Lennie In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The book Of Mice and Men is written by John Steinbeck. In the book the two main characters George and Lennie go from farm to farm looking for work. Their most recent job has them living in a bunkhouse with other men working on the farm. Through thick and thin George and Lennie have stayed together, but things change once Lennie makes a mistake that can’t be made up for. Throughout the story Lennie is portrayed as an immature, ignorant person yet a devoted friend to George which makes it easy to feel sympathy for him. Lennie is shown to be an ignorant and unintelligent person through his actions and the way he speaks. In the book Lennie is put into many situations that require knowledge and an understanding that Lennie hasn’t caught onto yet. “ “Lennie” He said sharply. “Lenny, for god’ sakes don't drink so much.” Lennie continued to snort into the pool. The small man leaned over and shook him by the shoulder. “Lennis. You gonna be sick like you was last night.” Like shown in the above quote from Of Mice and Men characters such as George disagree with Lennie's decisions and feel the

Since Lenny relies on George so much he's never had practice at sticking up for himself and he doesn't know how to handle many situations. Lennie's strong appearance is the only thing that keeps him from being targeted by many characters, although some people don’t find him very threatening. “Lennie looked helplessly at George, and then he got up and tried to retreat. Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right.” By hurting Lennie, his trait adds more conflict to the plot of the story. More arguments/fights break out as a result of Lennie being the vulnerable person that he is. Each one of Lennie's traits strengthens his relationship with George but causes problems that affect his relationship with other