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Mental illness and oppression in literature
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Of Mice and Men In the novel “Of Mice and Men” the author introduces two characters Lennie and George, who both are out traveling so they can find jobs. They had a job but had to leave because they are accused of committing a crime, and all this started with Lennie, he has the need to touch things to his liking, such as mice, and a girls skirt. Back in their old job Lennie was feeling a girls skirt, she freaked out, she accuses him of raping her and Lennie had to run away with him since he feels responsible for him. They both plan to have their own farm in order to do that they need money, which means they need a job. They get a job, while they´re there the boss´s son, Curly, isn´t a big fan of big people, the author describes Lennie as a big guy who´s bulky, so Lennie is …show more content…
Curly also has a wife who is known for being really flirty, Lennie meets her and he has a slight crush on her. Throughout the book Lennie and George meet an old man named Candy, he has only one hand and has a dog who´s already old just like him. Candy thinks he is becoming no use so he asks George that he can pitch in some money for the farm. Candy believes that he is becoming no use since he is old and has only one good hand. It is important to realize that Lennie had a mental disorder, he wouldn´t be able to change, especially at the time, nothing would´ve helped Lennie. All Lennie would do is kill animals because he loved touching animals but he didn´t know his own strength and that would lead to him killing the animals. A few people saw what he did to Curly´s hand, he couldn´t control himself, and now he killed someone, this would lead to Lennie getting killed by Curly, either
... him (72). Lennie tries his best to protect George and does not let anyone talk about him also (72). George is not the only person that tries to protect Lennie. When Curly’s wife come into the barn and tries to cause tries to cause trouble, Crooks and Candy stand up for him. They tell her to leave them and also to leave Lennie alone, because they know that Lennie cannot defend himself (80). When George and Candy find out what Lennie has done to Curly’s wife, they do not want to say anything about it. Candy tells George, that Curly will kill Lennie. But George will not let anyone hurt Lennie (95). Lennie trusts in George, and believes everything that he is telling him. When George is ready to kill Lennie, Lennie reminds him that they got each other, even if they are not a family (104).
The novel, set in the 1930s, is a story of friendship of migrant workers George
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.
Lennie had a soft spot for petting animals and soft things. He is totally oblivious to the fact that he hurts almost every thing he touches. He had pet mice and ended up killing them and when he played with the 'pup' he ended up killing it too. His uncontrolled strength also caused him to kill Curley's wife. "Lennie's fingers fell to stroking her hair... he stroked harder... "Let go!" she cried... She struggled violently... and then she was still; for Lennie had broken her neck." (Page 91). With the death of Curley's wife, Lennie's innocence was taken. He had unwillingly killed. He had to pay the price, by losing his life.
When Lennie was in the barn playing with is puppy he accidentally killed it. Curlys wife came in and discovered him as he was hiding the puppy. She then used that against Lennie to get him to talk to him. He has him feel her hair but he wouldn't let go. She screams for help and Lennie accidentally kills her. Curly finds out that lennie kills her and says “i'm gonna shoot his guts out”(Steinbeck 96) he then proceeds to hunt down lennie to kill him instead of bring him to
Due to child like qualities, Lennie is a person which would be easy prey and a vulnerable person. Lennie is a vulnerable person who is quite dumb. His has an obsession for touching soft thing and this will often lead him in to trouble. But poor Lennie is an innocent person who means no harm to anybody. When he and Curley get into a fight Lennie is too shocked to do any thing. He tries to be innocent but, when told to by George grabs Curley’s fist and crushes it. George is Lennie’s best friend and Lennie does every thing he tells him to do as demonstrated in the fight with “But you tol...
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.
At the end of the book Lennie killed curlys wife and George killed him but did he have a valid reason to kill him. George killed Lennie out of friendship if George hadn’t killed him then the others especially curly would have tortured him or killed him much slowly and painfully. George did a mercy killing by shooting Lennie in the head so that his death was quick, sudden and painless a much better death than torture.
John Steinbeck's agricultural upbringing in the California area vibrantly shines through in the settings and story lines of the majority of his works. Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, takes place in the Salinas Valley of California. The drama is centered around two itinerant farm workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, with a dream of someday owning a place of their own. Lennie Small is a simple-minded, slow moving, shapeless hulk with pale eyes whose enormous physical strength often causes him to get into trouble. George Milton on the other hand is small in stature, clever, dark of face and eyes, and acts as Lennie's guardian and calming force.
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.
... killing the only friend he had and was someone who he had promised to protect, but he still believed he had to do this. Lennie did not have a chance to stand up for what he had done, society in the 1930’s was different from us today. People did not receive the chance to stand up for what they did and receive the actions of punishment, they would just be shot on the spot or taken and hung. This was the major mercy killing in the book and was foreshadowed by each of the other killings Lennie committed.
As mentioned above, Lennie does not have very much control over his own life and behavior. His brutal actions are never intentional.
With the setting as the Great Depression in the 1930s, George and Lennie of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men have overcome the adversity of being unemployed as they pursue work through Murray and Ready.In addition, they are bindle stiffs and are among other dispossessed males who must ride railroad cars and migrate from job to job. However, they are not alone like most of the other workers; due to the fact they have the friendship and trust of one another. In the beginning to the end George and Lennie share the hope of having a little farm of their own on which they can live on "the fat of the land" someday. (Citation) With this dream, they conquer the terrible alienation that men without homes encounter. Thus, George and Lennie overcome the adversities of poverty, alienation, and despair while staying true to their friendship.
The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about two workers trying to find work in 1930s America, during the Great Depression. In the first chapter of the novel, two migrant workers, Lennie and George, are heading to a ranch in California for some work. However, they stop in a little grove near the Salinas River to rest for the night. Eventually, George gets frustrated with Lennie and rants about how much better and easier life would be without Lennie, which hurts his feelings, so he says he’ll leave and go live in the caves. But George feels guilty for it, so he says he was kidding about wanting Lennie to leave, and then they have a discussion on what they hope they could achieve one day after they obtain enough money.
In the novella, ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck, the relationship between both George and Lennie is seen as a necessity of coexistence or fulfillment. Through the novella George is seen as a parental or guardian figure to Lennie and in fact we as the audience see how the relationship is very beneficial to George. This is seen in Lennie's qualities and the large physical strength he possesses. Lennie’s physical strength is both an advantage as well as an opportunity to him and George as it opens them into many various ranches because it means he is able to load wheat bags faster in a day, therefore more revenue the ranch makes. Though Lennie’s intellectual ability restricts him from the realities of life and George’s anger for him we are