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Character Analysis Of George And Lennie In 'Of Mice And Men'

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People are never going to reach the American Dream. This is the opinion of author John Steinbeck, who felt as though poor people would never achieve the American Dream. In the book “Of Mice And Men” John Steinbeck writes a story about George and Lennie. George and Lennie are poor and they are trying to buy their house, but they fail. In, “Of Mice And Men”, John Steinbeck uses characterization and structure to communicate that being powerless means that you do not mean anything.
In, Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck uses characterization to show that George and Lennie are powerless to society. When we first meet Lennie, John Steinbeck explains Lennie as “dragging his feet just like a bear drags his paws.” John Steinbeck constantly explains Lennie as an animal because animals don’t have rights, or are treated like people. Another example that Steinbeck shows is when Curly tries to fight Lennie by smashing” down his nose with a right.”(63) John Steinbeck shows in this quote that Lennie does not fight back when Curly is punching him in the face because he is dumb. When Lennie kills the puppy he yells “ God damn you” now George is not going to let me tend no rabbit.(85) Steinbeck shows that Lennie has an intellectual disability. Steinbeck uses characterization to show that Lennie is powerless to society. In Of Mice And Men Steinbeck uses specific plot structures to communicate his message. When Steinbeck begins his story, …show more content…

John Steinbeck relates his characters to real life people because people in the real world are powerless and they can’t do anything more than what they are doing to fix the problem. The reader should think to himself that not all people are the same and that some just need a little bit of help to succeed in society. Most people are not going to make the American dream, but some people can just have a little bit of

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337 Words | 2 Pages

Lennie also has other similarities with bears, they are conceived as dangerous, yet they only become so when they feel threatened, in self-defence. As is true when Lennie attacks Curley, here Steinbeck is subtly foreshadowing this event. After being described as a bear, he is later described as a horse ‘snorting into the water’. This can again tell us a few things about Lennie. It could be suggestive of his relationship with George, and how Lennie, as the horse is able to be controlled by his owner.

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Within the novel it states, “Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it” (Steinbeck 15). This quote shows that Lennie is causing distraught to George, leaving him to potentially ruin their future. Also, George took in Lennie when Lennie’s Aunt left him to George, so George trusted Lennie to not cause trouble to his passion. Something distinct to an individual, a personality trait, is shown in Lennie as his behavior results in him making unwilling choices towards others. George shooting Lennie in the back of the head was a good choice, as he was causing to much harm to George, as George has to watch over him.

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When world renowned author, John Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men, America went into an uproar, because he created a detailed and realistic account of the time period as he tells the tale of the main characters, George and Lennie. Readers are forced to contemplate their own past experiences and how those have affected the way they perceive their fantasies. He depicts the grit, dedication, and harshness of the reality it takes to reach our dreams. In his novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses symbolism, parallelism, and pathos to portray the American Dream through the lives and deaths of the characters. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men portrays the American Dream through symbolic characters.

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761 Words | 4 Pages

I’ll smash ‘em with a stick” (Steinbeck 3.58). Lennie will do anything to keep those rabbits from getting hurt. He is so insistent on ensuring the safety of the rabbits because he could never prevent himself from getting hurt. Lennie gets hurt by society due to his disability, and he cannot fix that.

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And his friend George who takes care of him before and on the ranch, “Lennie smiled to himself. “strong as a bull,” he repeated. George scowled at him, and Lennie dropped his head in shame at having forgotten. ”(Steinbeck 22). Although Steinbeck does not say Lennie is disabled, it is implied through his actions, speech, and a short part of his younger life explained by George to another character, “I used to have a hell...lifted a finger against me,”(Steinbeck 40).

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937 Words | 4 Pages

Steinbeck illustrates the hopefulness found in a harsh reality and

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Lennie struggles throughout Of Mice and Men, battling himself mentally to fit in with society. An example of his mental confusion is when he killed the puppy. “Now I won’t get to tend the rabbits. Now he won’t let me.” Lennie knows that

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450 Words | 2 Pages

What is right and what must be done are two different concepts. Often times, life requires people to do what must be done in order to save themselves, or others, from negative consequences. The characters in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men illustrate how people implement remorseful decisions with astute intentions to help ease the consequences for those they care about. Lennie is a sizable, amicable guy.

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Lennie is not a bright man, he has some metal issues and the two were run out of town because of it. Nevertheless the two won’t give up their hopes and dreams of one day living by themselves. A area were Steinbeck shows powerlessness is when Lennie and George go in for a job interview and the women questions Lennie because of his disability. “Oh I aint sayin he bright.

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“No matter how much sometimes you dare to dream, send happy thoughts into the universe, no matter what you do some of your dreams will never come true” (Unknown). In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, at the time of the Great Depression, two men, George and Lennie, venture to California in hopes to find work. Because Lennie is wanted for raping a woman, George and Lennie must escape the “law” by fleeing to the next town. Through the character of Lennie, Steinbeck shows that issues outside the control of an individual often limit the achievement of his dreams. “‘But he never hurt her.

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In July 1789, a wave of terror and disaster known as "The Great Fear" mainly affected Paris and Versailles. Peasants used the town and homes of the aristocracy as a big rage room and burnt them down. They broke into offices and destroyed certificates and papers that listed their obligations to the lords. Why go crazy though? Was their peasant life not enough?

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However, the way in which Steinbeck implements this “colorful language” is key to understanding why he used it at all. Ordinarily, an author would describe a character by their physical human traits rather than accentuating animal-like characteristics, which is how Steinbeck depicts Lennie. As a result of the utilization of Lennie’s animal-like depiction, Steinbeck subliminally dehumanizes Lennie in the reader's mind and justifies the death of animals at the hands of their masters. Ultimately, in Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck dehumanizes Lennie to the reader through the use of animal imagery, in order to allow the reader to justify Lennie’s death at the hands of his best friend, George as a warranted act of

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Lennie cannot change his mental disability nor can Crooks change his race, but due to these inalterable characteristics, Lennie hurts others unintentionally, and Crooks is hurt by others. “Naturalism does not deal primarily with individuals in themselves, but rather with social groups, settings, or movements…”( ), which relates to the story, because Lennie’s actions not only affect him and his future, but the other characters in the book. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the concept of naturalism is portrayed through the experiences of Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks. Lennie’s mental disability and physical strength often lead to trouble, because he can never fully comprehend his actions. When Lennie is the barn, he ends up

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573 Words | 3 Pages

The book Of Mice and Men is full of puzzling examples of the human condition, from Lennie and his mental disability to Curley only caring about his social appearance. With characters like these two, the book exploits the human condition that concerns circumstances life has given you. John Steinbeck brings to life what being a laborer in the American depression meant to the men and one woman who had enough personality to stand out. Steinbeck shows the human condition of men while they survive in the American depression.

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George and Lennie, prominent characters in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, are migrant workers—men who move from place to place to do seasonal work— who end up in California and are faced with numerous problems. Set in the era of the great depression, the story of Lennie and George, two very different men who have formed a family-like union, takes place on a farm where Lennie struggles to stay out of trouble. Having committed an unintentional, harmful act, Lennie is faces severe consequences; and George must decide to make a necessary decision which changes the mood of the entire novel. By the comparison and contrast of George and Lennie, unique characters who are very different from each other, the reader can better acquaint himself

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