Accidental violence is a theme in this book. A puppy dies, a woman dies, and a hand is broken. Lennie did not intend to hurt; he is innocent. Animal instinct is present in all characters. Perhaps Lennie is just an animal after all? Lennie is a character that is heavily afflicted with discord. One fragment is innocent and the other is violent. Lennie Small is not a small character at all. He is described as a lumbering giant. In the beginning of the story the reader learns that he is mentally slow and child-like. Lennie had large pale eyes and wide sloping shoulders (Steinbeck p. 2). Lennie, an innocent being, loved to touch “sof’ things” (Steinbeck p. 90). This infatuation led to deaths throughout the novel. Animals are symbolic in this novel. …show more content…
The first example is when Lennie breaks Curley’s hand. Curley was antagonizing him and George gave Lennie the permission to attack (Steinbeck p. 63). This greatly advances the plot by giving the reader an insight of Lennie’s strength. The second example of Lennie’s strength is the death of the puppy. The reader is told that the puppy went to bite Lennie (Steinbeck p. 87). This angered Lennie and the force of blow was enough to kill the puppy (Steinbeck p. 87). The last and final example of Lennie’s violence and strength is the breaking of Curley’s Wife’s neck. She let him touch her hair because it was soft. His hand got tangled and she began screaming. In the moment Lennie was trying to hush and accidentally broke her neck in the process (Steinbeck p. 90 – p. …show more content…
Some animals such as elephants or geese show characteristics of empathy. If a member of their family is injured they will stop their migration and help care for the fallen. Throughout the novel the reader sees that Lennie can also be kind. In the ending scenes it is depicted that Curley’s Wife and Lennie are in a barn together. Lennie tries not to initiate conversation but Curley’s Wife is persistent. Once she opens him up to conversation she learns that Lennie is a just a simple man who “likes to pet nice things”. (Steinbeck p. 90) The kindness that Lennie portrays is similar to that of a dolphin. Dolphins, when taken for rehabilitation, will help the others around them get into better shape. Even teaching others how to swim. Lennie is willing to pull all the vegetables he can just to make enough money to buy the land. All so he can pet the rabbits. Animals are in all characters, inside every human. Lennie is just one example of a character present in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Animals have many distinguishing characteristics. Some being negative, such as anger or territorial. Other characteristics can be considered nice. For example, kindness, sympathy, humor, or empathy. While Lennie is mentally slow and childlike he is an Animal. Whether he is a bear, cobra, or a dog. All other characters are animals
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.
Which then brings me to the next scenario in the book when a little more damage happening. “Let go Lennie” (Steinbeck 63) is what George shouted when Lennie was essentially breaking Curleys hand into little pieces. The quote resembles George having to keep Lennie from crushing Curley's hand even more. Lennie is strong but lennie can't seem to realize or make it click in his head because of Lennie's
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.
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.
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...
In Of MIce and Men Lennie often wants to pet nice things his favorite being a piece of velvet his aunt gave him. All throughout the story as Lennie pets the things he find soft he kills them because he doesn't realise he's petting a little too hard. “ I like to pet nice things.” (John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, 1937) “Lennie went back and looked at the dead girl. The puppy lay close to her.” When Lennie looks back at the dead girl or Curley's wife he realizes he has done a bad thing like before with the puppy. Through the death of the puppy and the mice John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to show how Curley’s wife will die. Lennie always kills the things he pets by
Following the beginning, Lennie is seen as a bit on the softer side contrary to George who was a heavy-tempered individual. We later find out that Lennie has a mental illness implied by language, communication and actions towards George and others. Demonstration of his illness was implied by: "I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead—because they was so little. I wish’t we’d get the rabbits pretty soon, George. They ain’t so little." (Steinbeck 4). Lennie’s childish personality and mistakes in the novel somewhat foreshadowed future events. George told Slim about the incident in Weed: “Well he seen this girl in a red dress...he just wants to touch everything he likes” (Steinbeck 41). George harshly remarked that his mistakes could get him in serious trouble, which was a vital, empowering statement within the novel that hinted at a dark
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.
Lennie accidentally killing all of his pets establishes that the theme of this novel is death and loss. These pets consist of mice, dogs, kittens, etc. Lennie loves to feel and pet animals, but he does not know his own strength. He kills them without really noticing what he has done, until George tells him that he did something wrong. After being scolded, Lennie is very remorseful about what he did. Once, after being yelled at Lennie says, “I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead- because they were so little (13).” Lennie’s remorse is probably more for upsetting George than it is for actually killing the animal.
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
With his disability, he needs something to feel connected to. He loves to pet furry and soft things. In chapter one in “Of Mice and Men”, Lennie and George are walking along a dirt road, on there way to a ranch. George discovers Lennie playing with something in his pocket. Lennie states to George before the dead mouse was taken away. ““ I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along”” (Steinbeck 6) . In order to prove that Lennie is not smart enough to fulfill the American Dream, Steinbeck creates Lennie to seem as not normal as possible. Steinbeck places Lennie in a state, where he does not understand right from wrong. He does not know nor understand, that playing with a deceased critter is not only gross but unacceptable as a
Since the beginning of the book, Steinbeck characterizes Lennie as a man who sees the world through the perspective of a child, as if it is a dream. Lennie is a big guy, but he acts like a baby. In the beginning of the story, after George threw the dead mouse Lennie was petting, Lennie was “…‘Blubberin’ like a baby!” (9). This juvenile action demonstrates Lennie’s immaturity and childish
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.
Curley's wife, an accident that seals his own fate and destroys not only his dreams but George's and Candy's as well. In the beginning Lennie used to pet mice that his Aunt Clara used to give him, he would always end up killing them because he didn't know his own strength. Lennie never killed any pet or person purposely; he pets too roughly and kills them accidentally. An example of his rough tendencies is in the first chapter (page7) when Lennie wants to keep a dead mouse and George wouldn't let him Lennie says" Uh-uh. Jus' a dead mouse, George.
John Steinbeck uses similes to build and create powerful characters that touch the hearts of readers. Throughout the story Lennie`s character grows to be stronger and stronger through Steinbeck`s use of similes. When George and Lennie arrive at the farm, George introduces himself and Lennie to the boss. George compliments on Lennie being a hell of a good worker and tells the boss Lennie was “Strong as a bull” (Steinbeck 22). Up till this quote, Lennie is thought to be a huge man, shapeless of face who walked very heavily until Steinbeck`s use of similes help uncover Lennie`s true character. John Steinbeck illustrates Lennie`s body and strength by comparing him to a large, heavy and physically powerful animal such as a bull. The use of similes helps in indirect characterization as well and adds to Lennie`s physical appearance and age. The use of similes in this quote helps to create a more powerful character and bring more ...