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Analysis of John Steinbeck
Literary analysis of two kinds
Literary analysis of two kinds
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In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck develops Lennie into a beloved but rather stoic character to pull at the heartstrings of his readers. Lennie loves to pet soft things, is blindly devoted to George and their vision of the farm, and possesses incredible physical strength. John Steinbeck also makes Lennie seem doomed from the beginning. Steinbeck develops Lennie’s character through dialogue throughout the story. When Lennie is first introduced in the story it is done by George scolding him about his memory “‘So you forgot that awready did you?’” (Steinbeck 4). The quote gives an insight into Lennie’s life and how he is very forgetful. His forgetfulness is part of what makes him doomed in life. Lennie is also portrayed as a static and flat character.
Almost every time he is introduced he is described the same way. In the beginning,George introduces Lennie to the boss by saying “‘Oh! I ain’t saying he’s bright. He ain’t. But I say he’s a God damn good worker. He can put up a found hundred pound bale.”’ (Steinbeck 22). Lennie is often introduced to people this way showing how his ways never really change. Steinbeck doesn’t give a lot of information about Lennie’s character in general making him more lovable in a way. When Lennie talks to Crooks the book shows Lennie’s naturally kind charisma by describing the situation; “Crooks scowled, but Lennie’s disarming smile defeated him.” (Steinbeck 69). The fact that even Crooks can relax and talk with him shows just how nice and innocent Lennie’s character is. Lennie’s lovable and unchanging innocence make the story the heart wrenching tale it is.
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.
Lennie, like a mouse, is helpless. Lennie relies on George to think for him like mice rely on scraps of food from the dinner table to eat.
Although Lennie was unattractive and has the tendency of accidental violence, compassion was still something readers had for him. Steinbeck constantly reminded us that he has a mental disability which automatically makes someone feel pity for him. Additionally he was ignored and made fun of by other characters, “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you”(Steinbeck 10). Him getting in trouble was beyond his control because of his mental disability which is something else that makes a reader feel sympathetic for him. Also, the readers are solicitous towards Lennie because of how much he looks up to George. This is portrayed when Crooks asks Lennie what he would do if George never came back, “Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?”(Steinbeck 70). Because of his inability to comprehend information, he got extremely defensive and said, “George is careful. He won’t get hurt” (Steinbeck 70). This scene is crafted in such a way that it automatically
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.
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.
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
As aforementioned they lived in the Great Depression a time where achieving the American Dream was almost impossible to do, especially with all the farms being lost in Oklahoma. Most of the character's perspectives of Lennie was that he was most simply a passive aggressive retard. Later in the novel the reader notices that he is incredible strong which serves to positive and negative effects in the story. Also, his thinking pattern is rather awkward or odd for someone of his age because what keeps him concentrated is this depiction of a farm where they will ¨tend the rabbits..build up a fire in the stove¨ (Steinbeck 14) which makes him mentally ill. When something is said to him about animals, he would instantly recognise with this desire, but for everything else, he is pretty much a useless man but other people who were willing to listen like Slim and Crooks who get to know him understood that he is if anything vulnerable which is what many characters were even
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.
In my opinion, Lennie Small is the most interesting character in Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck does a very good job describing and characterizing Lennie's personality. Lennie's character is, indeed, quite unique. A large man with enormous strength, yet kind and childlike, he seems to find joy in simple life pleasures like petting a furry animal and making the water ripple. Lennie's greatest difficulty seems to be remembering; and it is the lack of the ability to remember that ultimately leads to his tragedy at the end of the book. In the novel, Steinbeck seems to reinforce Lennie's characteristics of strength, kindness, childlike manner, and somewhat animal-like personality. In this paper, I will focus on these characteristics.
Lennie apologized to George for killing the mice; he told him that the reason for killing the mice was because “they bit my[Lennie’s] fingers” but he only “pinched their heads a little”(Steinbeck 10). Lennie’s guilt drives him to apologize about the mice but he appears to underestimate his own strength because he claimed that he vaguely pinched their heads, but Lennie being a vast man, that couldn't have been the case. He didn't know the consequences of pinching the mice even after he had done it so many times. This shows the lack of perception he holds, meaning he can't become cognizant of the things happening around him on his own, causing the reader to initiate sympathy for Lennie. Lennie’s immaturity is so big it can be misunderstood for cleverness. George sharply asks Lennie to give him the object from his pocket but he claims “ I ain't got nothin’”but later on admits he has a dead mouse but [George] insists to “ have it”,but George insisted to have the mouse then he “slowly obeyed”(Steinbeck 5-6). It appears as if Lennie was being clever but by handing the mice to George, his childish behavior is revealed. His ingenuous acts portray identically to a child influencing the reader to gain sensitivity to the way Lennie is treated. The way Lennie understands the world and process thoughts makes him mentally stable, for a child. Not only is he innocent but he is also ironically characterized.
In the book Of Mice And Men, Lennie got into some trouble when he accidentally killed Curley’s wife. He did not mean to, but when he was touching her hair, he was to rough and Curley’s wife was loud so Lennie went to make her quiet and shook her too hard, causing her neck to break. George found out and the other guys were going to lynch Lennie, but george decided to kill him instead. This was a good decision that George made. It stopped Lennie from getting into anymore trouble. Also, it was not safe for Lennie to be in society for what he might do to different people of that certain community.
Justified: having, done for, or marked by a good or legitimate reason. So the question being asked here is, is somebody justified or not for committing a crime? Crime can be a good thing but yet also, a bad thing. Whether it is robbing a bank or stealing food to feed your family or even killing someone, the being asked is if it is justified. Killing someone can be something that should not of happened, but it could also be a good thing. The killing of someone could be to save a life or to release anger out of yourself. The commitment of a crime is always questionable to be justified or something bad that has been done. In the story ‘Of Mice And Men’ written by John Steinbeck, a character named George faces a rough decision and kills a character named
Lennie is forgetful, kind, oblivious, and has a mental disorder. George is impatient, mean, and harsh. They are different physically because Lennie is much more muscular than George.
“The great thing about friends is that they bring a new energy to the soul” (Shanna Rodriguez). In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George, one of the main characters, deals with the consequences of his friend Lennie’s frequent misunderstandings. In the end of the novel Lennie makes a mistake that ends up taking his friendship and life. Of Mice and Men has many examples of both positive and negative relationships. The most positive relationship occurs between Lennie and George. George had told Lennie how he had felt about the situation the occurred in Weed. Once George had told him how he felt, Lennie suddenly became miserable and George had to react quickly, “‘ I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me’”(p13).
George and Lennie have been together for a long time and have been thinking about there future they have an unbreakable bond they will have there backs no matter how hard there life gets they been living in the streets together and they been thinking about there plan for the future and they been through thin and thick and Lennie says that he has George to look after him and him to look after George they have been thinking about the lives together a lot they hope they will have a nice future together on a farm and have chickens cows pigs goats rabbits big furry rabbits like they saw at the Sacramento fair ¨Georges went on with us it aright like that we dint have to sit in no bar room blowing in our jackets just because we got no place to go