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Critique of mice and men
Character of lennie in off mice and men
Critique of mice and men
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In the book of mice and men there were many indecencies that occurred that involved some discomfort for the other charter and possibly even some confusion. There can be an argument to witch charter received the worse end of the discomfort. Lennie was placed in many situations that made him uncomfortable. He was a big guy but wasn’t all that bright. George looked out for him as best as he could be even then Lennie tended to do things to make things difficult or even on edge. So it might even be George who fell victim to the brut end of the discomfort or in other words the worst life out of all the other charters. After reading the book of Mice and Men I personally believe that Lennie has the worst life out of all the other charters. He aint …show more content…
Lennie doesn’t know his own strength. He couldn’t pet animals because he would always kill them. He just liked soft things. But every time he pets soft things he either kills the animal or gets into trouble. That is why George and Lennie left weeds (PG41) “Well, he seen this girl in a red dress. Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch everything he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel the red dress and the girl lets out a squawk, and gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on because that’s the only thing he can think to do.” All Lennie wanted to do was touch the ladies dress. He is just not mentally strong. And honestly if it wasn’t for George Lennie would have been hung or killed a long time ago. It must be hard when you don’t understand certain things that can label a person. Especially when someone is just too dumb to realize what is going on. It makes life much more difficult. Another thing to think about is that when you are mentally challenged trying to find a job especially in that day and age it is just about
One of the reasons why George should have killed Lennie is to keep him out of an institution. It is clearly not on the bright side for Lennie to be put in an institution. This is backed by Slim saying “…An’ s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain’t no good, George.”(pg. 97) Lennie would obviously be miserable without George anyway, his only kind friend. Without George, Lennie wouldn’t know a lot of things he does now, or what to do in situations. Lennie has one of the rare mentalities that always needs someone by their side. These are all good reasons that it would be a good thing for George to put Lennie away rather than in an institution.
In chapter one, George and Lennie are introduced onto the scene and you get to know them a little bit and you get to see how they are related/ their relationship. When I read this first part, I could tell that George was pretty much Lennie’s caretaker and it was his job to find Lennie a job and make sure he ate enough and stayed a live. He kind of resented having to drag Lennie around (pg 11~12: “Well we ain’t got any!” George exploded. “Whatever we ain’t got, you want. If I was alone I could live so easy… But wadda I got? I got you. You can’t keep a job and you loose me every job I get.”), because Lennie’s a bit slow and he messes up a lot. He tries really hard to be good and listen to what George tells him to do, but in the end of every situation, Lennie forgets what George told him beforehand and sometimes it creates a little trouble (pg 45~46: “Well, he seen this girl in this red dress. Dumb like he is, he likes to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do. Well, this girl just squawks and squawks. I was jus’ a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on. I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go. He was so scairt he couldn’t let go of the dress. And he’s so strong, you know… Well, that girl rabbits in an’ tells the law she’s been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in an irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day.”). But when you look at them, you can tell that George is...
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.
Lennie has always been told what to do by George. George really helps him through problems that keep happening during the book. Lennie is incapable to live because he does not know his strength and George has to play the role as a living assistant for Lennie. Lennie does not mean to harm but because of his condition he essentially harms people. In the book it explains the
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 was not very smart and couldn't do much by himself. He had to be told what to do or he wouldn't do anything at all. He fits all the profiles for a retarded person. He doesn't have any self-control. When he starts to panic he gets out of control and even kills Curly's wife because she starts to scream. Lennie loves animals and can't stop talking about them. He always says that when they get their own place that he wants lots of rabbits, his favorite animal. To him George is like his father figure, since Lennie never really had any parents. He is easily amused and panics quickly.
First, when Lennie sticks his head in the scummy water from the stream in the beginning of the book it shows his inability to think things through before he carries through with them. Another example includes when he grabbed the woman’s dress in Weed. He did not think it through when a normal fully mentally capable person would be able to think that grabbing a strange woman’s dress would not be appropriate. Similarly, he almost duplicates the situation except this time instead of finally letting go of the dress he accidentally killed Curley’s wife resulting in a worse outcome than the situation in Weed. Lennie is unable to think for himself in a safe and well opinionated manner, therefore, he needs someone like George to take care of him and prevent him from bad situations. However, the worse part about Lennie’s neverending trilogy of mistakes is that he does not learn from them. He makes the same mistake of killing multiple mice because he pets them too hard and never learns to be more gentle. George states in the novel ,”He’s awright. Just ain’t bright. But he can do anything you tell him.” (Steinbeck 22) This statement shows that though George is telling the boss how well he can work, he is also expressing how he doesn’t make decisions for himself and that he needs George to take care of him. George also says,” Yeah, you forgot. You always forget, an’ I got to talk you out of it.” (Steinbeck 23) This statement also portrays some of the reason he doesn’t learn from his mistakes. Lennie has a very difficult time remembering anything other than instructions that George gives him. George could not have just let Lennie go because he would not be able to make good decisions, nor could he take care of himself on his own, therefore George made the right decision to end Lennie’s
Right off the bat, Lennie is described as lesser, and rather than helped he is given a “slap on the wrist”. To begin with, Lennie is always described as less capable or unable to do certain activities to the extent of others. For example, at the beginning of the book George and Lennie were attempting to get a job. George always said, “He can do anything, just give him a try” (22). George implied that the likelihood of Lennie receiving a job is significantly less due to him being disabled. Lennie being less likely to receive a job due to his mental disability shows discrimination and expresses how difficult it could have been for a mentally handicapped person to get a job during this era. Moving forward, rather than George helping Lennie, Lennie is put down and scolded for his mistakes. During a scene between Lennie and George, George exclaimed, “You forget. You always forget, an’ I got to talk you out of it” (23). As it is not necessarily Lennie’s fault, George is in the wrong to put down Lennie for his actions. However, rather than attempting to help Lennie, George puts him down for his mistakes and then is forced to apologize for his own actions later. Lennie is a prime example of oppression against the mentally disabled in Of Mice and Men.
It is very apparent that each of the four characters in the two friendships feed off of each other. In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are very different, yet they need one other. George is a very independent, loyal, and caring person who takes care of Lennie because Lennie is unable to take care of himself. Although George makes it seem like he would be better off without Lennie, George makes it clear that without him he would be better off. This is evident because of this conversation h regularly had with Lennie” I could go get a job an’
Lennie’s illness was seen as common and nothing to take concern over, which pertains to the vague yet soft sympathy from George whom “babysits” Lennie. George was an older brother to Lennie in a sense, helping him to get through life without any mishaps. However for George, Lennie’s illness determined their income and job status. In several incidences, Lennie overreacted in certain situations causing them to lose or leave their job spontaneously. At different points in the book, George became frustrated with Lennie: “You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (Steinbeck 12). This showed the overall frustration yet compassion towards Lennie, however extreme concern. According to Lennie, when he killed the puppy he said: “Why do you got to get killed, you ain’t as little as mice I didn’t bounce you hard” (Steinbeck 85). This really brought out the fact that Lennie’s illness was not to be tempered with, as he really couldn’t ever contemplate the harsh, unintentional things he’s done. When George and Lennie arrive at their new job, tension rises in the book and the author brings out that possible aspect of Lennie unintentionally doing something wrong which in turn would cause them to lose their job--or
Based on the past of the two characters, they were in a cycle of getting a job, Lennie making a mistake, and moving to another job. In Weed, Lennie accidentally held onto a woman's dress and wouldn’t let go out of fear. This ultimately led to the two moving to Soledad, where Lennie yet again becomes scared and kills Curley’s wife. A vicious cycle was beginning to form from the two moving around for work, and these events could have continued on and on; Lennie would’ve eventually met a rough end. Based on the time period that Of Mice and Men takes place in, those with mental illnesses would not have been treated well. People did not accept or help those who had a mental illness, like Lennie, and would have thrown them into mental facilities. The facilities of the early 1900s were unsafe, and the people inside them were mistreated horribly. Eventually, Lennie would’ve ended up in a place where he would be tortured everyday, and George gave him the out that would protect him from the pain that society could inflict. That pain would eventually be inflicted upon Lennie, as he did kill someone, and he might have been turned into jail to be locked up for the rest of his life. It can be agreed that Lennie didn’t deserve jail, not when he never meant to harm anyone. “I didn’t wanta hurt him,” (Steinbeck 64) Lennie had said after he broke Curley’s hand. He had the innocence of a child who would never mentally grow older, leading to him constantly doing things that no one would forgive him for except
George’s love for Lennie is simply an unconscious effort to make up for Lennie’s mental weakness, yet at the same time his sentiment and kindness is out of sympathy. In chapter one, it is apparent to the reader that Lennie does have a slight mental impairment, but we do not yet know how acute it actually is. For example, when George asks Lennie what he has in his pocket, Lennie responded, “Ain’t a thing in my pocket,” (Steinbeck 5) as if he were intelligent. George knew something was in Lennie’s pocket, yet Lennie still tried to act as if there was nothing there. This gives the reader just a quick glimpse into the thought process of this complex character that is actually quite unpretentious.
From the very beginning you see that Lennie is a very innocent person and sometimes doesn’t understand what is going on. There is a great example at the beginning of the story, George and Lennie are in the clearing before they go to the ranch and they’re making camp for the night. ”’tha’s good,' he said. 'you drink some George. You take a good big drink.’ he smiled happily”'(3). George has just yelled at him for drinking too fast, but he is too innocent to realize it. Lennie also showed innocence when he is told to jump into Sacramento River. “‘An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in. Well, I ain’t done nothing
This started when Lennie saw a girl in a fine-looking dress. Since Lennie is mentally handicapped, he cannot control himself from grabbing on to her dress. When George was talking to Slim, he explained what happened. He said, “He just scared her. I 'd be scared too, if he grabbed me. But he never hurt her. He just ' wanted to touch that red dress, like he wants to pet them pups all the time." (42). This girl proclaimed that Lennie raped her but he actually just grabbed on to her red dress and did not release. This is a representation of Lennie 's lack of self control because he could not stop himself from going over to the girl and touching the dress. As the poor girl squeaked and struggled Lennie just kept holding on. He did not understand what was going on or why she was screaming. This made him angry and caused him to hold on stronger. If George had not been there to pull Lennie away from the girl, he would of hurt her or possibly even killed
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.