Loneliness is a concept that all people desperately try to avoid. If you were to break down the mental and physical aspects of someone you would be able to see the humans thrive through cooperation. Many characters in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck go through some kind of loneliness either in the book or in the characters past. One form of this is in Lennie. In the novel John Steinbeck uses in depth characterization and different kinds of conflict to express the theme of Loneliness and how it is a hole out of which all try to escape by any means necessary.
Steinbeck uses character depth and descriptions about characters in his novel to go into a character to show things about them. In the novel Lennie is a very large man and has a dull face, gentle giant like. He is not very smart and many believe that he has some kind of mental disability. Characters in the book such as Curley, Curley’s wife, and even Crooks make fun of him and exclude him. If people actually experience this it would definitely affect them and make them feel
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Character depth within characters like Lennie explains the struggles that he goes through as well as other characters. John Steinbeck imports internal and external conflict into Characters like Curley’s wife and Crooks to show the theme of loneliness in his book. “So why should I care about this?” Is what you might be thinking right now. I haven’t mentioned that in all of the situations that I mentioned, Lennie was there. Lennie, who has a mental disability, stayed and listened to people who are being discriminated against. 80 something years later we can’t find it within ourselves to treat other with equal respect. So think about this, if a giant man with mental retardation in 1930 can make lonely and discriminated people feel the opposite, why can’t
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
Since Lennie's mind works like a child's, due to his handicap, the other men did not treat him as an equal. Ther...
These devices are incorporated into the journey of two companions working their way towards a dream. Steinbeck uses symbolism to complement his words to depict a higher meaning. As experienced readers will discover, the relationship between the intelligent, but small and weaker George Milton and the mentally handicapped, but large and stronger Lennie Small is symbolic. Even Lennie expresses this relationship “because I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you, and that's why” (14) .This suggests that they are not alone-they have each other. While George complains in the first chapter that he does not know why he keeps Lennie around, George argues "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail"(11), he later explains the importance of Lennie's friendship -:“I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't' have no fun. After a long time, they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time” (41). Although he is often irritated with Lennie, The reader can infer George stays with Lennie out of his promise to Lennie's aunt or the reader could look deeper and understand George cares about Lennie and that, meaning in life depends on upon sharing. This idea is central to Steinbeck's theme of brotherhood and how men are better if they are not alienated because, if alienated, they become mean and cruel out of their fear of vulnerability. The strength to oppress others originates of weakness, Steinbeck tells his readers. Most importantly for both George and Lennie, Lennie is the keeper of the dream. Without the child-like Lennie there is no dream of a ranch and rabbits and "livin' off the fat of the land." It is for Lennie's sake that George repeats the dream of them owning land. At first George does not really believe that this dream will come to fruition. But, with his childlike friend's
The most sympathetic character created throughout Steinbeck’s novel is Lennie Smalls whose untapped mental strength is in direct conflict with his overdeveloped physical strength. Throughout the story, Lennie comes across many conflicts and is tested with many arising problems. Conflict is to come into collision or a disagreement between two or more forces. At the beginning of Steinbeck’s novel the reader gets a sense of
Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men (by John Steinbeck), loneliness is the major underlying theme of the novel. You could almost say that the book has hormonal' up's and down's. Most of the characters are very lonely because they have no family. However, George and Lennie are the contradiction to this. George and Lennie's bond towards each other are so- strong that you can almost see it as you are reading the book. Candy the old crippled man wants to be part of George and Lennie's dream to own a farm and "live off the fatta the land". Curley and his dog are like the metaphor in the book for George and Lennie. Candy has to take care of his dog and George of Lennie. The other two characters in the novel that are apart of the overall theme of loneliness are crooks the crippled stable buck and Curley's wife the flirtatious city girl. Crook's fits in to the loneliness theme because he is black. During this time in history, there was very little racial empathy. So being black means that he is isolated from everyone else at the ranch. Speaking of isolation, curley's wife feels very isolated because her husband, Curley, doesn't trust her at all, however, because Curley is so strict and concerned about her flirting with other guys it almost fuels her desire to cause trouble.
He clearly calls for women and the disabled to be treated and cared for better, as well as to be understood for their differences. He demonstrates through Curley’s bitterness that the selfishness of the elite is disadvantageous to the elite themselves. He also sends a clear message that pain inflicted onto one person or group of people can make them want to inflict pain back, a clear warning to the perpetrators of this pain onto minorities and the poor during this era. This is evident when Crooks jealousy says to Lennie, “I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain 't wanted in my room” (Steinbeck, 68). Lennie’s response of confusion emphasises that hatred and bitterness is not pure, since Lennie in many ways has the mind of a pure child. In the time since The Great Depression, African Americans, women, and the disabled have all gained greater rights and, in most cases, the general public has learned to accept these people as the equals they truly
Loneliness is the central theme in the novel Of Mice and Men. Many of the characters show signs of being lonely, some more than others. Loneliness haunts Crooks deep inside. Crooks accepts things the way they are though. Crooks does not talk to the other men and they do not talk to him. This causes the greatest amount of loneliness in Crooks out of all the characters. Rejection can cause most people to become crazy, as it
Steinbeck shows that people will trust others because of their personal prejudices. Because of his mental disability, Lennie often acts in inappropriate ways that cause both him and George to lose their jobs. George complains to Lennie that “I got you! You can’t keep a job and lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shoving’ all over the country all the time. An’ the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (Steinbeck 11). Just like in Weed, a town that they have once worked at, Lennie and George has to hide from the townspeople because Lennie grabbed a woman’s dress in panic. Although Lennie acts with innocent intentions, the people around him simply do not spend the time to understand them. As soon as they move into the new farm, the boss and Curley display suspicion and even open hostility toward Lennie. They make their judgments about him before even trying to have a chance know him better. Even Crooks, also abandoned by society, regards him with contempt and disdain when Lennie first tries to enter his room. Lennie has no intention of hurting the other people, yet the people around him always feel uncomfortable around h...
Strengths and Weaknesses play a huge roll within the story. Steinbeck explores different types of strength and weakness throughout the novel. As the novel begins, Steinbeck shows how Lennie possesses physical strength beyond his control, as when he cannot help killing the mouse. Great physical strength is valuable in George and Lennie's circumstances. Curley, as a symbol of authority on the ranch and a champion boxer, makes this clear immediately by using his brutish strength and violent temper to intimidate those who look down on him. Lennie means no harm at all. The reason why George and Lennie had to leave in the beginning of the novel was because it was believed that Lennie attempted to rape a woman there. Rape was not the case at all, when Lennie expressed his love for the touch of soft things, such as a dress or a mouse, this panicked the woman causing a chain reaction, and causing Lennie panic also. When Lennie accidentally kills the mouse, it foreshadows the future of Lennie and Curley's wife.
Authors often put the main character protagonist in a situation so that the reader feels sympathy towards them. Two boys live in different places, but both have one thing in common, they are outsiders. The first boy isn’t even a boy anymore, he has grown in size, and yet his mind remains innocent and unknowing. The other boy, his legs weak and frail, with a head too big for his own body, stares at his reflection and knows he will never be able to do the things other boys do, and his mind, unlike the other, is very knowledgeable and understands the world. The man looks into his reflection unknowingly, smiling stupidly. Lennie, the man, is from Of Mice and Men and is the character author John Steinbeck has chosen as the sympathetic character.
Sometimes in the story Mice And Men lennie will feel lonely because he think dont nobody treat him with no respect and like an outsider. All he wanted was friends but dont nobodt likes him becasuse he’s different from everynody else and they thinks he’s weird. lennie is a clueless person people dont really know anything about him or where he come from.
In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck depicts the essential loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930s. He illustrates how people are driven to find companionship. There were so many moments of loneliness and sadness throughout the novel, including many deaths. Following the deaths, they were very unexpected making the novel more intense and latch onto it more.
Steinbeck makes Lennie and George well developed, with colourful personalities and appearances at the beginning, as both of them are looking for work during the Great Depression. From reading the first chapter, I feel that I can relate to George because of his wise, parent-like, and rigid personality. George is a very responsible and tries his best to take care of a very mentally unstable person, where getting irritated is very easy. I also experienced a similar situation, but not with a mentally disabled person. My grandfather, a heavy smoker and alcoholic, suffered a lot of mental problems referring to addiction, as well as health problems because he was diagnosed with throat cancer in the last six months of his life. It was a tough time for my family because both of my parents had to work in order to support the family, so I was the only person who could take care of him. Furthermore, he was confined to a hospital bed until the day he passed away. Staying by his side and providing whatever he wanted was very difficult because there was very little communication, besides writing, because he could not talk due to an artificial respirator in his throat. Staying in the hospital for the majority of the time over the course of six months is extremely tough because of school and family problems I had to deal with. This is relatable to the
In the touching and gripping tale of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, he explains many themes throughout the books. One of the major themes is loneliness, which is shown throughout many different characters, for example, Curley’s wife, the stable buck (Crooks), and Lennie.
Lennie's greatest difficulty seems to be remembering; and it is the lack of the ability to remember that ultimately leads to his tragedy at the end of the book. In the novel, Steinbeck seems to reinforce Lennie's characteristics of strength, kindness, childlike manner, and somewhat animal-like personality. In this paper, I will focus on these characteristics. Strength Even though Lennie's last name is Small, he is, physically, just the opposite: a large man with great strength. This strength is represented numerous times throughout the novel.