How Does Lennie Change In Of Mice And Men

Essay 3 Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck tells the story of two men, George and Lennie as they endeavor on the challenges presented by Lennie’s special needs as two migrant workers in the Great Depression of the 1930’s. At the time, it was almost a standard that migrant workers traveled alone, working with only the motivation to help themselves; but not George and Lennie. Even in the heart of Soledad, they were never alone. They always had a plan; just the two of them, but things happen, and plans change. Control is not always a guarantee. Lennie’s special needs were obviously not in anyone’s control. He was born this way and it cannot change; but that does not mean that his issues do not cause problems, and get him in some sticky

Lennie shows some symptoms of OCD, which seems to cause an obsession with soft things. He saw a woman wearing a red dress that looked very soft, so he went and felt it, but the woman was shocked and screamed, scaring Lennie into grabbing a hold of her. He never had any ill intent, he was just afraid that he would be in trouble with George if she kept screaming. George found Lennie and had to hit him over the head with a fence picket to get him to let go. The woman ran and claimed Lennie had raped her, so all the men on the ranch were infuriated and went on a mission to kill Lennie. No matter what George thought of the ranch they were working at, it could have been the most perfect place for them, he had no way to protect himself and Lennie from this situation and stay at the ranch. There is absolutely a feeling of lack of control for George, he has no ability to keep Lennie out of trouble one-hundred percent of the time, no matter how hard he tries.

Lennie’s strength is almost superhuman, but as shown through his accidental killing of mice and the pup that Slim gifts him, he cannot control it. These accidental deaths are on a very small scale, George can help him get out of issues like these, but there is no way George can help Lennie if something really big happens. Curley is the ranch owner’s son, so he feels extremely entitled all of the time. One day, he comes into the bunkhouse looking for his wife, who always seems to be trying to get away from him, and searches the whole ranch before coming into the bunks a second time. The second time, Curley is angry. He targets Lennie and begins attacking him, striking him in the face repeatedly. Even though Lennie is strong enough to easily stop the attack, mentally he cannot make the decision to protect himself, and waits for the go ahead from George to start defending himself. He ends up seriously injuring Curley’s hand, breaking bones and drawing blood. George is able to get him out of trouble with Curley, but not for much longer. The day that Lennie is in the barn and plays too rough with his puppy, accidentally killing him, Curley’s wife appears in the doorway. She is clearly looking for the attention that Curley will not give her, like she always is, and makes the entirely idiotic decision to