Character Analysis - Devoted Lennie - Lennie Small - from John Steinbacks
Of Mice and Men
Character Analysis
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Devoted Lennie
Lennie Small, from John Steinbacks Of Mice and Men, is the least
dynamic character, but also the star of this short but impacting
novel. John Steinbacks conception of this novel is centered on
Lennie's simplicity. Throughout the entire book, Lennie's personality
and life seem based on three things: soft things, devotion to his
protector (George) and his dream of one day owning a farm. Within the
novel, Lennie shows no significant changes, development, or growth;
yet is a favorite character by most readers.
To start with, Lennie is protected. Lennie is protected by Slim, but
mostly by George. Slim keeps Lennie from getting fired when Curley got
his hand "caught in a machine" (64). Lennie is also protected by
George; as friends they stick together, "I got you. We got each other"
(104) and as friends they contribute all they can. George protects
Lennie from many things; but is most remembered for protecting Lennie
from being killed painfully by Curley. Candy's regret that he didn't
kill his dog himself, foreshadows George's decision to shoot Lennie
before Curley gets to him first.
Also, Lennie is devoted. Devoted to the rabbits, and devoted to
George. The rabbits are an important part of the novel. The rabbits
are Georges way of keeping Lennie from getting into any trouble.
George often reminds Lennie that he "…aint gonna get in no trouble,
because if you do, I wont let you tend the rabbits" (16). Lennie's
devotion to George is very strong; he does everything George tells him
to do, simply because George is his friend.
In Conclusion, Lennie is a dreamer. He someday dreams of having "… a
little house an' a room to our self…We'd know what came of our
planting…An it'd be our own, an' nobody could can us" (58). The fact
that two men during this time period with a dream like that that comes
To begin with, George Milton planned Lennie Small’s death at the end of the book Of Mice and Men. As soon as George found out of what Lennie did to Curley’s wife, he soon had the motive to end Lennie’s life. Lennie was a special kind of person, he did not
Lennie dreams of living on a wide open ranch with George where he tends to the fluffy little rabbits he loves so much. Nevertheless, Lennie sadly never reaches his ultimate goal as his flaw finally becomes his fatal flaw. Lennie kills Curley 's wife by shaking her so hard that her neck breaks. He does not kill her on purpose but Lennie does not know his own strength. He is only shaking her like that because he wants her to stop yelling. Curley 's wife observes that Lennie is "jus ' like a big baby" (Steinbeck 99) and invites him to stroke her soft hair. Lennie begins to feel her hair and likes it very much indeed, which leads him to pet it too hard. When she started to complain, he panicked and started to try to silence her. He was afraid that George would not let him be part of the dream anymore if Curley 's wife got mad at what he did. So he 's shaking her to try to protect his part in the dream but he kills her and the dream too. Lennie observes that he has "done a bad thing" (Steinbeck 100) and covers her body with hay. Lennie is hiding in the brush where George had told him to hide when he got into trouble. George finally emerges to get Lennie while he is an emotional mess. He then tells Lennie to take off his hat as he continues to recount "how it will be" (Steinbeck 104) for them. He orders Lennie to kneel and pulls out Carlson 's Luger. As the voices of the other men in the search party near their location, George tells Lennie one more time "about the rabbits,"(Steinbeck 106) tells Lennie that they 're going to get the farm right away, and shoots his companion in the back of the
George and Lennie need each other to achieve their dream of their own farm with rabbits to tend. Lennie could not take care of his rabbits or even survive without George.
Anne Bradstreet is seen as a true poetic writer for the seventeenth century. She exhibits a strong Puritan voice and is one of the first notable poets to write English verse in the American colonies. Bradstreet’s work symbolizes both her Puritan and feminine ideals and appeals to a wide audience of readers. American Puritan culture was basically unstable, with various inchoate formations of social, political, and religious powers competing publicly. Her thoughts are usually on the reality surrounding her or images from the Bible. Bradstreet’s writing is that of her personal and Puritan life. Anne Bradstreet’s individualism lies in her choice of material rather than in her style.
Mary Flannery O'Connor is one of the most preeminent and more unique short story authors in American Literature (O'Connor 1). While growing up she lived in the Bible-belt South during the post World War II era of the United States. O'Connor was part of a strict Roman Catholic family, but she depicts her characters as Fundamentalist Protestants. Her characters are also severely spiritually or physically disturbed and have a tendancy to be violent, arrogant or overly stupid. (Garraty 582) She mixes in her works a full-fledged gothic eeriness with an authentic feeling for the powers of grace and redemption. O'Connor's substantial literary reputation is based upon her two novels and her short stories collected in Everything That Rises Must Converge (1965), A Good Man is Hard to Find (1955), and The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor. Despite the fact that her unique style of writing has caused many judgments and rumors about her, O'Connor has received many awards and honors throughout her entire life.
Of realities and coincidences in the happenings of lifetime events in the lives of two different people, it is hard to dispute the reasoning that situations can be so similar in people’s lives that it is easy to conclude that these people share a life. This phenomenon may be referred to as doubles. Some behavioral scientists may pinpoint meta-physics as the possible explanation to a person having the same feelings as another. From a metaphysics point of view, some happenings that seem like coincidences are actually not. They are natural happenings only that they are beyond human understanding. For instance, in Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel, Mrs. Dalloway, two characters, Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Smith, have similar world views even though they are two different people who are not even known to each other. Ralph Samuelson maintains that the novel is about “life and death, sanity and insanity and is to be a criticism of the social system of England” (Samuelson, 60).
Invalids, in the form in which it is used to describe women in the 19th century, explains the concept of women being denied citizenship and being lumped together with the sick and disabled. Even though a woman could be a functioning member of society, unlike the true invalids, they were seen as so much less because of their gender and societies collective view of them. Women, unfortunately, were placed at these extremely low standards in Regency England, and were rarely defined as individuals, but rather identified by their marital status, or more specifically their husband. Being seen as only wives and nothing more but a body used to bear children, women’s importance and relevance was close to nonexistent in any aspect of society, especially
Martha Graham is one of the most well-known pioneers of modern dance. Modern dance wouldn't be what it is today without her and her teachings. She had a very different approach to movement and dance. “I wanted to begin not with characters or ideas, but with movements.... I wanted significant movement. I did not want it to be beautiful or fluid. I wanted it to be fraught with inner meaning, with excitement and surge.”
Anne Bradstreet was not only the first English-speaking, North American poet, but she was also the first American, woman poet to have her works published. In 1650, without her knowledge, Bradstreet’s brother-in-law had many of her poems published in a collection called The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up In America. Although these poems did not reflect what would be her best work, they did emulate what would be the greatest influence on all of her writing. Anne Bradstreet’s Puritan life was the strongest, and the most obvious influence on her work. Whether it was her reason for writing, how she wrote, or what she wrote about, Bradstreet’s poems would reflect the influence of Puritan life and doctrine.
In the Salinas River Valley, after the Great Depression, there were a large number of unemployed workers seeking jobs. In the fiction novel "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small is among one of those men. Lennie and his friend George both have just received jobs on a ranch as farm workers. What brings the two together is their dream to someday own their own land. Lennie has a lot of character and personality traits that define him. One trait that he has is he is very forgetful. Another trait he has is he is very curious. A final trait he has is that he is very reliant. Although he might not be the intelligent person in the book, he has a very well developed personality. Lennie demonstrates his personality and character traits throughout the novel.
There is a lot of debate regarding Nancy Drew's identity as a strong and independent female character, or as a stereotypical one. Many argue that Nancy Drew is a strong character because she is portrayed as a detective, which is considered more of a male (masculine) career, and she deviates from stereotypical female behavior and attributes. In many situations throughout the Nancy Drew books, she displays courage, initiative, confidence, and emotional-stability, all of which are not general feminine characteristics. However, others argue that Nancy portrays more of a stereotypical female because, although she inhabits a male-dominated career and on occasion portrays non-stereotypical characteristics, she is still restrained by here femininity. Nancy Drew is described heavily with appositives in Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock, by Carolyn Keen, continuously reminding the reader that she is a beautiful, eighteen year old girl with blue eyes and blonde hair; she supporting gendered feminine stereotypes such as, selflessness, kindness, and modesty. These conflicting character attributes create an odd sense of gender and gender-expressing ambiguity concerning Nancy Drew and whether or not she is a strong female character. Ilana Nash addresses this issue in the first chapter of her book American Sweethearts: Teenage Girls in Twentieth-Century Popular Culture. Nash supports the presence of Nancy's ambiguous behavior (involving gender,) and then discusses the reasons for Nancy Drew's said ambiguity and provides an analytical perspective regarding Nancy's identity as a female character.
First, Lennie is a lonely outcast because he is retarded. One of the reasons he doesn?t fit in with the other ranch hands is because he doesn?t always understand what people are talking about. He doesn?t even always understand George. Lennie admits this when Crooks says to him, ?Sometimes he talks and and you don?t know what the hell he?s talkin? about.? (Steinbeck,77). But Lennie always needs companionship. He is never alone, even if he has a dead mouse or a puppy with him. George would sometimes punish Lenny by not letting him tend to the rabbits on the ranch. And Lennie?s biggest fear is of being abandoned by George:
The poem For Deliverance from a Fever is a beautiful poem by Anne Bradstreet. The use of rhyme and rhythm throughout this poem depicts to me that Anne had an exceptional understanding of poetry and how to write poetry. Anne uses a great array of words to make the poem more appealing to not only the reader but also herself. This finely written poem portrays to me that Anne was a very spiritual women but maybe had doubts about everything going on around her. The course of this paper will iterate what the poem For Deliverance from a Fever by Anne Bradstreet means to me.
Curley's wife, an accident that seals his own fate and destroys not only his dreams but George's and Candy's as well. In the beginning Lennie used to pet mice that his Aunt Clara used to give him, he would always end up killing them because he didn't know his own strength. Lennie never killed any pet or person purposely; he pets too roughly and kills them accidentally. An example of his rough tendencies is in the first chapter (page7) when Lennie wants to keep a dead mouse and George wouldn't let him Lennie says" Uh-uh. Jus' a dead mouse, George.
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.