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Examples Of Mental Disabilities In Of Mice And Men

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Mental Disabilities in Of Mice and Men In the Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men the two main characters are a man named George who is a tough hard worker, and his cousin Lennie who has mental defects. Lennie’s mental defectiveness is at most times a problem and a hassle to George because he cares about Lennie and he only wants the best for him in life. Lennie looks up to George because George is the one who usually always get Lennie out of trouble when he does things. One time Lennie thought that a young lady’s red dress was very pretty so he tried to touch it and the girl thought he was trying to hurt her so she began to scream and run away.(“Steinbeck…”) George made Lennie hide with him in an irrigation ditch so they would not be caught by the authorities.(“Steinbeck…”) Back during the Great Depression people with mental disabilities were hard to take care of and many people did not know how to treat people with it. Nowadays people with mental disabilities are implemented more heavily into normal society. There are special psychiatric facilities for people with very extreme mental disabilities. Some of the most common types of mental disabilities now are down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia and eating disorders. Recently there has been a large increase in the …show more content…

Having a mental disability in those days was a challenge as well. It is not Lenny's fault that he killed the puppy or Curley's wife he just didn't know what he was doing. In the end George finally decides to put Lennie out of his misery before the authorities did it in a more brutal

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739 Words | 3 Pages

They use to make fun of my accent they would taunt me and say “Howdy y’all!” and act like a cowboy. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men setting of the 1930’s in Salinas Valley, California we meet the static and round character Lennie Smalls and his best friend George a dynamic character. While it is obvious to the reader that Lennie has a mental disability because of his actions, it is never directly stated.

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561 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie has the most obvious handicap, since it greatly affects his ability to function. Lennie has the mental capacity of a child, and he can’t take care of himself. Lennie loves to “pet” things, but he is unaware of his own strength. This results in a dead mouse, puppy, and eventually, woman! Lennie is enthralled by the idea of living on a farm with George, and he uses this picture-perfect image almost as a moral guide.

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1317 Words | 6 Pages

The Bond of Brotherhood “Lennie broke in. “But not us! An’ why? Because…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.”

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437 Words | 2 Pages

As it could be seen, Lennie had to constantly deal with the harsh verbal abuse and sometime physical violence. George knew that his tormenting actions and exploitations were hurting Lennie, yet he continued his ways. On another occasion George could be seen screaming “So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I” (Steinbeck )? Why would you maliciously attack the memory of an autistic/mentally handicapped individual?

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841 Words | 4 Pages

Many people are disabled and have trouble doing things. In fact, a young boy named“Jude was so severely disabled he could not speak or write, he was miraculously able to verbalize the alleged abuse….” (Rosenberg). As a young child, Jude could not talk, or even function, and he was abused because of his condition. This relates to Lennie because just like the child, Lennie is so, so, so disabled that he can barely speak full sentences, write, and was abused.

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731 Words | 3 Pages

People today with mental disabilities are often criticized for not being “up to par” with everyone else in the world. This is true especially in the 1920’s, in which the novel Of Mice and Men takes place. Take Lennie Small for example, a large and hefty man, who has a mental disability. He, as a character, is blamed for the heinous act of murdering the antagonist’s wife, whose name is never revealed. It is true that Lennie does fracture her neck, but he does so without knowing.

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970 Words | 4 Pages

Examine how far George and Lennie are loyal to each other throughout 'Of mice and men' In the novella 'Of Mice and Men', by the well-known author, John Steinbeck, the reader is introduced to a varied range of different characters on the ranch; within this realm loyalty between George and Lennie plays a significant role in the lonely itinerant lifestyle. The characters in this short novel act in a world of their own, having no connections to any other type of society; through this Steinbeck can strongly depict the theme of loyalty and friendship in dire situations during this period of time. During the 1930's, at the ranch, a predominant role of intelligent white-males is seen to retain power over lesser groups of people, of which Lennie is portrayed to be this part as he is mentally disabled. Despite this George and Lennie strike up a friendship of loyalty: showing firm and constant support. ' Guys like us got no fambly...they ain't got nobody in the worl' that gives a hoot in hell about 'em' sums up the reason why their loyalty and companionship is so vital and special to each other.

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1355 Words | 6 Pages

Lennie Smalls one of the main characters in the novel of Mice and Men, is impacted by the human rights issue of discrimination and living with an intellectual disability. “Intellectual Disability, formerly referred to as "mental retardation, is characterized by "significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills” (Death Penalty Info). Lennie exhibits several signs of having an Intellectual disability, for example, he has problems remembering things. George is constantly giving Lennie directions that he has to repeat several times to help him remember.

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711 Words | 3 Pages

Of Mice and Men is about Lennie and George in which Lennie decided to feel a girls skirt because he liked the type of material. So George went with Lennie to escape and not get in trouble and decided to go to a bunkhouse where they work and are provided with food and a place to live. George and Lennie are best friends and so they went together. Lennie has the mind of a 6 year old and needs to be with George. When quit their jobs, George planned out a dreamland of how they will live when they get enough money to move to their own house.

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229 Words | 1 Pages

In the novel Of Mice and Men it is very obvious that there is something wrong with Lennie. He has a childlike demeanor, has memory loss, and seems to panic in stressful situations. Although Steinbeck never mentions what is wrong with Lennie in the novel, all of these symptoms match up to one intellectual disability, Autism. The first symptom of Autism is sensory issues.

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1176 Words | 5 Pages

Because of Lennie's mental disability, he is required to be dependent on George. In the beginning of the novel as George and Lennie are making their way to the migrant farm, Lennie has a dead mouse in his pocket. Lennie feels that if he were to tell George concerning the mouse, he would yell at Lennie and be angry with him for his wrong doing. Ultimately, the more times George gets furious or impatient with Lennie, Lennie believes that George will not allow his dream of owning a farm in the future to come true (Owens). Likewise, Lennie's lack of consciousness from determining right from wrong, denounces his self character, leading to his own death.

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441 Words | 2 Pages

With Lennie’s mental disability, fending for himself is not always possible thus he has to rely on George’s help for everyday tasks. “‘What you gonna say tomorrow when the boss asks you questions? … I ain 't gonna… say a word’” (Steinbeck 15). This quote exemplifies Lennie’s dependency on George.

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1144 Words | 5 Pages

Demitri hines Period 3 1/30/2018 In John Steinbeck 's classic novela of Mice and Men, we see the character Lennie smalls descending into the stereotype of being handicapped. During the time of the great depression the handicapped never reach there American dream. Steinbeck crafts Lennie a sincerely mentally handicapped man, as an archetype the mentally handicapped in our society in order to imply that the type of people are excluded from the american dream. Lennie doesn 't get to accomplish his american dream due to him being mentally handicapped, but also gets in trouble even though he doesnt mean to.

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857 Words | 4 Pages

On of the main characters, Lennie, is retarded and often gets him and George into trouble. In the story, the author gives many clues that allude to the fact that Lennie has a mental illness. Throughout the story, he says and does things that shows the reader of this. The ways Lennie is shown as retarded is through his childish manner, his memory loss, his incapability to control his strength, and his cowardness.

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705 Words | 3 Pages

Mental and physical disabilities are shown through how the different characters interact with their environment. Disabilities can create obstacles in a person's life but they also allow for other people to create an identity for them. Steinbeck shows that disabilities can create a political statement. They all had dreams to be something better than what they were but the tag that society gave them they were unable to pursue their thoughts and ideas. All these characters possed the same characteristic of being hopeless but in reality if they were given hope they may have been able to achieve their ambitions, prospects, and

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