Lennie's Passion for Soft Objects in Of Mice and Men
Works Cited Missing
Definition of the word trace: follow, hint, and mark out. In this
essay I will trace in detail soft things that Lennie pets in the
novel, showing that the petting grows more serious as the novel goes
on. In the novel Lennie pets mice, he dreams about petting rabbits,
destroys someone's dress in Weed, hurts Curly's hand, kills a pup, and
kills Curley's wife. Bad things come in threes, Lennie's two
accidental killings of animals foreshadow the final killing of
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. I didn't kill it. Honest I found it. I found it dead."
The dead mouse is also an allusion to the novel's title, a reminder
that dreams will go wrong, even petting a mouse.
is in the air. Animals begin to scatter. Two men have arrived on the scene,
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.
At the beginning of the story Lennie and his Living assistant George were walking through the woods to there new job location and George looks over and says “Well that's a dead mouse” (Steinbeck 5). Which then we start seeing that Lennie is unstable because he is walking with a dead mouse in his hand. Is this really a problem though? Lennie states that his aunt Clara use to always give him a mouse and maybe he isn't crazy but maybe he is missing his aunt Clara and the mouse is a symbol of love that him and his aunt Clara once had.
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.
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...
“Well, you ain't pettin’ no mice while you walk with me” (Steinbeck 6). Lennie kills mice just by petting them. Lennie doesn't understand how strong he is and how easily he can kill things. It would benefit others if Lennie was not around. They could always find another strong man to work. Sadly, Lennie is just hopeless.
Lennie is unintelligent all throughout the story. “‘Uh-uh. Jus’ a dead mouse, George. I didn’t kill it. Honest! I found it. I found it dead.’” This quote shows that Lennie doesn’t understand that keeping a dead mouse as a pet is not sanitary and not the right thing to do. Another time, George was exclaiming to Slim that he once told Lennie to jump into the Sacramento River and there Lennie went, right into the river. This trait of Lennie’s effects the story because it got him and George kicked out of Weed when he wanted to feel a girl’s dress. It also got him into trouble when they got to their new job. His unintelligence gets him into more trouble as the story goes on making him anything but a sympathetic character.
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.
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 has little to no common sense. In chapter one in Of Mice and Men, Lennie states, " ' Jus' wanted to feel her dress- jus' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse' "(Steinbeck 11). This quote indicates that Lennie does not understand what is and what is not socially acceptable. He can only process his own needs and how to please them. In chapter one, Lennie says, " 'Uh-Uh. Jus' a dead mouse George. I didn't kill it. Honest! I found it. I found it dead' "(5). This quote shows that Lennie thinks having a dead mouse is okay. If you had common sense you would not keep a dead mouse in your pocket.
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
Curley's wife shouted at Lennie to let go of her hair before he ruins it, but he doesn't listen, then she started screaming and her screams triggered Lennie's anger; and before you know it, Lennie broke Curley's Wife's neck. This again proves how he doesn't mean to kill things but his strength and anger gets the best of him before he could even think straight. Hence, Lennie's innocence is proved with his child-like personality, his fondness of soft things and accidental killings. And due to his innocence, he suffered with a gunshot to the back of his head in the
George watches his longtime friend, Lennie, that he had travelled with and taken care of, “lay without quivering” (Steinbeck 106). In Of Mice And Men, Lennie is afflicted with a mental illness and George sticks by his side because of his issue. He forgets things very easily and the illness ruptures his judgement. George is always taking care of him, getting him out of the ‘bad thing’ Lennie has done this time. A little guy named Curley and his wife are stirring up trouble for George and Lennie. Curley is always watching Lennie under a microscope, and his wife has ‘the eye’. One day Curley’s wife, while seeking someone to talk to, tells Lennie to pet her hair. He does as she says, but soon she starts to cry out because he will not let go of her hair. Lennie accidentally snaps her neck while trying to get her to be quiet. Lennie immediately runs away and George follows him. George reminds Lennie of the dreams they have had together. To put Lennie out of his misery and struggles with getting into trouble, George picks up a
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...
“Of Mice And Men”, being a story about two men and their struggles, however never really going into detail of the mice in which were unjustly murdered. The mice slaughtered by Lennie were never really at fault for their actions. When being harshly petted by Lennie, the mice would only try to protect themselves, thus Lennie resorted to killing the mice in his own defense.