How Does Lennie Small Create A Mental Condition In Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men is widely revered as a masterpiece of fiction, and part of what makes this book have such a compelling story is the diverse characters; one of these characters named Lennie Small has distinct attributes due to a mental condition that ultimately affects how the plot progresses. At the beginning of the book, it is foreshadowed that an awful event happened at a place called Weed because of Lennie, and it is later discovered that Lennie accidentally scared a girl because he was trying to pet her dress; Lennie has an obsession with petting soft things and sometimes people; however, he does not realize how massive he is and as a result, he can scare or hurt them. Self awareness is a vital trait to have, for it can affect many aspects of a situation one might find themselves in; however, Lennie does not realize how large he is and as a result, scared the lady in Weed when he tried to pet her

Throughout the story, Lennie constantly would find himself in trouble, and one reason for this may have been due to the fact that he would do or say things that seemed normal to him but were unusual to others during certain situations; Lennie’s condition caused him to struggle with social interactions and what he did was usually misinterpreted which was shown when Curley believed Lennie was laughing at him but he was not. Lennie’s inability to pick up social cues caused many misunderstandings; one of these misunderstandings occurred with Curley when Lennie was smiling thinking about his American dream which Curley interpreted as Lennie laughing at him. This altercation caused a domino effect that led to grim things consequently changing the pathway of the plot and the primary thing that sparked the fight in the first place was Lennie's distinct character traits and his lack of conversation