When one looks at the character Lennie, we begin to see that Steinbeck compares him to several animals. Lennie is compared to a horse and a dog as well as his hands being called “big paws”(3 and 9). Lennie also seems to have a lot of characteristics related to animal instinct. However I do not believe that Lennie is animalistic. With Lennie's interactions with George and his obsession with petting soft things as well as his dream to“live off the fatta the lan’” (14), Lennie actually seems to be autistic. Thought it might not seem like it, this claim actually makes a lot of sense. Autism is classified as a spectrum disease which means you can be high to low functioning. There are also different types of autism like Asperger’s to childhood disintegrative disorder. One article says that “ children with AS become obsessively interested in a single object or topic. They often learn all about their preferred subject and discuss it non stop.” This sounds a lot like Lennie’s obsession with the ranch, memorizing George's entire speech on it. …show more content…
This is expressed with George constantly telling Lennie how to react in very specific situations, like “... if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush.”(15) as well as when George tells Lennie not speak to Curly and to “move clear to the other side of the
Throughout Of Mice and Men Lennie show’s many signs of childlike behaviour. George is constantly having to look after Lennie. The first sign of Lennie’s childlike behaviour is when he is carrying around a dead mouse in his pocket. When George confronts Lennie about the mouse, Lennie denies George and assures him that there is nothing in his pocket.According to Doctor Susan Sweda at Autism Research institute, lying and scheming are apart of acting like a child. Other indications of childlike behaviour throughout the novel could be the way George speaks to Lennie. George is constantly talking down to Lennie and telling him what to do in order for them to keep their jobs. “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl.” (7).This quote shows the reader that George is obviously angry about having to take care of Lennie. Lennie’s behaviour is unpredictable and immature. Childlike behaviour is common in people who have autism. Adults with autism are educationally behind others their
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.
Was George to harsh or too fast with his decision to kill Lennie? Ever since Lennie was born he has needed help “living” and it started with his aunt Clara. When his aunt Clara died Lennie needed someone to help him with his everyday life and someone that could be there and tell him what to do. Lennie starts to travel with a good family friend George. In the book “Of Mice and Men” there is many cases where Lennie just “holds on” to George. George realizes in the end of the book Lennie has done too much harm and needs to essentially go away. George then shoots Lennie in the back of the head because Lennie couldn't live on his own if he were to run away from Curly and the rest of the gang of workers coming after him. George did the right thing because Lennie was unstable and George knows lennie didn't mean to harm anything. He doesn't know his own strength and George really wasn't qualified to help Lennie learn that he is powerful beyond measure.
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
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.
The novel describes Lennie as “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a beat drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely” (Steinbeck 2). Lennie is slow minded as well, but “strong as a bull.” George states in the novel, “He ain’t no cuckoo. He’s dumb as hell, but he ain’t crazy. An’ I ain’t so bright neither, or I wouldn’t be buckin’ barley for my fifty and found” (Steinbeck 37). Because Lennie is slow minded, he often gets impatient with individuals around him, which causes him to have a short fuse. He expresses his anger sometimes, but keeps composer at the same time. The reason Lennie has not been in more trouble than what he has already been in is because he is protected by innocence. One reason Lennie gets in trouble is because his obsession with soft things. For example, Lennie likes to “pet” mice, soft puppies and even hair on someone’s person. Curley’s wife ends up being killed by Lennie in chapter five because she underestimates his strength when she lets him “pet” her hair.
Lennie’s most powerful strength is his physical strength. In the beginning of the book John Steinbeck compared Lennie to an animal. Steinbeck wrote “ He walked heavily, dragging his feet a
With his disability, he needs something to feel connected to. He loves to pet furry and soft things. In chapter one in “Of Mice and Men”, Lennie and George are walking along a dirt road, on there way to a ranch. George discovers Lennie playing with something in his pocket. Lennie states to George before the dead mouse was taken away. ““ I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along”” (Steinbeck 6) . In order to prove that Lennie is not smart enough to fulfill the American Dream, Steinbeck creates Lennie to seem as not normal as possible. Steinbeck places Lennie in a state, where he does not understand right from wrong. He does not know nor understand, that playing with a deceased critter is not only gross but unacceptable as a
Since he relies on George to do most of the talking for him, Lennie tends to get nervous when he’s alone with others. When Curley asks him when he and George came in, Lennie freezes up, scared that whatever he says will get him into trouble, “His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious. Lennie squirmed under the look and shifted his feet nervously.” (Steinbeck 25).
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.
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.
At the beginning, the author describes his movement using a metaphor, as Lennie “[drags] his feet… the way a bear drags his paws” (p.2), to show that he is much alike a bear physically. In addition, Steinbeck uses a simile to emphasize Lennie’s animal-like behaviour, as he “[drinks] wit long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse” (p.3). By comparing his physical and behavioural characteristics, this can foreshadow that the author implies that Lennie is seen as more animal than human because of his metal disabilities. George further makes it evident when he infers that “somebody [would] shoot [him] for a coyote if [he] was by [himself]” (p.12). This shows that people are scared of him and his unpredictable, animal-like behaviour because of the lack of understanding about mental health during the early 1900s. Furthermore, this can be the foundation for the theme where the lack of communication and understanding with the mentally disabled can lead to dire and tragic
Have you ever read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck? If so, you probably remember Lennie, George's companion. Throughout the novel, Lennie and George dream of having their own farm. They work on a ranch to save money for their dream farm. Lennie is a big, strong, man with rounded features. He is at times very forgetful, absent-minded, and one-dimensional.
In the novella Of Mice and Men, there are symbolism used through animals to represent what happens to Lennie and what kind of sides he has. Candy’s dog displays the image of Lennie’s death because they both get shot in the head and have problems to the extent of having other characters trying to kill them. Throughout the novella, there are rabbits that keep showing up around Lennie. Lennie loves rabbits and likes to touch their fur. He will do anything to protect them because he sees the part of pureness he has in him through the rabbit. He will make sure no harm comes to them because he wants to keep that part of pure innocence that he has in him. When Lennie and George are talking about their dream, Lennie declares if cats come to bother
John Steinbeck uses similes to build and create powerful characters that touch the hearts of readers. Throughout the story Lennie`s character grows to be stronger and stronger through Steinbeck`s use of similes. When George and Lennie arrive at the farm, George introduces himself and Lennie to the boss. George compliments on Lennie being a hell of a good worker and tells the boss Lennie was “Strong as a bull” (Steinbeck 22). Up till this quote, Lennie is thought to be a huge man, shapeless of face who walked very heavily until Steinbeck`s use of similes help uncover Lennie`s true character. John Steinbeck illustrates Lennie`s body and strength by comparing him to a large, heavy and physically powerful animal such as a bull. The use of similes helps in indirect characterization as well and adds to Lennie`s physical appearance and age. The use of similes in this quote helps to create a more powerful character and bring more ...