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Lennie characterisation in mice and men
All about Lennie in the book of mice and men
Analysis of John Steinbeck
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Lemons “Treat others the way you want to be treated” is something burned into the minds of children from a very young age that- while has a good intent behind it- is never something that is applicable. This is shown throughout the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The story takes place in the 40s, following two men who are nearly opposites trying to survive together. One of the men, Lennie, unfortunately has a mental deficiency which impairs his ability to comply to the societal norms and mannerisms expected from someone of his physical age of around 30 to 40, which often causes Lennie and his companion and caretaker, George, to live like fugitives and take refuge at a ranch house, where they work for money, food, and shelter …show more content…
Instead of being respected, Candy is treated as helpless as a child- given no benefits of someone viewed as an equal because people are only seen for their valued properties. Candy is not only categorized against for his age, but is also discriminated against; displayed by Candy himself with, ‘Soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses they’ll put me out on the country”, even though he has no family or home to go to (Steinbeck 60). When Candy becomes too old to benefit the ranch, he become useless in the eyes of the owner, and will be tossed aside as if he wasn’t a person or being of any kind but just some resource of work and power and nothing more- for Candy’s age prevents him from aiding others in their power struggle. Candy is only seen for his age, which is a sign of weakness- and a component to a rotten lemon. Another character is Crooks, an African American stable worker with a bad back, who is racially categorized and excluded. This is shown with another of Curley’s wife’s remarks, calling him a “nxgger” when referring to Crooks in a demeaning manner (Steinbeck 78). The tiny bit of control she gets from casual release of such a deprecating swear word is enough for
As George becomes aware of the situation he begins to ponder what will happen if Lennie gets away. George understands that Lennie would not be capable of providing for himself out in the wild. As George contemplates allowing Lennie to be free of all the men, he “[is] a long time in answering” (94). George is one of the few men who understands Lennie’s mental limitations, he knows Lennie would not remember how to survive and “the poor bastard’d starve” (94). He
Lennie is broken and incomplete in many ways. He has a mental disability which differentiates him from the others. He depends on George for everything and cannot do things on his own even though he is a grown man.
In the book Of Mice and Men George takes care of Lennie affects his life by making things a lot more stressful. He constantly has to look after Lennie, and make sure that he doesn’t say/do something that will get him into any trouble. With all the added stress of taking care of Lennie makes him snap at Lennie many times throughout the book, for example, when he yells at him for asking about ketchup when they were eating dinner. George’s life would also be a lot more lonely without George though, because even though he is stressful to take care of Lennie, he constantly keeps George company.
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck discusses Lennie, George, and Crooks. In this book Steinbeck wants the reader to understand how life was portrayed in American society back in the day. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand how people were treated differently because of their race and by their mental state. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand how the mindset of Lennie, George, and Crooks affects the story. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand why Lennie was always mistreated and why George was there to take care of him. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand why George answers for Lennie and why he tells Lennie what to do because Lennie could not do anything on his own without getting into trouble or messing something up. Steinbeck wanted to show the reader how African Americans were treated back then by putting Crooks into the mix. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand that Crooks was left out of activities and other things in the book because of his race and because of his crooked back.
The title of the novel Of Mice and Men has a unique meaning behind it. The saying “Are you a man or are you a mouse?” has a connection to novel itself but more importantly the characters. Each main character in this novel can be classified as either a “man” or a “mouse”. The “men” seen in the novel are George Milton, and Curley. The “mice” can be classified as Lennie Small and Curley’s wife. The “mice” are represented by the weak or the socially unacceptable characters; the “men” are represented by the strong, independent characters.
In this fictional novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck sought to bring out the racial differences in George and Lennie's time. This racial diversity impacted African Americans socially and economically. Crooks is one example of an outsider, from this novel. He is an African American that grew up with white people in his childhood, but took a separate path, once realizing society's standard of segregation. Loneliness was a new feeling to Crooks; because he had always been compatible with other people. Even though being an outsider made him grumpy, he was forced to learn how to be independent. As a result, his space, while still giving others theirs.
He had this love for candy and when he was a kid his dad would give him a penny or two to buy candy. He spent a lot of time making candy like taffy,caramel, and licorice sticks. He always knew he would succeed he just needed to learn from different bosses and himself. He knew his life was horrible when he first lost a shop but then he didn’t give up and became a great candy and a candy bar maker and designer.
Crooks deserves the reader’s sympathy because he is African American, for which he has been treated poorly his entire life. In chapter two, the way he is introduced as “the stable buck’s a n**ger”, sets a negative tone as for how the character is treated by others.(20) Although according to
John Steinbeck demonstrates loneliness of Crooks, the black handicap. He has a strong difference from the rest of the crew, as he must live in a separate room from the rest of the workers. He attempts to explain this to Lennie, "S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that? S'pose you had to sit out here an' read books.
Crooks is a character who is mistreated in many ways because he is black. Crooks is the stable buck of the barn. It’s not certain whether Crooks is his name, or his nickname, but we know he got kicked in the back by a horse and had a crooked back ever since. Nevertheless he gets yelled at by the boss every time something’s wrong. " ‘The boss gives him hell when he’s mad. But the stable buck don’t give a damn
Throughout Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck displays how isolation through sexism and racism causes one to crave attention, and he helps the reader to understand the problems in society about racism and sexism through portraying Curley’s Wife and Crooks both craving attention in their own ways and experiencing various setbacks.
Discrimination was one of the issues that caused conflict in the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. One example of discrimination in the novel comes in the form of racial discrimination against Crooks, as he is an African American. Another example of discrimination is gender discrimination against Curley’s wife. Finally, there is discrimination against mentally disabled people, which is evident in Lennie’s character. The ranch hands' actions and conversations demonstrated the racial discrimination against Crooks for his skin colour, gender discrimination against Curley’s wife for her gender, and prejudice against Lennie, who was a mentally disabled individual.
‘Of Mice and Men’ is a novel written by John Steinbeck. The novel is set in the 1930s,
First, Candy teaches us to always follow our dreams no matter how old you are. In the book, Candy overhears George and Lennie talking about their dream of moving to a small area farm and live a self substantial
(Gain attention and interest) "Trick or Treat," is common phrase heard during Halloween but for what? Candy and chocolate! That delicious chocolate ranging from Recess Peanut Butter Cups to the ever-famous Hershey chocolate bar.