Lennie Vulnerable Characters

Steinbeck shows that there is a great price to be paid for not being sensitive to the needs of others as well as for taking responsibility for others. We see this take place in the novel Of Mice and Men where characters of the book are vulnerable,heartless, insensitive, and sensitive. A price is to be paid for all of these characteristics.

The vulnerable characters in Of Mice and Men include Lennie, Candy, and Crooks. In the beginning of the novel, we can tell that Lennie is a vulnerable character because we suspect there is some sort of mental disability going on with him. We see this in the first section where he wouldn't let go of the dead mouse because he wanted to pet it. Back in the 1930’s, people were not very understanding of mental illness. Because of this, Lennie was called dumb and child like. This put lennie at a disadvantage because people thought less of him and his capabilities. Another character that is vulnerable in this novel was Candy. A ranch where you harvest crops and work heavy machinery is no place where an elderly man, with his hand cut off, should be. We see this character struggle throughout the

George shows sensitivity to his best friend Lennie. Always looking out for his disabled friend, Lennie has sacrificed a lot throughout the years to keep him safe. George doesn't have to help Lennie, but he chooses too because they are really close friends. Fully knowing that he could leave Lennie at anytime and have a more successful life, George chose to stick with him because of Georges sensitiveness. This could be seen as a huge disadvantage because George had the potential to be someone bigger than he was. Another character in Of Mice and Men that was sensitive was Slim. Although Slim was a sensitive person, it really didn't put him at a disadvantage. Slim showed some comfort to George when he had to shoot Lennie because he understood how hard it