Aunt Clara In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the story Of Mice and Men the seemingly minor character of Aunt Clara subtly plays a significant role. Although she appears briefly in the mind of Lennie, she has quite an affect on the structure of this tragic story in terms of other character’s traits, theme and action. Aunt Clara was the former guardian of Lennie, who cared for him until her death. She was described as a little fat old woman who wore thick and round glasses. Aunt Clara is first mentioned in the beginning of the book when Lennie says he remembers a woman who used to give him mice to pet in the past. She could be seen as the person who enhanced Lennie’s fondness of touching soft animals. Aunt Clara fed into Lennie’s obsession of petting soft things by being the first person

The characters in this story all cry out for a friend which better displays the main theme of friendship. Aunt Clara also had an effect on Lennie’s thoughts and actions despite being a deceased character. When Lennie was hiding in the bushes after killing Curley’s wife, he visions his aunt scolding him for being a nuisance to George. In Lennie’s head, he sees Aunt Clara as an authoritative figure who thinks that he only does bad things and gives George a hard time. The Aunt Clara that Lennie visions makes him realize that he’s an annoyance to George and because of the scolding he received he starts to second guess his relationship with George. Lennie starts to think that George will leave him because of his actions. All of Lennie’s thoughts lead to him crying out for George, fearing that his only friend will abandon him. Aunt Clara affected Lennie’s way of thinking by making him feel guilty and apologetic towards George which resulted in Lennie worriedly calling out for him. In conclusion, Aunt Clara can be traced back to someone who affected the development of Lennie’s character, theme and even Lennie’s