Strength As Lennie's Worst Enemy in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

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Strength As Lennie's Worst Enemy in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men Is Lennie's own strength his worst enemy? To assess this I need to look into many areas. First we need to look at how strong Lennie really is. Then I need to look at the advantages and disadvantages of having this kind of strength. After this I would need to establish if Lennie has any control over his strength or if he has any aggressive tendencies towards anyone. And finally I need to investigate the ranch conditions. I will attempt to persuade you that Lennie's own strength is not his own worst enemy, and that it is his inability to control this strength that leads to his inevitable downfall. Lennie is certainly strong; in the very opening of the book he is described as a bear and is constantly referred to in animal terms. He enjoys "pettin'" soft things, puppies, rabbits and mice but he is so strong that he kills them with his fingers as he did in chapter one whilst George and Lennie were walking along. In chapter three Curley starts a fight with him but after George tells Lennie to fight back Lennie easily crushes Curley's hand. Lennie is physically well co-ordinated and is capable of doing repetitive manual jobs (bucking barley or driving a cultivator) with skill. This makes things a little easier for George to find them jobs. In chapter two George has to convince the boss to let them stay and work, he states that Lennie is "…strong as a bull" and is "…a god damn good worker". However it is this strength that was the reason why they had to leave Weed. Lennie would not let go of a girl's dress he wanted to pet because he panicked when the girl started to panic, which led to the pair leaving town under a rape charge. Lennie is a massive, extremely strong man, but has the mind of a child. Slim is one of the first characters to notice this, remarking that Lennie is "jes' like a kid" in chapter three when he brings in

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