The Character of Lennie in Of Mice and Men Essay - 673 Words

The Character of Lennie in Of Mice and Men In my opinion, Lennie Small is the most interesting character in Steinbecks novel Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck does a very good job describing and characterizing Lennies personality. Lennies character is, indeed, quite unique. A large man with enormous strength, yet kind and childlike, he seems to find joy in simple life pleasures like petting a furry animal and making the water ripple. Lennies 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 Lennies characteristics of strength, kindness, childlike manner, and somewhat animal-like personality.†¦show more content†¦God almighty, I never seen such a strong guy. Childlike Lennies character exhibits a rather childlike manner. He seems to do and see things like a child. His pleasures are those of an innocent youngster. For example, in the first chapter, he delights in making the water ripple, and he is content to pet a dead mouse. In addition, Lennies childlike manner is portrayed in his dependency on George. He listens to everything George tells him and depends on him for necessities such as food and water. In fact, it seems that without George Lennie would be unable to survive. Animal-Like It seems that Lennie often resembles an animal. In fact, his responses to life are much like those of an animal. For example, like a pet dog, he gives his complete devotion to his friend George. Lennie trusts George and, like an affectionate puppy, tries very hard to do things that please George. In his writing, Steinbeck literally compares Lennie to animals. For example, the author associates Lennies strength to that of a horse. Furthermore, in the scene when after killing Curleys wife Lennie flees to the grove near the river, as George has told him to, Steinbeck describes Lennie moving as silently as a creeping bear and drinking like a weary animal. Steinbeck fully develops the animal comparison at the end of the novel by drawing a parallel between Candy and his old dog and George and dog-like Lennie. Like Candys useless old dog, after the incident withShow MoreRelatedEssay on Character Traits of Lennie in Of Mice and Men996 Words   |  4 PagesValley, 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 veryRead MoreHow Steinbeck Portrays the character of Lennie George in Of Mice Men1565 Words   |  7 Pagesthe story Of Mice Men, John Steinbeck creates a pair of low-class companionship as the story s main character. This pair of companionship, George and Lennie is very different from each other, nothing alike, no matter talking about their figures, personality, IQ, etc, except that they both carry the same American dream as they spend their hard days traveling together and working in the ranch. Lennie is portrayed as being childlike. He looks up on George as a parental figure: Lennie s lips quiveredRead MoreExplore the Ways in Which John Steinbeck Presents He Character of Lennie in ‘of Mice and Men’2183 Words   |  9 PagesExplore the ways in which John Steinbeck presents he character of Lennie in ‘Of Mice and Men’ In this essay I am going to be writing about one of the main characters in John Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of Mice and Men’. 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