Lennie Inhumane Analysis

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Lennie’s Fault Lennie, one of the two main protagonists, is a very dramatic character who can be found doing many questionable things, some, which are very inhumane and animal-like. From the very first page in the book, Lennie is known to be a very big person who is not the smartest. In every chapter there is at least one incident of him being compared indirectly or directly to an animal, and each time he is compared the topic is brought up that the similes written directly correlate to the economy at the time, especially in the working class. Lennie being compared to animals was written to prove that humans at the time were animalistic, to allude to the economy of the working class at the time, and to prove that negative occurrences can happen to anybody.
First of all, Lennie being compared to animals proves that at the time, humans acted inhumane and barbarous. When Lennie killed Curley’s Wife, readers were broken over whether to love or despise Lennie, and the way he handled it was very strange as well. It is stated that “[Lennie] pawed at the hay until it partly covered [Curley’s Wife]” (Steinbeck 92). This very disturbing visual displays an awful image of a poor, clueless man having to cover up for an awful mistake that would end up …show more content…

With all of the times that Lennie is compared to an animal, he may as well be one in the plot, and usually animals are portrayed as much less than humans, and can be killed off with no remorse in a book. After the climax, where Lennie kills Curley’s Wife, readers are on the edge of the seat when George grabs the gun and finds Lennie in the forest. When it is said that “the crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again”(Steinbeck 106), it is immediately understood that though he was killed off like an animal, the correlation between his animal traits and human traits proves that the worst can happen to

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