Indirect Characterization In Of Mice And Men

In 1937 in the midst of The Great Depression, John Steinback published ‘Of Mice and Men’. This story introduced two characters by the name of George and Lennie. The two friends travel across California looking for work. In the book, the author portrays Lennie a huge, strong, and slow learning man. With the authors indirect characterization about Lennie, some critics infer that Lennie is forgetful and never intends to hurt anyone. This contributes to the theme because even though Lennie is different than most people, he is still capable of being friends with “normal” people. For example, he is still good friends with George despite their differences. In the beginning of the book, Lennie seems to be very forgetful. Steinback shows this by using some indirect characterization. In the book Lennie asks, “Where are we going now?” (Steinback 4) Lennie is confused and happens to forget where they are headed. Steinback writes, “You remember where we’re goin’ now? Lennie looked startled and then in embarrassment

Lennie is a big character involving this stories theme by still having friends even though is very different from George and all the other workers. Some readers might think that Lennie has a brain injury that causes his forgetfulness and is a mean person who wants to cause havoc. Despite, the readers thinking that Lennie has a brain injury, it is clear that those allegations are false and George only says this to cover up Lennie’s stupidity. Although, some critics may think that Lennie is a mean person always trying to cause havoc, it is obvious that Lennie is a nice man with a small mind who does not know how to control his strength. Lennie is a dynamic character with observations being made about his forgetfulness and kindness. Lennie is a great character to learn about and realize that you can be friends with people that are different than