Our first impressions of George are that he is fairly normal. He is quite small but still broad and strong. ‘He is small and quick with sharp strong features’. We also get the impression that he is smart as well because ‘quick’ suggests that he is quick thinking as well as fast. He is a lot more sensible than Lennie and has a lot more self discipline. It must be very frustrating for a man with such good physical and mental health to be dragged down by a friend like he is but he is so kind and therefore he would never let Lennie get into trouble and a couple of times he even risks his life to help him out. Steinbeck makes is obvious from the first moment that Lennie is mentally retarded. Many times he is referred to as animal like and having animal like features. He is like a big baby, he is huge and clearly very strong but he has the mind of a small child. Lennie's personality and life seem based on three things: soft things, devotion to George and his dream of one day owning a farm. It is quite sad and Steinbeck makes you feel really sorry for him be exaggerating his simplicity and his innocence. Lennie is absent-minded for a good portion of the novel. He is unaware of what he's doing sometimes until he has done it. For example, he enjoyed to pet soft objects. But we find out that while living in Weed, he decided to ’pet’ a woman’s dress but she thought that he was raping her so she screamed and he almost got himself killed. He is greatly forgetful and needs a lot of looking after otherwise he would never be able so survive and quite often this can come between his relationship with George. Lennie is completely incapable of living on his own because of his disability but because George is such a good man, he has almost given up his life and devoted it to helping Lennie. He mentions that he made a promise to Lennie’s auntie but it is also because he is such a good man and he would never let such an innocent man go just because of a disability. Their relationship is very similar to that of a parent and a child, the child (Lennie) needs the parent (George) to look after them otherwise they wouldn’t be able to survive.
...e ever since they were children. Lennie knew that he owed George for all that he had done for him over the years. Other than that, Lennie just loved George and wanted to be with him. He hated the thought of making George angry. Often times Lennie said he could go by himself and live in a cave if George really did not want to be with him. It was obvious that Lennie could never really think of leaving George. Lennie stayed loyal to George until the very end, unaware of what would happen. Even though George did care for Lennie, he did not give Lennie the loyalty and friendship back like he deserved. It was easy for Lennie to be so loyal partially because of his simple mindedness. He almost acted like a puppy, following around its owner and trying to defend it. If only George realized what a good friend he had in Lennie.
Lennie respects him a great deal. Lennie is huge, and very strong, but he has the mentality of a child. He relies heavily on George, as he cannot fend for himself. He always tries his best to imitate George's actions and an example of this is when the two men are at the beach. " George lay back on the sand and crossed his hands under
Lennie's stupidity and carelessness constantly causes him to unintentionally harm people and animals. When he gets into sticky situations, George is there to help him get out of them. Ever since Lennie's Aunt Clara died, George has felt that he has a sense of duty
Although Lennie was unattractive and has the tendency of accidental violence, compassion was still something readers had for him. Steinbeck constantly reminded us that he has a mental disability which automatically makes someone feel pity for him. Additionally he was ignored and made fun of by other characters, “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you”(Steinbeck 10). Him getting in trouble was beyond his control because of his mental disability which is something else that makes a reader feel sympathetic for him. Also, the readers are solicitous towards Lennie because of how much he looks up to George. This is portrayed when Crooks asks Lennie what he would do if George never came back, “Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?”(Steinbeck 70). Because of his inability to comprehend information, he got extremely defensive and said, “George is careful. He won’t get hurt” (Steinbeck 70). This scene is crafted in such a way that it automatically
Steinbeck gives a lot of reasons for George to stay with Lennie, but his critics also have some merit in their criticism that the story isn't believable. Steinbeck's critics suggest that Steinbeck is "simply sentimental in this regard." There are some very compelling reasons George would like to stay with Lennie... but being "sentimental," towards Lennie has nothing to do with it.
As aforementioned they lived in the Great Depression a time where achieving the American Dream was almost impossible to do, especially with all the farms being lost in Oklahoma. Most of the character's perspectives of Lennie was that he was most simply a passive aggressive retard. Later in the novel the reader notices that he is incredible strong which serves to positive and negative effects in the story. Also, his thinking pattern is rather awkward or odd for someone of his age because what keeps him concentrated is this depiction of a farm where they will ¨tend the rabbits..build up a fire in the stove¨ (Steinbeck 14) which makes him mentally ill. When something is said to him about animals, he would instantly recognise with this desire, but for everything else, he is pretty much a useless man but other people who were willing to listen like Slim and Crooks who get to know him understood that he is if anything vulnerable which is what many characters were even
A coon dog and a tick, an oak tree with moss on the north side, a termite and its internal bacteria, and a shark with tiny fish that eat the extra meat chunks in between the teeth all have one thing in common: symbiosis. Defined as the interdependence of organisms, symbiosis is the basis of the relationship between George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. One type of symbiosis helps both parties while another type involves one organism being hurt by the exchange. The dog is hurt by the tick while the termites and the bacteria benefit from each other’s presence. These types of symbiosis can occur in humans and are evident in “Of Mice and Men.” Both types of symbiosis exist between George and Lennie in the novel.
George’s love for Lennie is simply an unconscious effort to make up for Lennie’s mental weakness, yet at the same time his sentiment and kindness is out of sympathy. In chapter one, it is apparent to the reader that Lennie does have a slight mental impairment, but we do not yet know how acute it actually is. For example, when George asks Lennie what he has in his pocket, Lennie responded, “Ain’t a thing in my pocket,” (Steinbeck 5) as if he were intelligent. George knew something was in Lennie’s pocket, yet Lennie still tried to act as if there was nothing there. This gives the reader just a quick glimpse into the thought process of this complex character that is actually quite unpretentious.
“I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like you running off by yourself, even if she was dead.” (page 13). After Lennie and George fight over the dead mouse, Lennie tells him that George would be better off if Lennie went to the mountains to live in a cave. George doesn’t let him. He tells him that he wants him to stay because not only did George somewhat promise Lennie’s dead Aunt Clara that he would take care of him, but he also learned how to live and adjust with the fact that Lennie has kind of a childish mind.
“Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck is a novel about the hardships of life and the importance of having other people around. The story is of two men trying to survive with one another in a world full of loneliness; their relationship is quite rare and strange. Lennie, a large bear, has a mental disability which causes him to be in a childlike state. George, a much smaller and more competent man takes care of both of them. Although they work for others on ranches, their dream is to get by on their own and live off the land. However, Lennie’s state causes conflict as they travel from job to job. Steinbeck uses clever ways in his novel to develop his theme and characters as the story progresses; both of these elements also help create a large
After reading the novella I think that George is a really good friend to Lennie. The first reason that I think that he is a really good friend to lennie, because that he runs off with Lennie when Lennie gets in trouble. George have a choice of running off with Lennie and been trace by those people or he could just don’t care about Lennie and keep his job. But he choose to run off with Lennie and been trace by those people. The second reason that I think George is a good friend to Lennie is because that in the novella it shows that George care about Lennie. On the first section it shows that George tells to Lennie to get off the the green water and throw away the dead mouse that Lennie had. He did that because the mouse might get him
Lennie was not very smart and couldn't do much by himself. He had to be told what to do or he wouldn't do anything at all. He fits all the profiles for a retarded person. He doesn't have any self-control. When he starts to panic he gets out of control and even kills Curly's wife because she starts to scream. Lennie loves animals and can't stop talking about them. He always says that when they get their own place that he wants lots of rabbits, his favorite animal. To him George is like his father figure, since Lennie never really had any parents. He is easily amused and panics quickly.
During the beginning, Lennie is characterized as childish. He is very small minded. Steinbeck indirectly states that he has a mental disability. Readers notice this because of his child-like actions, specifically on page 3, “Lennie dipped his whole head under, hat and all, and then he sat up on the bank and his hat dripped down on his blue coat and ran down his back.” This disability forces George to sacrifice his freedom to help survive with his disability. George gets frustrated with Lennie’s playful personality easily, as a father might with his son. On page 11, George lets his anger out on Lennie. “I wisht I could put you in a cage with
George cares a lot about Lennie and makes sure that he doesn't have to worry about anything. Even though Lennie is mentally ill George doesn't abandon him, but takes him everywhere. Though Lennie can't really do anything to help them with money wise George still lets Lennie tend the rabbits at there dream ranch. Lennie likes touching soft things and goes too far whenever he pets something soft and George knows that so he doesn't let him touch any of the animals on the ranch or on the way to the ranch but it is all out of care for Lennie. George also doesn't want Lennie to kill any more animals too. George also sometimes uses Lennie to his advantage. He uses him like a shield since Lennie is strong, enormous, and masculine and George is small and the brains of the duo. George doesn't have what it takes to defend himself so he uses Lennie to do so like the time when Curley picked on Lennie he told Lennie to get him even though he knew Lennie could kill him. All the things George does is like any father towards his son, Lennie, so their relationship not any ordinary best friend relationship. It is actually more than
George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.