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Great depression and literature essay
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Great depression and literature essay
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The novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ represents what life was life for all types of people during The Great Depression. From difference between disabilities, personal descriptions, and not being able to live independently. There are many characters that you could feel sympathy for it is all a matter of sorrow. In many ways Lennie is the most sympathetic character.
One of the oblivious reasons why the reader should feel sympathy for Lennie is because of his disability. We are aware that Lennie has a disability, but we are not aware of what type. He lacks common sense and is never aware of what is going on around him. Two lines from the novella that could confirm that Lennie is not aware of what is going on are; “I wasn’t kicked in the head with no horse, was I, George?” and “You said i was your cousin, George.” This is one way Steinbeck makes the readers sympathize Lennie is by having characters take advantage of Lennie’s inability to comprehend what is going on. For example, when Lennie is introduced to Crooks’ for the first time he torments him like a child. Crooks’ teases Lennie by mentioning George leaving him and never coming back.
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Lennie has the mind of a child and body of an adult, but he is too uncoordinated so his strength does not work to his advantage.
Throughout the story Lennie is being described by different types of animals. “Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, and with large, pale eyes, and a child wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.” At all times Lennie is either being compared to a child or some sort of animal. He lumbers around like a bear, but also has the mind of a
child. George is Lennie’s best friend, but has the responsibilities of a parent. If Lennie did not have George he would be lost, George would do anything to protect Lennie and assure his safety. That being said, Lennie can not live independently and he always has to have someone watching after him. That person happens to be George, which leads the readers to feel sorry for George because he has to constantly look after him. “God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble.” Lennie depends so much on George that he has developed a non social life. Throughout the story there were many factors that emphasized Lennie as being the one who should receive the most sympathy. In my opinion I see two characters of the story that both deserve sympathy from the audience, but Lennie deserves it the most. In Lennie’s life there is no one close enough to him that can relate to the same struggles that he had. There can be multiple ways to view sympathy, it just depends on how you understand it.
Lennie’s most powerful strength is his physical strength. In the beginning of the book John Steinbeck compared Lennie to an animal. Steinbeck wrote “ He walked heavily, dragging his feet a
The characteristics of mice are simple and feebleminded. A mouse is helpless, timid and oblivious. Few characters in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men possess such characteristics. Throughout the novel, Lennie exhibits the qualities associated with mice.
work, he states that Lennie is "…strong as a bull" and is "…a god damn
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
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 trouble in weed and George explains “Well he saw a girl in a red dress and a red dress and he just wanted to feel it and when he touched it the girl just starts yelling and all he can think to do is hold on” ( Steinbeck 41). The quote states or explains how Lennie can scare or harm people.
At the beginning, the author describes his movement using a metaphor, as Lennie “[drags] his feet… the way a bear drags his paws” (p.2), to show that he is much alike a bear physically. In addition, Steinbeck uses a simile to emphasize Lennie’s animal-like behaviour, as he “[drinks] wit long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse” (p.3). By comparing his physical and behavioural characteristics, this can foreshadow that the author implies that Lennie is seen as more animal than human because of his metal disabilities. George further makes it evident when he infers that “somebody [would] shoot [him] for a coyote if [he] was by [himself]” (p.12). This shows that people are scared of him and his unpredictable, animal-like behaviour because of the lack of understanding about mental health during the early 1900s. Furthermore, this can be the foundation for the theme where the lack of communication and understanding with the mentally disabled can lead to dire and tragic
Lennie is depicted in a very childlike manner throughout Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Accordingly, he acts in a manner that is persistent with a child in that his motivations precisely lead to his actions. He does not act in a pure sense of dishonesty, reflective of the purity that is peculiar to someone who is like a kid at heart.
Doing careless things can lead to the downfall of an individual. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Lennie does careless and thoughtless acts that lead to the downfall of himself and others around him. The careless actions of Lennie were apparent through Lennie and the pups, Lennie and Curley’s wife, and Lennie and George.
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
First, Lennie is a lonely outcast because he is retarded. One of the reasons he doesn?t fit in with the other ranch hands is because he doesn?t always understand what people are talking about. He doesn?t even always understand George. Lennie admits this when Crooks says to him, ?Sometimes he talks and and you don?t know what the hell he?s talkin? about.? (Steinbeck,77). But Lennie always needs companionship. He is never alone, even if he has a dead mouse or a puppy with him. George would sometimes punish Lenny by not letting him tend to the rabbits on the ranch. And Lennie?s biggest fear is of being abandoned by George:
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.
One feels a drag of sympathy on the heart at the conclusion of the book, Of Mice and Men, when Lennie states, “‘We got each other, that's what, that gives a hoot in hell about us.’”(104). Sympathy is in high demand throughout this novel, set during one of the darkest times in America. Steinbeck incites more than just sympathy for many of his multidimensional characters, an emotional appeal that captivates audiences from all walks of life. Steinbeck’s classic novel, Of Mice and Men, incorporates various characters that create sympathy in the reader, such as Lennie, George, and Crooks. The most sympathetic character created throughout Steinbeck’s novel is Lennie Smalls, whose untapped mental strength is in direct conflict with his overdeveloped physical strength.
Steinbeck shows that people will trust others because of their personal prejudices. Because of his mental disability, Lennie often acts in inappropriate ways that cause both him and George to lose their jobs. George complains to Lennie that “I got you! You can’t keep a job and lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shoving’ all over the country all the time. An’ the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (Steinbeck 11). Just like in Weed, a town that they have once worked at, Lennie and George has to hide from the townspeople because Lennie grabbed a woman’s dress in panic. Although Lennie acts with innocent intentions, the people around him simply do not spend the time to understand them. As soon as they move into the new farm, the boss and Curley display suspicion and even open hostility toward Lennie. They make their judgments about him before even trying to have a chance know him better. Even Crooks, also abandoned by society, regards him with contempt and disdain when Lennie first tries to enter his room. Lennie has no intention of hurting the other people, yet the people around him always feel uncomfortable around h...
Even though Lennie's last name is Small, he is, physically, just the opposite: a large man with great strength. This strength is represented numerous times throughout the novel. We first read about Lennie's strength in the opening scene, when Lennie accidentally kills the pet mouse in his pocket by petting it too hard. We also learn that, in fact, Lennie has killed other pets in the same manner in the past.
The characterization of George and Lennie’s friendship shows the importance of having a friend to be staunch for you. Here, when George and Lennie argue, they resolve to do whats best for eachother. “I was only foolin’, George. I don’t want no ketchup. I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me.” Lennie later adds: “I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it.”(Steinbeck 12) Lennie, although mentally disabled, still does what he can for George and only wants him to be happy because he knows how much George does for him. He can’t help himself, but when it comes to George he’ll do anything for him, because George gives him hope. Lennie gives George the ambition to succeed because George knows he has to succeed to support both of them. Lennie is later told by Crooks what it’s like to be lonely: “A guy needs somebody―to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick.” (Steinbeck 72) Without a friend, Crooks doesn’t have the brightest light for a great future because he has nobody to depend on like Lennie and Georg...