...Analysis of Major Characters Lennie Although Lennie is among the principal characters in Of Mice and Men, he is perhaps the least dynamic. He undergoes no significant changes, development, or growth throughout the novel and remains exactly as the reader encounters him in the opening pages. Simply put, he loves to pet soft things, is blindly devoted to George and their vision of the farm, and possesses incredible physical strength. Nearly every scene in which Lennie appears confirms these and only these characteristics. Although Steinbeck’s insistent repetition of these characteristics makes Lennie a rather flat character, Lennie’s simplicity is central to Steinbeck’s conception of the novel. Of Mice and Men is a very short work that manages to build up an extremely powerful impact. Since the tragedy depends upon the outcome seeming to be inevitable, the reader must know from the start that Lennie is doomed, and must be sympathetic to him. Steinbeck achieves these two feats by creating a protagonist who earns the reader’s sympathy because of his utter helplessness in the face of the events that unfold. Lennie is totally defenseless. He cannot avoid the dangers presented by Curley, Curley’s wife, or the world at large. His innocence raises him to a standard of pure goodness that is more poetic and literary than realistic. His enthusiasm for the vision of their future farm proves contagious as he convinces George, Candy, Crooks, and the reader that such a paradise might be possible...
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...Anon 6.3.15 Per. 2 Literary Analysis: Of Mice And Men In the book Of Mice And Men here are many there are many ropy that take place in this novel, for example the mental health of Lennie. The character Lennie helps the author John Steinbeck, show how people with mental health issue would've been treated in those days by Lennie's childish behavior and the affect it has in his actions , how he's dependent on George and the way he's treated, his forgetfulness and the outcome of the novel. The behavior of Lennie is childish as it's demonstrated in this quote."Lennie who had been watching, imitated George exactly. He pushed himself back, drew his knees, embraced them, looked over to George to see whether he had done it just right. He pulled down his hat a little more over his eyes, the way George's hat was." He's trying to copy George just like a child copies their parent. Since Lennie was watching George, he was trying to copy the position that George was in. When Lennie is copying George's position, Lennie looks over to George to make sure that he's "done it just right." Therefore George treats him like a child. On the other hand, everyone else but Slim and Candy don't treat him like so. An example of that would when Curley mistakens Lennie's smile as if Lennie is making fun of him. But that's not the case because he is smiling over the idea of taking care of the bunnies. Therefore Curley ends up picking a fight with Lennie and loses. In the book it shows that...
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...Quote analysis: Pull directly from quote, connect to topic sentence, connect to thesis. Discrimination in Of Mice and Men All throughout American history, minorities have been mistreated. In the John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, prejudice influences the way the ranchers treat others. Curley’s Wife, Crooks, and Candy are excluded because of gender, race, age, or disability. This bias results in these people feeling lonely and inferior. In Steinbeck’s novella, multiple characters experience alienation due to discrimination by other ranchers. Throughout the novella, Curley’s Wife is isolated from the male workers several times due to her gender. This is portrayed when the men in the bunkhouse argue with Curley about his wife, when they try to avoid Curley’s Wife because they view her as a nothing more than a distraction because they think her beauty is her only valuable characteristic. Carlson says, “Why’n’t you...
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...Picture writing a perfectly great essay on a computer/laptop, yet soon after it ran out of battery and it shuts off without it saving. The title is important because it hides a meaning in it in “Of Mice and Men.” This relates to the theme of the novel because of what went on. A specific quote supporting speaker’s role as a symbol in the novel. Of Mice and Men has its hidden meaning and similarities, but also supporting a speaker’s role in a quote. Of Mice and Men has it’s own title come from a poet’s poem and also a meaning. The poet is Robert Burns and his poem is called,”To a Mouse”. To a Mouse talks about being either a mouse or a man and how life is cruel. The mouse was the victim of the man who ruined the mouse’s nest, which the mice worked so hard on but the man plowed it down while he was plowing the field basically saying deal with it. Both mice and men are similar because they both suffer and die to the very end....
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...Poor ol’ Lennie Many things in life go wrong sometimes, we lose a job or or even a house at times. Friends come and go, even family members get sick. But personally, I don’t think there is a person who has it harder than Lennie from the book, Of Mice and Men. He goes through so much to find things that make him happy or proud of himself then George just puts him down right after. Lennie doesn’t know any better though. He thinks just like a kid, but how can you handle a kid who’s bigger and stronger than you? There’s no way he could survive on his own, which is another reason why we will all say. Poor ol’ Lennie. There are many things that the reader finds out about Lennie. He has Autism, his Aunt died very early on, and George did some mean things to him. Autism? But Lennie has gotta be a young boy traveling with a family member. Think again. Lennie does act like a small child but not because he is young, he can’t help it, his mental state isn’t everything it should be....
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...At one point or another, everybody has felt or been lonely in their life. In the short story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, every character has felt alone, even George and Lennie. Even though these two had each other, they had felt lonely, or even had the fear of being lonely. All the guys on the farm had each other and they were still lonely. Sometimes even the best of two people have to be broken, and they do feel lonely after. You could have the best relationship with someone, but at some point in your life there was a bit of loneliness. Just because you have friends or a wife, you can still feel alone and be alone, or even have the fear of being alone. Curley had a wife and they had both felt alone. Like, when Lennie had George, everybody was teling him that George might not come back. He was so scared of losing him, he had the fear of being alone. On page 71 Lennie said “‘George won’t do nothing like that.’ ‘George is careful. He won’t get hurt’”...
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...Suicide"). Was the death of Lennie in Of Mice and Men an act of euthanasia or murder? This question has been posed many times since the publication of the novella. Many people believe that George ending Lennie’s life is euthanasia, while others think that George actually murders his friend. The circumstances under which Lennie is killed in Of Mice and Men are those of euthanasia. A significant reason why Lennie’s death is a matter of euthanasia is in the definition of euthanasia itself. Euthanasia is ending a life to prevent or relieve suffering. In the novella, Lennie would have to endure worse suffering if George doesn’t shoot him and kill him. He could face a slow, painful death or being locked up in prison. In the book, it says, “We oughta let ‘im get away. You don’t know that Curley. Curley gon’ta wanta get ‘im lynched” (Steinbeck 94). A further example that Lennie’s death is euthanasia is in the fact that George makes sure that Lennie is happy and not in any pain before he meets his demise. George...
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... Two weeks passed and it happened again. Mister Lennie told me that a few days ago. He is the old man that lives next door to me in the apartment complex. I lived in 33Q and him in 34Q. Mister Lennie used to be a quiet, calm old man, but now he’s all nutty. He swears that there is something living under his carpets and nothing he does will make it go away. The first few nights, everyone wakes up to him screaming and all the lights in the complex turn on. But now, no lights turn on and no one wakes up. He’s almost like just background noise. No one cares for the ornery old man, which makes me very upset. We all grew up in this apartment complex with Mister Lennie, but now no one seems to care for him. But I’m determined to make this man stay healthy and strong, so I call in Empire Today. But, even with the carpet change, Mister Lennie was still screaming at night and not coming out of his house for any reason. Now, I’m going to take matters into my own hands for now on. I walked up to apartment door 34Q with a basket of bread and jam in my hands. He was going to eat something if it was the last thing I did! I knocked rhythmically on the door, letting Mister Lennie know that it was me. When I heard no response I knocked once more. No one responded. I grabbed the doorknob before turning it clockwise- it was unlocked. A cold chill ran down my spine as I nudged open the door. “Mister Lennie…?” I called out quietly before I walked in and closed the door behind me. “Mister Lennie?”...
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...Thomas Steiner 03/04/10 Hour 5 Lennie Will Never Change During the great depression families and workers were forced to walk the country in search of jobs. Some kept moving to new locations in hope of living the American dream by getting a house of their own and living on it. In the Novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, two characters, Lennie Small and George Milton, are migrant workers living and working on a farm in Soledad, California for a low pay. George is taking care of Lennie because Lennie is mentally handicapped. They both have a dream in which they buy a few acres of land and “live off the fat of the land.” Throughout the story Lennie is shown as a static character through external conflict, motivation, and complication. In the beginning, Lennie and George are being chased by a bunch of workers who want to kill them. Later in the story the author gives more details as to why they were being chased. Lennie had grabbed on to a girls dress because of an attraction he has to touching soft things. The girl started screaming and accused Lennie of raping her. George repeats multiple times that Lennie, “’…don’t mean no harm’” (36) , and the reader can tell he does not seeing he acts like such a kid. This attraction to soft things causes multiple complications throughout the story and you would think Lennie would learn, yet he always forgets and does the same thing. Also, there were external conflicts between Lennie and his boss’s son Curley. Candy had informed...
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...In the 1930’s there were lots of hardships during the Great Depression this made lots of people become unemployed. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck it is a novella released in 1937 which tells a tale of two workers named George and Lennie, who lost their old job in Soledad and are going to their new job at the ranch. Largely the ending Of Mice and Men was inevitable because of these following themes; American Dream, cruel society, particularly targeting minorities and friendships helping to build empathy. It was inevitable that George and Lennie will never get their own ranch because of the American Dream. The American Dream is an impossible vision that leads to disappointment this is equaled through how the workers don’t have empathy. Workers...
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...poverty.” In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, we see that loneliness was an issue even in the era of George and Lennie. At different parts throughout the story, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife all feel lonely and have to face different types of loneliness. Throughout the book, Steinbeck tells us about a somewhat disabled, black man, named Crooks, and shows us his loneliness in the form of discrimination. Crooks shows this loneliness on page 72 by saying,”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 a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.” Crooks, the stable buck, spends his time sitting alone in the stable. Crooks is discriminated, and...
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...makes you feel sad/bad for someone and a lot of times makes you wish you could help them. In the book of mice and men a story about two main characters that rely on each other and friendship to live life by John Steinbeck there are levels of sympathy that you feel for characters , some deserving more than others. I believe that curlys wife deserves sympathy , crooks deserves more sympathy , and lennie deserves the most sympathy. I...
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...Euthanasia is a legal way to die by the hands of a doctor. Euthanism can provide a better quality of life by helping individuals who worry about their own death not stress about dying a painful death. Euthanism can be found in Steinbeck’s novel in a couple cases. The first form of euthanasia is when Carlson took Candy’s dog and shot him because Carlson found him to be too old and made the bunk room smell. The second is when George euthanizes Lennie. Even though many readers may have wanted Lennie to be locked up or to run away, mercy killing him was the best choice in Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men. George helping Lennie to run away is the first possible ending to the novel. Lennie could have run away with George if they had been fast enough. If the had gotten away they may have gone to another town or farm to find...
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...Everyone has aspirations is life. Whether they are to become a scientist, discover new and amazing things, or become a star basketball player and be the highest paid player in the league; people dream about their future. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a story about two men’s, George and Lennie, eagerness of owning their own ranch. The readers follow them through the obstructions that stand in the way of that eagerness, which reveals the nature of dreams, loneliness, and sacrifice. Ultimately, Lennie, the mentally handicapped man who makes George's intention of owning his own ranch worthwhile, becomes the biggest hurdle to achieving that target. Through his use of characterization, imagery and setting, and symbolism in Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck demonstrates that dreams serve as an incentive, particularly when one is faced with the adversities of life. Steinbeck’s diction reveals that dreams cause people to persevere in attempts to accomplish their goals.On Sunday nights, all the ranchmen go to the club and the “weak ones” get left behind: Candy, Crooks, and Lennie. Lennie decides to go into the barn to play with his dog and while he is in there he gets approached by Crooks, the stable buck. At first Crooks is...
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...Consider these two words. Selfishness and selflessness. The first one is , by definition, is lacking consideration for others, or caring about one’s personal gain over another. The playwright Oscar Wilde put it this way. “Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” Curley’s wife, as she is only known by, is the only female. She is married to a complete jerk and is desperate to be understood by someone who will just listen to her. Believing that her only chance to have a happy life was ruthlessly taken from her by her parents, she marries a jerk on a whim and is expected to live the rest of her life on a ranch inhabited only, by men. Desperate to make friends to get the attention she never...
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