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George character traits of mice and men
How steinbeck represents george and lennie's relationship
John steinbeck of mice and men literary analysis of lennie
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George has only wanted the best for Lennie and nothing else. In hindsight, George didn’t truly murder Lennie. George knew that Lennie was a danger to himself, George, and others. Lennie was free of the wrong things in life that came because someone wasn’t there to look after him all the time. George also can’t be blamed for that either, a man must have some time to himself and that's what George was doing. After so many incidents, George knew that there wouldn't be a better future, Lennie will always be getting into trouble even if he doesn't want any. Lennie was a danger to everyone and he didn’t know it. He had too much strength and didn’t know how to control it due to his disability. This can be shown on page 91,”He shook her then, and …show more content…
His Aunt Clara used to take care of him but since she is gone George has to takes care of him, but he can’t watch him all the time. George takes time for himself occasionally like going into town “Ever’body went into town,” he said. “Slim an’ George an’ ever’body. George says I gotta stay here an’ not get in no trouble.” (Steinbeck 68) This quote shows that Lennie is able to be alone without George by his side every waking moment. It can also affect their relationship in a bad way by making George think that Lennie can be left alone so he doesn’t check on him as much which evidently led to the end of the book. The killing of the killing of the puppy and Curley’s wife also relates back to Lennie being left alone, “Don’t you worry about talkin’ to me. Listen to the guys yell out there. They got four dollars bet in that tenement. None of them ain’t gonna leave till it’s over.” (Steinbeck 87) Who can blame George for taking some time to …show more content…
Lennie couldn’t be left with other people especially if they didn’t know about his condition. If the owned a house then Lennie could survive but it couldn’t happen in their situation.The only person that did know was Slim, “You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.” He led George into the entrance of the trail and up toward the highway. Curley and Carlson looked after them. And Carlson said, “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” (Steinbeck 107) This quote shows both that Slim knows and that no one else knows about Lennie’s condition and George’s relationship with
One of the reasons why George should have killed Lennie is to keep him out of an institution. It is clearly not on the bright side for Lennie to be put in an institution. This is backed by Slim saying “…An’ s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain’t no good, George.”(pg. 97) Lennie would obviously be miserable without George anyway, his only kind friend. Without George, Lennie wouldn’t know a lot of things he does now, or what to do in situations. Lennie has one of the rare mentalities that always needs someone by their side. These are all good reasons that it would be a good thing for George to put Lennie away rather than in an institution.
In ending of "Of Mice And Men", George kills Lennie after he killed Curley's wife. However, I can still feel sympathy towards George, and see his action as justifiable. In the beginning of the book I had sympathy towards George. The book starts with George talking to Lennie and from this you learn a lot about their relationship. After Lennie asks for ketchup, which they can't get, George gets angry at Lennie and says, “Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want. God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble" (6). This shows the reader that George has given up a lot to take care of Lennie. He has given up his job security and a lot of his happiness because he takes care of Lennie. In chapter 3, the reader finds out how George and Lennie started traveling together, and from this the reader can infer that George travels
Lennie’s most powerful strength is his physical strength. In the beginning of the book John Steinbeck compared Lennie to an animal. Steinbeck wrote “ He walked heavily, dragging his feet 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
Lennie relies on others to think for him. He won’t act or react unless he’s told to. When he’s getting punched in the face by Curley, Lennie doesn’t even flinch until George tells him to:
Lennie is broken and incomplete in many ways. He has a mental disability which differentiates him from the others. He depends on George for everything and cannot do things on his own even though he is a grown man.
One of Lennie's many traits is his forgetfulness. He easily forgets what he is supposed to do, but he somehow never forgets what he is told. An example of how Lennie is forgetful is when he has the mice in his pocket and when he went to pet them they bit his finger. “Lennie picked up the dead mouse and looked at with a sad face. When they bit him he pinched them, and by doing that he crushed their heads” (page 5) . This is important because he knew that if he squeezed their heads they would die, but since he is forgetful, he squeezed anyway. Another example of how Lennie is forgetful is when he grabbed Curley's hand and crushed it. “ Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. Lennie squeezed on until George came running in shouting ‘let go’. The next moment Curley was on the ground wailing while he held his crushed hand” (page 64). This event is important because Lennie had held on, not knowing what to do next, until George told him what to do. A final exampl...
George really helps him through problems that keep happening during the book. Lennie is incapable to live because he does not know his strength and George has to play the role as a living assistant for Lennie. Lennie does not mean to harm but because of his condition he essentially harms people. In the book it explains the trouble in weed and George explains “Well he saw a girl in a red dress and a red dress and he just wanted to feel it and when he touched it the girl just starts yelling and all he can think to do is hold on” ( Steinbeck 41). The quote states or explains how Lennie can scare or harm people.
Consistently throughout the story George and Lennie were there for each other; in fact towards the very beginning Lennie and George discussed how they were better off than most guys because they had each other (14). When George killed Lennie a part of him died too, George knew murdering Lennie would hurt him mentally and emotionally. However he did it because he wanted what was best for his friend no matter the cost. His actions were altruistic and that made his decision the more favorable one. Another instance when George was selfless was when he gave up his dream. Throughout the story George and Lennie dreamed of and worked towards owning their own piece of land together. However, after discovering Curley’s wife dead, George returned to reality and informed Candy that they would, “never do her” (94). After losing his friend George understood the impossibility of achieving the American Dream. Beforehand George knew he would not want to live out his dream without Lennie, so by protecting Lennie and giving up on his own dream he put Lennie above himself. Conversely, someone may believe that George's actions were selfish and that he benefits himself by killing Lennie. After George comes after Lennie, the dim-witted man asks if George was going to yell at him. Reluctantly George told him “If I was alone, I could live so easy,” (103). Although George said
Lennie’s unintentional mistakes resulted in the sudden end for him, but was done in the best way possible. As Lennie would’ve been subjected to a life of loss, running and suffering, George correctly made the decision in euthanizing him. While contemplating whether or not to euthanize him, George knew he very well could but it wasn’t the easiest decision to make on his part. If George wouldn’t of made the decision he did, Lennie would’ve had to run for the rest of his life with no account of what happened or what to do due to his mental illness. He would’ve been seen as a criminal and hunted down like animal which is inhumane and cruel. Although his mishaps weren’t meant to be as extreme as they were, the consequences were foreshadowed throughout
George also knew that Lennie had dug a hole for himself and could never get out. He knew they were looking for Lennie and wouldn’t stop until they killed him. He decided to do it himself in the kindest way he could. It’s like when Candy said about his dog, “I should of shot that dog myself.'; meaning it would have been kinder to the dog. Lennie was lying down, facing away from George and didn’t know he was going to be shot. He didn’t know what was going to happen, just like Candy’s dog.
“I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like you running off by yourself, even if she was dead.” (page 13). After Lennie and George fight over the dead mouse, Lennie tells him that George would be better off if Lennie went to the mountains to live in a cave. George doesn’t let him. He tells him that he wants him to stay because not only did George somewhat promise Lennie’s dead Aunt Clara that he would take care of him, but he also learned how to live and adjust with the fact that Lennie has kind of a childish mind.
After Lennie gets into the debacle with Curley’s wife, he runs to the oasis described at the beginning of the book. George fears the men will tear Lennie apart and murder him. He also knew he would be institutionalized, or “caged” if he survived the attack. He had the moral clarity that let him see that killing Lennie was the best thing for him. When George kills Lennie, it’s a kind of mercy killing.
He wasn’t capable of seeing how things could turn out badly so it would have been unfair for him to be punished like someone who could. For Lennie to have been given up to law and been locked away wouldn’t have been any good for him or anyone else. He would have become a prisoner to himself locked up inside his own mind scared, confused, and forced into insanity only for him to die alone in an empty room. In the book well respected character Slim says to George “...An’s s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain’t no good, George.”(Steinbeck 97) this helps George realize the best choice is to kill Lennie and save him the misery of being locked away and imprisoned like an
The famed nurses study from Harvard found “Not having a close friend is as detrimental to your health as smoking.” Lennie and George’s friendship is necessary to keep the better for each other. Throughout the story, Lennie and George need each other and look out for one another no matter what. Lennie and George’s friendship and journey throughout the story symbolizes the struggles to achieve the American dream. Steinbeck, in the story Of Mice and Men, combines characterization and symbolism to prove friends do whats best for eachother.