When John Steinbeck puts characters into difficult situations their true self emerges. It is evident in Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men. Lennie is put in many difficult situations and his child like mind can’t deal with it and makes mistakes.Curley, the antagonist of the novella, is always causing trouble and looking for fights. We see his true self emerge when his wife passes away and he doesn't skip a beat and only wants to seek revenge on Lennie. George is the protagonist in the novella. He is a timid small character who has to put up with Lennie’s mischief throughout the novella and fixes his mistakes. We see this when we find out why Lennie and George had to leave Weed due to Lennie’s inappropriate behaviour with local town girl. …show more content…
Even Lennie feels the sense of menace when Curley first comes into the bunkhouse. When put in confusing or difficult situations he lashes out with rage for no apparent reason from someone just laughing to themselves to His wife passing away and just wanting to go on the hunt without any moaning, he's always looking for revenge instead of taking a minute and planning his next move. “Then Curley's rage exploded. “ come on, ya big bastard. Get up of your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me. I'll show you who's yella.” Lennie looked helplessly at george, and then he got up and tried to retreat.” (Steinbeck,Pg62) Curley picks this fight with Lennie just because lennie was in his own world thinking of bunnies and laughing at how amazing that would be, and then Curley jumps into that fantasie and starts beating him up. Once George allows Lennie to fight back, Lennie crushes Curley's hand, breaking every bone. When this happens Curley starts seeking revenge on Lennie “I’am goin’,” he said “I’am gonna shoot the guts out of that basterded myself, even if i only got one hand.”(Steinbeck,Pg98) This is right after Lennie kills Curley's wife and all he can think about is the revenge he's going to get on Lennie, his wife's death isn't even crossing his mind he just wants …show more content…
He is the one who thinks things through and considers how their goals can be reached, his true self emerges at different times through the novella.“God a'mighty,if i was alone i could live so easy. I could go get a job an’work,an’ no trouble.”(Steinbeck,pg.11) George is very angry during this scene because he would be alot more successful without Lennie weighing him down.“she yells and we go to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the country. All the time somethin’ like that-all the time. I wisht I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an’ let you have fun.” His anger left him suddenly” (Steinbeck,pg11). Georges true self emerges in this scene when his anger becomes so strong that he wants to leave Lennie and find an easier life. Georges most difficult situation is at the end of the novella when he needs to decide to kill his best friend or run off again, “The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger.”(Steinbeck,pg106) He killed his best friend instead of running with him again, he lead the other men to Lennie's exact position. If he was a good friend he would have told the men to go the wrong direction and then ran off with Lennie
Many characters have hopes and dreams which they wish to accomplish. Of Mice and Men has two main characters that go through obstacles to get what they want. In the beginning it is George and Lennie running away trying to get a job. Once both George and Lennie have a job they try to accomplish their dreams. Unfortunately they both can't get their dreams to come true since lennie does the worst and George has to shoot Lennie. Steinbeck uses characterization, foreshadowing, and symbol as rhetorical strategies to make George's actions justified.
work, he states that Lennie is "…strong as a bull" and is "…a god damn
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.
Lennie is depicted in a very childlike manner throughout Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Accordingly, he acts in a manner that is persistent with a child in that his motivations precisely lead to his actions. He does not act in a pure sense of dishonesty, reflective of the purity that is peculiar to someone who is like a kid at heart.
“Then Curley’s rage exploded.Come on ya big bastard . Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me I’ll show ya who’s yella”.(62)Lennie was smiling and thinking about the ranch that George talked to him about and how they would make a living out of the farm. Also, he was thinking about how there would be bunnies that he could pet and feed.He was daydreaming in the worst moment. Curley thought that Lennie was smiling and laughing at him for having a “Glove fulla Vaseline”. This part of the dialogue also tells us that Curley gets frustrated or mad easily. THey say his rage exploded, he made a tiny situation into a major attention drawer. “Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys.He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys.”(26) The author describes Curley as a hatred person.He gets the wrong intention.Curley according to the passage liked to pick on others and knowing that Lennie was a sensitive fella he took advantage of that. He had fun doing this but Lennie did not get any positive output of this only negative outcomes. Curley wanted to start a fight just because he thought Lennie was laughing at him when he
It is very apparent that each of the four characters in the two friendships feed off of each other. In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are very different, yet they need one other. George is a very independent, loyal, and caring person who takes care of Lennie because Lennie is unable to take care of himself. Although George makes it seem like he would be better off without Lennie, George makes it clear that without him he would be better off. This is evident because of this conversation h regularly had with Lennie” I could go get a job an’
Overall, John Steinbeck uses the character of George to represent the harshness of 1930s society and how rare companionship was, even though his companionship with Lennie ended
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
In the great work, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck makes clear that George is faced with many struggles. Steinbeck writes of a character that has many internal and external conflicts. Yet, through those conflicts, the reader learns the purpose of the novel; what the true meaning of friendship
John Steinbeck wrote a story about two men that only had each to depend on. Many of George and Lennie's struggles come from things they cannot control such as Lennie's mental issues. George and Lennie are very poor and they work on farms together, but they have to move a lot because Lennie always does something stupid. The greatest tragedy in Mice and Men was when Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife. She was the reason why Lennie ended up being killed. She knew of to manipulate others to get her way and that is what she relies on most of the time.
The characteristics of mice are simple and feebleminded. A mouse is helpless, timid and oblivious. Few characters in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men possess such characteristics. Throughout the novel, Lennie exhibits the qualities associated with mice.
In the Salinas River Valley, after the Great Depression, there were a large number of unemployed workers seeking jobs. In the fiction novel "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small is among one of those men. Lennie and his friend George both have just received jobs on a ranch as farm workers. What brings the two together is their dream to someday own their own land. Lennie has a lot of character and personality traits that define him. One trait that he has is he is very forgetful. Another trait he has is he is very curious. A final trait he has is that he is very reliant. Although he might not be the intelligent person in the book, he has a very well developed personality. Lennie demonstrates his personality and character traits throughout the novel.
Have you ever read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck? If so, you probably remember Lennie, George's companion. Throughout the novel, Lennie and George dream of having their own farm. They work on a ranch to save money for their dream farm. Lennie is a big, strong, man with rounded features. He is at times very forgetful, absent-minded, and one-dimensional.
Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck illustrates many morals in the novel. This novel supports many themes. The characters make up most of messages in the novel. Some examples are the predatory nature of human existence, the bonds between men, the impossibility of the american dream, and the destructive imbalance of social power structures in american society. The themes of predatory nature and the bonds between two men are important to the novella ”Of Mice and Men” because of when Curley got into a fight with Lennie, when George would be mean to Lennie, and when Crooks was also being mean to Lennie.
George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.