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Examples Of Weakness In Of Mice And Men

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Strength never comes without weakness. In John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, many of the characters are migrant workers during the Great Depression. The US is in economical turmoil. As farms lost money and faced foreclosure many workers moved west. These migrant workers faced discrimination and hate in the west. The main characters of Steinbeck’s novel, George and Lennie, are migrant workers trying to find work and make enough money to live. They have traveled together a long time and have become a team. To persevere through such a rough time period, one must be strong. However, through characterization, Steinbeck shows that strength and weakness are always attached. Steinbeck uses characterization to show that, though Lennie is “A huge man” (Steinbeck 2), he is less intelligent and dependent on George for orders, “‘Just wants to feel it...girl lets out a squawk...socked him over the head with a picket fence to make him let go’” (41). In this quote Lennie panics after a misunderstanding. George has to knock sense into him. The reader learns that Lennie performs badly under stress. The incident gets the men …show more content…

Through characterization we learn more about Candy’s relation to the ranch and his history. “‘They give me two hundred an’ fifty dollars ‘cause I los’ my hand” (59). Candy lost a hand working on the ranch, which caused the boss to attempt to balance it. During this time period large amounts of money such as Candy’s compensation are rare. With the help of George and Lennie Candy could live the dream. However he can not get work on his own. When he can no longer sweep he will be fired and no longer have a place to stay. Even Slim the well liked well composed leader of the farm hands, “Slim’s opinions were law” (45), has a weakness. Due to his amiable personality he is targeted by Curley as a suspect. “‘Thinks Slim’s with his wife don’t he?” (54). All strength is balanced by a

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John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, takes place in California on a ranch in the Salinas Valley during the Great Depression. During this time, the United States of America was in a period of economic decline and people were living in poverty. From these hardships, weaknesses arise in different characters in the novel. In his novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck utilizes the deaths of Candy’s dog, Curley’s wife, and Lennie to reveal that weaker people are eradicated because they cannot defend themselves against others.

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