yet the people around him always feel uncomfortable around h...
Conflict, by definition, is a back and forth struggle between two opposing forces. In the literary work, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, it is clear, the protagonist, George Milton, undergoes many conflicts that lead to the novel’s overall purpose. Steinbeck weaves together George’s conflicts with others, himself, and with society to illustrate what the true meaning of friendship is.
So the question is why wasn’t Lennie included? Lennie shouldn’t have been treated differently because he had disabilities. This quote makes Lennie look like a little boy instead of a grown man.“Good boy! That’s fine, Lennie! Maybe you’re gettin’ better” (Steinbeck 15). If George didn’t treat him differently he could get smarter and start knowing the right and wrong. George treats him like a child, but if he didn’t he might have been able to kind of growing up a little more than a 4 year old. Lennie could be able to play with the others and Lennie could be better because he’s with people his age and they do not treat him
Throughout the book, Lennie’s seemingly innocent selfishness quickly turns into irreparable damage. When George describes how Lennie “jus’ wanted to touch that red dress, like he wants to pet them pups all the time”, he makes it seem as if Lennie’s selfish act was completely innocent by comparing it to the gentle, childish act of petting puppies (Steinbeck, 42). The extreme escalation of the action portrayed by Steinbeck indicates that he believes that, no matter how seemingly innocent, selfishness can have detrimental effects to the perpetrator. Lennie’s selfishness may be a statement by Steinbeck that humans are naturally inclined to be selfish since Lennie is like a child in so many ways. This could be true since nature seems to support both prosocial and selfish traits (Robison). Later, when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife because he selfishly wants to keep her quiet so he does not get in trouble, Curley and the other men offer no mercy towards Lennie despite his intellectual disability and childish mind. Today, the United States has recognized that individuals with disabilities such as Lennie may not be able to comprehend the severity of crimes they may commit. For this reason, as of 2002, individuals with intellectual disabilities can not be sentenced to the death penalty (“Intellectual Disability and The Death