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Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “I have a dream!” Lennie, from Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, has a dream he fully believes will become a reality in the upcoming future. Throughout the novel, George and Lennie constantly talk about the typical American Dream they have of owning their own farm and rabbits for Lennie to tend to. Steinbeck characterizes Lennie as an optimistic dreamer; however, his dream isn’t obtainable; developing the theme of inevitable failure of the American Dream. Lennie, known as the shy yet optimistic dreamer, looks up to George with so much admiration. Lennie gets in trouble more often than most people would; however, he never gets in trouble intentionally. Lennie can also be quite forgetful, “I forgot...I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, George” (Steinbeck 4). George has and always will help Lennie escape the trouble he has gotten into. When Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s Wife, George has to make the difficult decision to shoot Lennie in the back of the head while reminiscing …show more content…
with him about their dream. Lennie dreams even after this traumatizing incident happens, “I might jus’ as well go away. George ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits now” (Steinbeck 101). George kills Lennie because Lennie cannot get himself out of this terrible situation that he has out himself as well as George into. Lennie has a dream in his mind of his idealistic american dream.
Lennie dreams of owning his own farm with George. Their farm will have a little house, cows, pigs, and rabbits of course for him to nurture. Throughout this novel, George constantly tells Lennie about their dream and how they are going to obtain it. They are going to “live off the fatta the lan,” when they obtain their farm (Steinbeck 14). Lennie constantly gets lost in thought thinking about this dream. He will always have his dream, even when he’s about to die, he will always think about his outstanding dream that drives him to continue everyday. Lennie, George, and Candy all sat in the bunkhouse to talk about the dream after Carlson shot Candy’s dog. Even after Curley came in to see where his wife left to, Lennie continues thinking about this dream, “Lennie was still smiling with delight at the memory of the ranch” (Steinbeck 62). Lennie’s dream will never die, even when he
does. The song “A Drop in the Ocean” by Ron Pope perfectly relates to Lennie. Lennie holds his dream close to him just as Ron Pope holds this girl to him. Ron says, “I was praying that you and me might end up together.”(3) Ron prays he and his girl will end up together as Lennie prays he and George will get to own their own ranch. “It’s like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert,” Lennie continues wishing for his dream to become a reality just as he has for a long time, but as Ron said, it’s practically impossible to reach this goal.(4) “But I’m holding you closer than most cause you are my heaven,” explains exactly what Lennie does.(5) Lennie constantly holds on to his “American Dream” so he can continue with life and do what he must do for George. Lennie’s dream’s his heaven. Ron Pope repeats many times, “Heaven doesn’t seem so far away anymore,” and in a way, that’s exactly how Lennie feels. Lennie believes he and George will have their happily ever after in a months time now that Candy can help with the costs for the farm as well.(34,36,38,40) Lennie will never let go of his dream just as Ron Pope will never let go of his hope to spend the rest of his life with this girl. Ron loves this girl as Lennie loves their dream. In conclusion, Steinbeck recognizes Lennie as an optimistic dreamer who will never let go of his American Dream. Lennie optimistically dreams about his farm as Ron optimistically dreams about his girl returning to him. They both hold close to them what they will never obtain. Both will take their dreams with them to their grave if they haven’t already. For Lennie, the American Dream will never die.
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.
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...
Was George to harsh or too fast with his decision to kill Lennie? Ever since Lennie was born he has needed help “living” and it started with his aunt Clara. When his aunt Clara died Lennie needed someone to help him with his everyday life and someone that could be there and tell him what to do. Lennie starts to travel with a good family friend George. In the book “Of Mice and Men” there is many cases where Lennie just “holds on” to George. George realizes in the end of the book Lennie has done too much harm and needs to essentially go away. George then shoots Lennie in the back of the head because Lennie couldn't live on his own if he were to run away from Curly and the rest of the gang of workers coming after him. George did the right thing because Lennie was unstable and George knows lennie didn't mean to harm anything. He doesn't know his own strength and George really wasn't qualified to help Lennie learn that he is powerful beyond measure.
Lennie dreams of living on a wide open ranch with George where he tends to the fluffy little rabbits he loves so much. Nevertheless, Lennie sadly never reaches his ultimate goal as his flaw finally becomes his fatal flaw. Lennie kills Curley 's wife by shaking her so hard that her neck breaks. He does not kill her on purpose but Lennie does not know his own strength. He is only shaking her like that because he wants her to stop yelling. Curley 's wife observes that Lennie is "jus ' like a big baby" (Steinbeck 99) and invites him to stroke her soft hair. Lennie begins to feel her hair and likes it very much indeed, which leads him to pet it too hard. When she started to complain, he panicked and started to try to silence her. He was afraid that George would not let him be part of the dream anymore if Curley 's wife got mad at what he did. So he 's shaking her to try to protect his part in the dream but he kills her and the dream too. Lennie observes that he has "done a bad thing" (Steinbeck 100) and covers her body with hay. Lennie is hiding in the brush where George had told him to hide when he got into trouble. George finally emerges to get Lennie while he is an emotional mess. He then tells Lennie to take off his hat as he continues to recount "how it will be" (Steinbeck 104) for them. He orders Lennie to kneel and pulls out Carlson 's Luger. As the voices of the other men in the search party near their location, George tells Lennie one more time "about the rabbits,"(Steinbeck 106) tells Lennie that they 're going to get the farm right away, and shoots his companion in the back of the
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.
Doing careless things can lead to the downfall of an individual. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Lennie does careless and thoughtless acts that lead to the downfall of himself and others around him. The careless actions of Lennie were apparent through Lennie and the pups, Lennie and Curley’s wife, and Lennie and George.
George and Lennie depended on their dream as motivation to live on and work. They've been working all their life to accomplish their dream. While taking a break by a pond on the way to another ranch, Lennie asked George to tell him why they are working and saving money. "Guys like us got nothing; they work up a stack and blow it in the town. But we're different, we got a future " (14). Most workers back then just live on day by day, without a goal. But George and Lennie are different, they got a dream to work and live for. Lennie kept on wanting to be told about their dream a few times in the story, indicating that it's really important to them. George depends on the dream to save up money and take care of Lennie instead of using all the money like all the other workers. While staying in the cabin, Lennie asked George about their dream. "George, how long's it gonna be till we get that little place an' live on the fatta the land and rabbits" (56). George and Lennie's dream has been repeated several times in the story. Each time they describe it, it gives them more will to work and try to accomplish the dream. The dream keeps George and Lennie together so they can work toward their dream. Without the dream, George and Lennie would be different from what they are now. George would be like the other workers, spending all the money right after getting them. And Lennie might be in jail for accused of rape or get bullied by other workers.
The main characters in the novel, Lennie and George, dreamt of owning their own farm where Lennie can tend to the rabbits. Steinbeck uses these characters dream as an example of a quixotic dream being deferred. To explain, when Lennie and George are sitting by the river imagining their future farm, George illustrates “OK. Someday- we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and-...’ ‘...An live on the fatta the lan,” (Steinbeck 14). George and Lennie shared a dream that was not real and could not be achieved because the things holding them back in that time era. For example, the depression made it hard for people to find a job because many people were poor and didn’t need workers like Lennie and George. The two men were migrant workers who received a combined salary of one hundred dollars a month which is not nearly enough to buy land. Instead of being realistic, which would mean they would just keep trying to find regular jobs at ranches, Lennie and George kept hanging on to the dream even though it is preposterous. This dream that they have is very impractical for someone in their line of work, especially during the Depression. In addition, when George a...
In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck portrays Lennie as an innocent man with childish tendencies. However, Lennie shows some streaks of violence at certain points in the novel. Despite Lennie’s innocence, he can also be violent. Many of his violent behaviour stems from his ignorance of his own strength, leading to many mice, a puppy, and even a human being dead.
Lennie is a forgetful human, and if he were to forget the death of Curley’s Wife, he could be incapable of learning from previous mistakes, which causes more pain for himself and others. Lennie and George were in conversation and George said, “‘So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy bastard!’ ‘ I forgot,’ Lennie said softly. ‘I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, George’” (Steinbeck 4). This is one of the hints that are given to the reader that Lennie is mentally slow and forgets simple, yet important, events or instructions. Lennie forgot what he did in Weed, so it is likely that he would not forget about killing Curley’s Wife and do the same thing over again. “‘O.K.,’ said George. ‘An’ you ain’t gonna do no bad things like you done in Weed, neither.’ Lennie looked puzzled. ‘Like I done in Weed?’ ‘Oh, so ya forgot that too didn’t ya? Well, I ain’t gonna remind ya, fear ya do it again’” (Steinbeck 7). Lennie’s mental dispositions do not only put other’s lives at risk, but his own life as well. “‘An’ he jumps. Couldn’t swim a stroke. He damn near drowned before we could get him. An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in,’” George stated (Steinbeck 40). For these simple reasons, Lennie‘s death was beneficial for not only other people, but for other people as
In the story, of Mice and Men, there are a few characters who are lonely or left out. The story is about two ranchers and they are best friends. They both don’t have a family anymore. All they can do is depend on each other; Lennie had a disability. He can’t function like regular person . Lennie kills a dog and a man’s wife . But he did not mean any harm. Then there is candy and crooks , They are both lonely because there both handicapped. They don’t fit in like everybody else does.
In section 5 Curley’s wife approaches Lennie alone in the barn, after he has just accidently killed a puppy. ‘She said, “What you got there sonny boy” Curley’s wife has maintained her previous rudeness initially by calling Lennie a “sonny boy” the adjective “sonny” suggests she is laughing at his obedience to George, and exerting his power. However Steinbeck presents a different side of Curley’s wife as her body language towards Lennie is totally different, as “she knelt down beside him” this shows the desperation and loneliness of Curley’s wife wanting a friend. It could also suggest her equality with the men here that wasn’t there before as she notices there is a similarity between her and Lennie, how they are both isolated, no one understands
When one looks at the character Lennie, we begin to see that Steinbeck compares him to several animals. Lennie is compared to a horse and a dog as well as his hands being called “big paws”(3 and 9). Lennie also seems to have a lot of characteristics related to animal instinct.
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.