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Character analysis of lennie in mice and men
Character analysis of lennie in mice and men
Character analysis of lennie in mice and men
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In section 5 Curley’s wife approaches Lennie alone in the barn, after he has just accidently killed a puppy. ‘She said, “What you got there sonny boy” Curley’s wife has maintained her previous rudeness initially by calling Lennie a “sonny boy” the adjective “sonny” suggests she is laughing at his obedience to George, and exerting his power. However Steinbeck presents a different side of Curley’s wife as her body language towards Lennie is totally different, as “she knelt down beside him” this shows the desperation and loneliness of Curley’s wife wanting a friend. It could also suggest her equality with the men here that wasn’t there before as she notices there is a similarity between her and Lennie, how they are both isolated, no one understands …show more content…
Steinbeck uses verbs and adverbs like “quietly”, “consoles” and “spoke soothingly” to describe Curleys’ wife actions however earlier in the novella he used “she turned on him in scorn” which shows how her actions have changed depending on who she is talking to as before she was having an argument with Candy but now she is begging for a conversation with Lennie, which shows how she has two sides to her, good and bad. In addition to this we learn a little about Curley’s wife’s background as “she hurried before her listener could be taken way” which suggests she was afraid of her dream being taken away as the “her words tumbled out in passion of communication” which also shows how desperate she is to tell her story. The fact she is telling Lennie, and not any of the other characters shows the trust she see’s in him and it also shows her vulnerability as she “could a made somethin’ of myself” which clearly shows marrying Curley was her mistake and her happiness has been taken away. Our impression of Curley’s wife changes as the reader see’s a positive side to her as she had a dream she never
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.
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
Have you ever read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck? If so, you probably remember Lennie, George's companion. Throughout the novel, Lennie and George dream of having their own farm. They work on a ranch to save money for their dream farm. Lennie is a big, strong, man with rounded features. He is at times very forgetful, absent-minded, and one-dimensional.
Was George to harsh or too fast with his decision to kill Lennie? Ever since Lennie was born he has needed help “living” and it started with his aunt Clara. When his aunt Clara died Lennie needed someone to help him with his everyday life and someone that could be there and tell him what to do. Lennie starts to travel with a good family friend George. In the book “Of Mice and Men” there is many cases where Lennie just “holds on” to George. George realizes in the end of the book Lennie has done too much harm and needs to essentially go away. George then shoots Lennie in the back of the head because Lennie couldn't live on his own if he were to run away from Curly and the rest of the gang of workers coming after him. George did the right thing because Lennie was unstable and George knows lennie didn't mean to harm anything. He doesn't know his own strength and George really wasn't qualified to help Lennie learn that he is powerful beyond measure.
...nd a tease throughout the novella which shows that the men only view her as a sexual being. The workers assume that everything she does is to cause trouble and she is held responsible for her own murder as well as the situation forcing George to kill Lennie. It is apparent that Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife as a medium to bring to light the excessive sexism women faced during the Great Depression.
She is not allowed to be in the ranch workers’ bunk house and is also not supposed to talk to the ranch hands. She is practically owned by her husband, Curley. None of the workers pay attention to her because they know it will get them into trouble. Curley is very jealous and protective towards his wife. The ranch workers look at her as a ‘tart’ because she flirts with everyone. Curley’s wife is very lonely, she is the only women amongst all the men on the ranch. Steinbeck explains that she is not a person, she is just a symbol. She has no function, except to be a foil – and a danger to Lennie. She dreamed of becoming a famous movie star, but all her dreams crashed when she married Curley. Instead of following her dreams she had to settle for a lonely life on the ranch.
...r say anything. So she is stuck at a ranch where all the members there avoid her because she is trouble and can’t even run away because of her being a female in the early 1900’s made it almost impossible to survive on her own. She dresses a certain way to live out the American Dream the only way she can. She doesn’t dress that way to show off her body, she wants to feel like she is living her dream. She realizes that she is good looking and she uses that to her advantage to talk to some of the people at the ranch like Lennie. The only way she got to talk to Lennie was by letting him touch her hair. Steinbeck let Curley’s Wife die in such a peaceful way; I didn’t even realize she was dead until I read over the section multiple times. He left her there in the barn describing her beauty, showing the reader through Curley’s Wife that even the worst of us have humanity.
In this novel one of the obstacle is Curley's wife. She creates a big problem for all of the guys at the stable buck and evently is what get Lennie killed. A quote that shows this is “Bet she’d clear out for twenty buck”(Steinbeck 16). This quote shows that Curley's wife is a “Tart” and before this quote Lennie said “She's purty," said Lennie defensively”(Steinbeck 16) which shows that Lennie likes her. Another quote is “She gonna make a mess. They’s gonna be a bad mass about her. She’s jail bait all set on the trigger”(Steinbeck 25). This quote said by george says that she going to cause trouble and the outcome will be
Curley is a “thin young man with brown face, brown eyes, and a head of tightly curled hair.” Since he is pugnacious, he always pick a fight especially with guys who are bigger than him because he wants to prove his masculinity. Another way to prove himself was by marrying a women, Curley’s Wife. His wife was never given a name to begin with. John Steinbeck indicates that Curley’s Wife is in Curley’s Possession. He tries to isolates her from everyone but she sneaks in and tries to grab attention. Curley is very cocky and because of his attitude, he picks a fight with Lennie, oblivious to the danger he put himself in. Once George allows Lennie to fight back, he crushed Curley’s hand breaking every
Steinbeck also presents another view of Curley’s wife. In his omniscient description [form: overall writing technique] of her, he writes that she ‘bridles a little’ at Lennie’s attention; she is metaphorically shying away from the fixated attention. Steinbeck also unobtrusively mentions that she is a ‘girl’; both these observations suggest her innocence and vulnerability.
When Lennie kills Curley’s Wife, Steinbeck describes Curley's wife as a prettier figure. He writes, "The meanness and the planning’s of the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face." (p.128) This shows that now Curley's wife is dead, she now looks happy and has escaped from her loneliness.
The background into a character is one of the most important necessities for understanding a book. John Steinbeck uses certain repetitive imagery whenever describing a character to give readers an insight on their mannerisms and peculiarities. Among the images Steinbeck uses, the dog and the bear are the most important. John Steinbeck develops the persona and character of Lennie, a big, strong farmhand that is small minded,by the animal imagery that he uses to describe him and through this Steinbeck conveys his overall message about farmhands of the time.
Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to show how loneliness affects people. The men on the ranch talk bad about her behind her back. “’Jesus, what a tramp,” he said. “So that’s what Curley picks for a wife.’” (Steinbeck 32). This quote proposes the idea of judging someone by the way they look and not giving them a chance at friendship. They don’t talk to her because she is trouble. When George was conversing with Lennie, he told him not to talk to her or be near her because of how much trouble she’ll cause (Steinbeck 32). The men consider her a tart. On page 35, you will see the men call Curley's wife a tart behind her back. This passage proposes how various men would act back in the great depression creating people with trust issues. To conclude Curley's
In addition to her unhappy marriage to Curley, she was the only woman on the ranch. Curley’s wife desperately tried to gain a connection with anyone, but other ranch workers ignored her knowing the consequences they may receive from Curley for talking to his wife. She is also portrayed as a woman who is trying to draw attention to herself. As a result of her treatment, Curley’s wife felt that she did not even have the “right to talk to nobody”(Steinbeck 87). People on the ranch judged her for the way she dressed, they believed that she was trying to have a relationship with anyone she was talking to. Despite their allegations, Curley’s wife’s only intention was to have a conversation with someone, she wanted someone to empathize and understand her emotions. Due to her gender, Curley’s wife is treated like an object by her husband, as he disregards her feelings by going to Susy’s. In addition to Curley, she faces prejudice from other ranch workers who constantly refer to her by inappropriate names and oversaw that she is also a person who deserves respect, despite her gender. The only women with proper names were women with occupations or roles, such as Susy, it did not matter that her job was exploiting women, as Curley’s wife was looked down upon while she is not judged by the men. Prejudices against Curley’s wife leads her to be physically and
In multiple parts of the story George would say that Curley’s wife will get Lennie in trouble and cause problems. When Lennie and Curley’s wife are talking in the barn he tells her that “George’s scared I’ll get in trouble”, most likely because Curley had already fought with him. It is mentioned early in the book that Lennie is amazingly strong, but proven when he accidentally kills the puppy, “You ain’t so little as mice. I didn’t bounce you hard…” This means that when Lennie went to hit the pup, he didn’t know it would kill it. This is also proven when Lennie and Curley’s wife are in the barn talking. When Lennie says “I like to pet nice things…” in Document B, it may be foreshadowing for Curley’s wife’s death, since her hair was nice and he wanted to pet it. She also responds with “When I’m doin’ my hair sometimes I jus’ set an’ stroke it ‘cause it’s so soft...Feel right aroun’ there an’ see how soft it is.” Lennie, unfortunately, had killed the other soft things that he had pet, due to his large amounts of strength, which is how Steinbeck forshadowed her