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The Role Of Mental Disabilities In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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“No matter how much sometimes you dare to dream, send happy thoughts into the universe, no matter what you do some of your dreams will never come true” (Unknown). In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, at the time of the Great Depression, two men, George and Lennie, venture to California in hopes to find work. Because Lennie is wanted for raping a woman, George and Lennie must escape the “law” by fleeing to the next town. Through the character of Lennie, Steinbeck shows that issues outside the control of an individual often limit the achievement of his dreams. “‘But he never hurt her. He jus’ wanted to touch that red dress, like he wants to pet them pups all the time’” (Steinbeck 42). This quote is the first example in which Lennie’s mental disability gets in the way of his dreams. George tells Slim what had happened in Weed between Lennie and the woman in the red dress and how the whole situation started. “‘Sure, he 's [Lennie] jes like a kid. There ain 't no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he 's so strong’" (Steinbeck 43). What George refers to in this quote is what is known today as an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). Lennie’s IDD affects the way his brain …show more content…

With Lennie’s mental disability, fending for himself is not always possible thus he has to rely on George’s help for everyday tasks. “‘What you gonna say tomorrow when the boss asks you questions? … I ain 't gonna… say a word’” (Steinbeck 15). This quote exemplifies Lennie’s dependency on George. George tells Lennie what to say and do because Lennie can not process information quickly due to his IDD. "Slowly, like a terrier who doesn 't want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again" (Steinbeck 9). In this quote Steinbeck paints this picture in the reader’s mind that Lennie is more like George’s pet. Requiring a lot of maintenance and effort, Lennie exemplifies the traits of an animal because his IDD makes his everyday life challenging to

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George shows he’s protective of Lennie by saying, ‘“It ain’t your fault,” he said. “You don’t need to be scairt no more. You done jus’ what I tol’ you to. Maybe you better go in the washroom an’ clean up your face.”’ (Steinbeck 65).

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In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author uses the motif of barriers to show that causes that lead into the failure of these character hopes and dreams. The ability to own your own land is the main dream held by four of the characters in the book. The idea of owning your own land is a simile for a life of happiness. There are two other unattainable dreams which are held by Curley's wife, and Crooks. Curley's wife once had an offer to become an actress in Hollywood, however the person never bequeathed the job to her.

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At first my thought was, when George realized Lennie would do whatever he wanted him to do, Lennie decided to help him out. Then I realized that George also could have decided that Lennie will do whatever he is told, and he can use Lennie to his

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538 Words | 3 Pages

I ain’t got nothing to do. Might jus’ as well spen’ all my time tellin’ you things and then you forget ‘em, and I tell you again.” (STEINBECK 4) George has always been a bully to Lennie, always putting him down.

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That's a thing I want ya to know.’" (Steinbeck, 88) This quote shows relevance because it describes Lennie’s need for George and his fearfulness

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This also shows the overpowering control George has over Lennie’s conscience, and the consequence that Lennie can’t remember his own actions, only the stories George repeats. He is never truly angry with Lennie for his petty mistakes, he is simply thinking of the limitations of their dreams because of Lennie’s unpredictable actions. It seems George can only control Lennie by threatening him with the thing he cares about most which is the farm, “But you ain’t gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won’t let you tend the rabbits” he threatens, trying to make Lennie remember the importance of his actions (36). George is constantly complaining that he could have a better life and even have a farm without Lennie to look after, but he also wants a companion. Lennie is often simple minded and easily influenced, but intuitive enough to manipulate George’s loneliness, “If you don’t want me George I can go up in that cave over there and leave,” George quickly denies this saying “No, look I was just foolin’ Lennie, ‘cause I want you to stay with me” (20).

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George and Lennie share an unbreakable bond, despite their contrasting appearances and personalities with George being “small and quick”, while Lennie is “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes and sloping shoulders” (Steinbeck 2). Even though they are so different, their personalities complement each other, and their undying friendship gives them hope and companionship in their desperate situations as migrant workers. Furthermore, throughout the novel, it is apparent that George takes care of Lennie through every obstacle he finds himself in, even though he is incapable of doing the same for George. Steinbeck also characterizes Lennie as innocent and animalistic to connect him to nature. He compares Lennie to animals in the barn describing the way he drinks water as, “snorting into the water like a horse”, and saying he “dabbled his big paw in the water” (Steinbeck 4-5).

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We like to suggest that we all love each other, and have thoughts with love for everyone. But I don 't believe that 's true for mentally ill people. In of Mice and Men the character Lennie suffers from mental retardation, people around him don 't know anything about mental illness so they brush it off as him being dumb. Leading him to kill a woman, and then die because of it. We still treat people with halfhearted treatments, some people who are treating the mentally ill are not professionally licensed, some countries don 't even have a mentally health policy causing mentally ill patients not to seek help, and even in the USA we think people who are mentally ill seek

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695 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie’s mental difficulties often frustrate George, and at times he lashes out at Lennie. When Lennie complains, George explodes, “‘Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want. God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy’”(Steinbeck 11). Lennie doesn’t understand that George can’t give him everything. At times, George gets angry that he always has to support Lennie, “‘You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get’”(11).

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If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won’t get no job” (Steinbeck 6). George is very directive over Lennie, and does not want him to mess up anything. Lennie listens to George because he does not know any better, and is like a little brother who wants to please his

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1176 Words | 5 Pages

Because of Lennie's mental disability, he is required to be dependent on George. In the beginning of the novel as George and Lennie are making their way to the migrant farm, Lennie has a dead mouse in his pocket. Lennie feels that if he were to tell George concerning the mouse, he would yell at Lennie and be angry with him for his wrong doing. Ultimately, the more times George gets furious or impatient with Lennie, Lennie believes that George will not allow his dream of owning a farm in the future to come true (Owens). Likewise, Lennie's lack of consciousness from determining right from wrong, denounces his self character, leading to his own death.

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1047 Words | 5 Pages

George’s words, a warning to Lennie not to drink so much lest he get sick, set the tone of their friendship. George may be blunt and impatient at certain times, but he never deviates from his main purpose of protecting Lennie. Unlike Lennie, however, George does go through some changes as the story goes on. The reader learns that he is capable of change and growth during his conversation with Slim, during which he confesses that he once bullied Lennie for his own enjoyment. From this event George learned the lesson that it is not right to take advantage of the

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857 Words | 4 Pages

In another scene, he tries to take the pup that Slim gave him into the bunkhouse. George tells him to bring the pup back and Lennie says “What

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443 Words | 2 Pages

“-I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would” (Steinbeck 78). George wanted a better life someday for himself and for Lennie, but deep down he knew Lennie’s limitations and accepted that the dream was never meant to be.

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605 Words | 3 Pages

Although described as a rather large man, Lennie’s role between the two men is very childlike. Lennie is treated like a child by George because Lennie does not have the maturity or mental capability to make decisions for himself. For example, George must continuously remind Lennie of the spot he must come to if in trouble because Lennie cannot focus long enough to process this information. Lennie is also fairly unintelligent and blindly loyal to George. This loyalty is seen when George tells Lennie to jump into a river, and Lennie obeys even though he is unable to swim.

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