How Steinbeck Tells the reader that Lennie is Retarded in Of Mice and Men In today’s world, there are many forms of technology to diagnose mental retardation. For example, trained clinicians may test a person’s reasoning, problem solving, abstract thinking, judgement, and practical understanding in order to diagnose retardation. During the Great Depression, however, mental retardation was never truly be diagnosed. Clinicians were not ordinarily used to diagnose retardation. It was more commonly inferred. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, indicators such as the way Lennie behaves, the way Lennie communicates, and the way other characters had perceived Lennie will show why it is known that Lennie is retarded. The first method that Steinbeck guides the readers to believe that Lennie is retarded is how Lennie communicates and what he says. Throughout the novel, Lennie uses very childlike phrases. When Lennie takes a puppy out of his litter and George finds out, he uses one of these childlike phrases. Lennie plead, “ Give ‘um to me, George. I’ll take ‘um back. I didn’t mean no harm, George. Honest, I didn’t. I jus’ wanted to pet ‘um a little” (43). Lennie would plead and beg just like a child. Many grown men such as Lennie at this time would not have taken a newborn puppy out of the litter in the first place considering the danger it could bring to the puppy. Lennie did not obtain this knowledge and had to plead and beg to have the puppy and bring him back