...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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...In John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are two up and coming pioneers of the state of California, looking for a steady ranch job to help them earn the money to buy a piece of land to live off. On one afternoon, Curley’s egotistical, strumpet wife visited Lennie in the ranch barn. Curley’s wife tried seducing Lennie, which ended in Lennie accidentally snapping her neck. Lennie was told previously if he caused trouble again to hide in the bushes, that which he did leading up to Lennie’s death. George was wrong to kill Lennie because it was his responsibility to take care of him, and George promised Lennie a future and failed to deliver. George should not have killed Lennie because George had an obligation to take care of Lennie. Yet he never even tried protecting him from Curley’s gang. As was written by Steinbeck multiple times; when Carlson realized George and Lennie were different from all the others because the two were looking for a steady ranch job....
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...OF MICE AND MEN John Steinbeck is an American novelist. He was born on the 27th of January 1902 in Salinas California and died in the 20th of December 1968 of heart disease and congestive heart failure at the age of 66. He was of German, Irish and English descent. He was a college dropout from Stanford University back in 1925 and was a manual laborer before he started to achieve his success as a writer. The story takes place in a stream near Salinas River and in the ranch it the Salinas Valley of Northern California during the Great Depression. During that time, there were massive lack of jobs and increasing number of workers. The population travelled from one place to another to seek employment. Steinbeck’s way of writing reflects his character. Steinbeck concentrates on revealing the characters and presents them directly to focus the reader’s attention of their quandary. Steinbeck is very clever on using stereotypes and has highlighted the importance of human issues, friendship, intellectual prowess, different racial background, social status and responsibility. For instance, he describes Lenny’s appearance as an animal – which Lennie really behaves and looks like. The meaning of Steinbeck’s story is about what it means to be a human being – in different aspects, how the society looks at you as an individual. Steinbeck is a master of description, and one of his many passions was the California landscape. The setting in this novel contains the "golden foothill slopes" and...
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...Is it acceptable for people to kill? Is it EVER justified, even if the person committing the crime thinks it is satisfactory? In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men , George Milton is confronted with these questions, which have major consequences, with little time to think of the possible outcomes. Even though George may be able to keep his crime hidden, the law is the law. If a person disobeys it they pay. Ignorance of the law is no excuse and Lennie would have been better off in prison serving out a sentence for the crime he committed. Thus, George should be punished for killing Lennie because he is supposed to take care of Lennie, George wanted to be by himself, and he stole a gun and used it when it was not permitted to him. One of the many reasons the killing should not be justified is because George Milton made a promise to take care of Lennie, and murdering Lennie did not fulfill that promise. In fact, it was the exact opposite. In chapter 2 when George was speaking to the boss about...
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