The Role Of Lennie's Motivations In Of Mice And Men

Andy Doan
Mr. Doring
English 2
12 November 2015
Lennie’s Motives and Actions
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.
The pattern.of motivations directly leading to.his actions can be seen throughout the novella. The first time the reader is popularized to Lennie is a moment in which his motivations directly lead to his actions. The desert wind that creates the heat which surrounds George and Lennie opens the novella. Steinbeck does not grind

words in describe the natural conditions that exercise influence on creatures, big and small: The timing allows those who are dehydrated to find a source of water, something that might not be able to be done as easily in the incandescent heat of the day. The motivation to find a water source and drink from it is what causes Lennie to submerge his head inside the first "green pool" of water that George and Lennie find: Lennie's motivations of needing to quench his dehydration is what drives him to drink from the small pond with so much power and energy. George expresses his hesitation in drinking from the same source when he says, Yet, to Lennie, this is problematic. He is thirsty. He sees a water source. He plunges his head in it to quench his thirst. In this illustration, motivations directly impact action.
When George admonishes Lennie for having the mouse, Lennie, like a child, justifies that he merely wants to pet it, just as he simply wants to pet the puppy and even Curley's wife's hair. Clearly, He has no motivations beyond the gustatory level with physical objects. Further, in other illustrations, Lennie's motivations continue to be based on the physical: comfort and safety. In Chapter 5 when, for instance, Crooks ridicules Lennie with the idea that George may not return from town, Lennie's reaction is based upon the fear that his best friend may not return, he retorts, "George wouldn't do nothing like that. I been with George a long time. He'll come back tonight.”
Lennie's motivations are not just merely physical.

There are moments in which they are driven out of an emotional need to show immortalization to George or show deference to him. In the altercation between Lennie and Crooks, the controversy of companionship is raised. Crooks lives a life alone and he possesses a sense of enviousness towards the friendship that Lennie have a hand in with George. When Crooks wanted to make his point, he talks to Lennie about how his (Lennie's) world would fundamentally change if George left and went out on his own: Crooks advances this in discussing with Lennie the assumption such an action, suggesting that George might simply fall victim to getting hurt. However, Lennie paraphrases this vision as a threat of harm against George: At this moment, Lennie threatens Crooks through body language and voice inflection because of his motivation to chaperon George. The motivation of bulwarking George initiates his actions of becoming aggressive, something that Crooks immediately realizes in backing down from his initial stance. Lennie's motivations to champion George inspire his actions in wishing to do harm to anyone or anything that would cause danger to George.
In particular, the thought of owning a farm on which he can tend and pet his own rabbits appeals to Lennie's childlike desire for fantasy brought to life and his desire for a safe place to call home. In the end, Lennie's motivations throughout Steinbeck's novella are nothing short of "the inarticulate and powerful yearning of all men," elemental ones that lie within the heart of all men from their childhood: safety, love, comfort, physical pleasure, and a little bit of heaven in

dreams.