Disabilities within Of Mice and Men
In the short story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there are many themes and literary elements that circulate around the two main characters George and Lennie. One of the most important themes in this short story is the presence of disabilities within the characters. These disabilities represent the significance of how during the Great Depression many people who had disabilities were said to be an added cost or “weaknesses”. Most characters are illustrated with some form of disability that enables them or makes it difficult to accomplish certain goals while also working against them in the environment in which they live in.
The first character we meet with a disability is Lennie Small. Contradictory to his name Lennie Small isn’t really small at all. He is described as a large, lumbering, childlike person. Due to his mild mental disability, Lennie completely depends upon George, his friend and traveling companion, for guidance and protection. Lennie’s relationship with George is almost one similar to a person and their dog. When meeting the boss George states, "Oh! I ain't saying he's bright. He ain't. But I say he's a God damn good worker. He can put up a four hundred pound bale"(22). Gentle and kind, Lennie nevertheless does not understand his own strength. Right from the beginning of the novel Lennie is illustrated as a character that is extremely strong physically yet is very “dumb” mentally. Often times this mental disability gets him into trouble because of is innocent intentions were misunderstood. According to George, Lennie “Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch everything he likes. Just wants to feel it” (41). An example being when Lennie went to feel the women’s red dress...
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...like he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy” (26). In fact, due to these insequrities he later picks a fight with Lennie, causing his physical disability with his hand.
In an environment like the ranch, it is easy to find a disability in almost everyone. Such is the case in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Many main characters have some sort of disability and incompleteness that works aginst them in their working-class lives. These disabilities represent the significance of how during the Great Depression many people who had disabilities were said to be an added cost or “weaknesses. Many average people were considered weights that held families and other people down. Steinbeck is saying that society in the Great Depression was “survival of the fittest”, where you either worked and lived or you were a weakness sooner or later died like Lennie and Curley’s Wife.
While the novel Of mice and men and the film What’s eating Gilbert Grape have different plots and settings, the themes of the two stories are very comparable. The stories depict how taking care of people with disabilities is very challenging and the problems they encounter in their day to day activities. Gilbert (What’s eating Gilbert Grape) has the task of taking care of Arnie his brother and George (Of mice and men) takes care of his childhood friend Lennie. Both of this characters Arnie and Lennie have mental disabilities and rely on their caregivers in life. The responsibility of taking care of Arnie and Lennie is frustrating but George and Gilbert still love them. This paper aims to compare and contrast the novel Of Mice
Then there is the physically crippled who know what happens if they outlive their usefulness. Next to that there's the physical barrier of being a black person in a racial, conscious society. All in all, being crippled physically, socially or emotionally was just a way of life back in the thirty's. Lennie is the major cause of George being crippled socially and emotionally.
In Of Mice and Men the character Lennie is big and has a diminished mental capacity. Lennie is s...
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.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a great example of 1900’s literature, and a great reflection of the great depression with a tragic end. A lot of themes were displayed in this short story, and developed the plot as the story moved on. Characters in the book are developed mainly through these themes. Arguably the most crucial theme is Nature Vs Nurture, as it drove the climax of the story, and lead to the tragic ending of the book. Lennie Smalls in the story was born with a mental disability, in the times of the great depression, leading to Lennie’s ultimatum, and the theme of Nature vs Nurture.
Right off the bat, Lennie is described as lesser, and rather than helped he is given a “slap on the wrist”. To begin with, Lennie is always described as less capable or unable to do certain activities to the extent of others. For example, at the beginning of the book George and Lennie were attempting to get a job. George always said, “He can do anything, just give him a try” (22). George implied that the likelihood of Lennie receiving a job is significantly less due to him being disabled. Lennie being less likely to receive a job due to his mental disability shows discrimination and expresses how difficult it could have been for a mentally handicapped person to get a job during this era. Moving forward, rather than George helping Lennie, Lennie is put down and scolded for his mistakes. During a scene between Lennie and George, George exclaimed, “You forget. You always forget, an’ I got to talk you out of it” (23). As it is not necessarily Lennie’s fault, George is in the wrong to put down Lennie for his actions. However, rather than attempting to help Lennie, George puts him down for his mistakes and then is forced to apologize for his own actions later. Lennie is a prime example of oppression against the mentally disabled in Of Mice and Men.
Lennie’s illness was seen as common and nothing to take concern over, which pertains to the vague yet soft sympathy from George whom “babysits” Lennie. George was an older brother to Lennie in a sense, helping him to get through life without any mishaps. However for George, Lennie’s illness determined their income and job status. In several incidences, Lennie overreacted in certain situations causing them to lose or leave their job spontaneously. At different points in the book, George became frustrated with Lennie: “You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (Steinbeck 12). This showed the overall frustration yet compassion towards Lennie, however extreme concern. According to Lennie, when he killed the puppy he said: “Why do you got to get killed, you ain’t as little as mice I didn’t bounce you hard” (Steinbeck 85). This really brought out the fact that Lennie’s illness was not to be tempered with, as he really couldn’t ever contemplate the harsh, unintentional things he’s done. When George and Lennie arrive at their new job, tension rises in the book and the author brings out that possible aspect of Lennie unintentionally doing something wrong which in turn would cause them to lose their job--or
Lennie Small is a very interesting character. He is big with power and mentally disabled. However, he is still defenseless is a way. “Lennie looked helplessly at George, and then he got up and tried to retreat. Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right. Lennie gave a cry of terror. Blood welled from his nose. "George," he cried. "Make 'um let me alone, George." When Curley’s is beating Lennie up, he can’t fight back because he was taught not to unless George commands him to. His one and only biggest concern the friendship from George. He doesn’t worry about his future because George has a personal bunkhouse ready when they get the money. He acts with loyalty to
His innocence stands out from the grimy coverings of loneliness and hopelessness the other characters wear. The reason Lennie is so innocent is that he has a mental handicap, one that prevents him from understanding complex human emotions such as guilt, or concepts such as death. In addition, Lennie has trouble remembering things, “" I tried and tried [to remember]...but it didn't do not good." Consequently, Lennie has trouble fitting in with society. Ultimately his mental disability is what leads to Lennie's demise at the end of the book. Another trait that is an essential part of Lennie's innocent character is his devotion to his closest friend George. In fact, the only times Lennie is shown to be angry is when George is insulted or threatened. When Crooks, the crippled, black, stable hand, implies bad things about George, this devotion is clearly shown. “Suddenly Lennie's eyes centered and grew quiet, and mad. He walked dangerously toward Crooks. 'Who hurt George?' he demanded"
In the novel, Lennie faces the adversity in explaining himself to the rest of the world. Thus ,Lennie’s adversity is his mental illness which he is continuously throughout the book trying to overcome.Since ,he is mentally challenged, most people, even George intermittently, underestimates his intelligence and logic skills. At the ranch in Soledad,...
The nineteen thirties happened a long time ago. Many things have changed since then, one of them is the treatment of people with disabilities. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small, a man with a cognitive disability, is gruesomely mistreated. If he were to live his life nowadays, his treatment would be extremely different. If Lennie was born in say; nineteen eighty, his treatment would be different because; people would be more supportive of him and his cognitive disability, he wouldn’t be driven out of town multiple times, and his life wouldn’t have ended so abruptly because he wouldn’t be wanted dead by ranchers.
The novel, Of Mice and Men, is a story of two men by the names of George and Lennie. They are migrant workers new to the California area where they soon are to start work. They have a homogeneous relationship. George is described through the text as a small dark man that has strong features. He is strong-minded and the main character of this novel. Lennie on the on the other hand is described as shapeless. He possesses an incredible strength that George does not have. George is the brains of the operation while Lennie is perceived as the strength behind it all. He is devoted to George and t...
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.
...ntally disabled people prevented Lennie from being trusted and be respected as a human being. In this novel, discrimination that Lennie had to face prevented him from showing his abilities.
Dreams and hopes in one’s life are like batteries and gasoline in a car. For any function, they are essential. Dreams and hopes, even if irrational, are the main motivation in one’s life. In, Of Mice & Men, Steinbeck focuses on the American Dream’s effect on characters enduring the Great Depression. The American Dream is the ability to provide for oneself. The Great Depression is a great factor to the impossibilities of each character’s dreams. As it George, Lennie, and Curley’s Wife, each have a dream for the future. Their thoughts, actions, and future are influenced by their dreams. In the novel, the main characters, George and Lennie, are trying to stick with a job in order to make enough money to fulfill their dream of buying their own