Have you ever thought about how a single action can set off a chain of events that ultimately determines the course of a story? In John Steinbeck's classic novel, "Of Mice and Men," this concept is shown through the character of Lennie. First, Lennie is the catalyst for the events of the novel; without Lennie's actions, the story would not exist in the same way. However, Lennie's importance goes deeper than his role as a catalyst. Lennie's inability to control his strength and impulses leads to disaster in the novel. Lastly, Lennie's vulnerability represents the struggles of those who are different in society. Lennie is the most important character because of his role as a catalyst in the story, his uncontrolled strength, and his vulnerability and struggles.
Lennie's role as a catalyst for the events of the novel is one of the main reasons he could be viewed as the most important character in "Of Mice and Men." Lennie's fascination with soft things and his accidental killing of Curley's wife sets off the tragic chain of events that ultimately leads to George's decision to "play God" and kill him. This event marks the climax of the novel and sets the stage for the ending. Without Lennie's actions, the story would lack the dramatic tension and emotional impact, which both make it so powerful.
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Although physically powerful, Lennie is not aware of his own strength, which causes him to harm others. This is seen in his crushing of Curley's hand during their fight, and eventually, in his killing of Curley's wife. Lennie's lack of understanding of social norms and his childlike nature also led to him unintentionally killing the puppies he was tending, even though he loved them so dearly. Despite his good intentions, Lennie's actions keep resulting in harm and
In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck uses other characters to foreshadows an event that's going to happen to Lennie and George under the same condition. George and Lennie wanted to fulfill their dreams by working at the ranch, but things do not go smoothly for them as the planned. Like what happened in Weed, meeting Curley’s wife, the unfortunate death of Candy’s dog, and how Lennie does not realize his strength which he might accidentally kill someone shows upcoming events. Many behaviors of Lennie lead to the downfall of George and Lennie’s dream because what happened in Weed, where Lennie scared a girl so like an animal he could not control his impulse to hold on to her dress. This foreshadows that with his uncontrollable strength he could hurt another person impulsively.
In the historical fiction novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George’s decision to kill Lennie at the end of the novel was justified. Lennie Smalls is always with his best friend George. He is incapable of doing many things because he is mentally disabled. George normally makes decisions for him and in this case, it’s about Lennie suffering and staying alive, or ending his life peacefully. Curley is a character that played a big role.
Lennie would have suffered and probably been beaten by the mob if it weren’t for
The problem with this is that Lennie is always getting in trouble because he loves petting soft things, but he would always end up hurting what he was petting or possible killing it. Lennie ends up killing a puppy that one of the ranch workers was going to let him have and he is scared George will be mad at him, when Curley’s wife, who is the wife of the ranch owner’s son, tries to comfort
Lennie is mentally impaired and doesn't understand that he can easily kill things. He displays this confusion about his strength continuously throughout the story. On pg. 85, the book says, "Lennie sat in the hay and looked at a little dead puppy that lay in front of him." Then Lennie himself says, "Why have you got to be killed?" This clearly illustrates that Lennie doesn't know that he can easily hurt things.
In the story Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, it mainly takes place on a ranch where two migrant workers, Lennie and George travel around to find work. Throughout the story George helps Lennie throughout the whole story because Lennie is mentally handicapped and has trouble thinking. Lennie cannot be by himself and needs help with simple tasks. George has a large amount of responsibility for Lennie as he always has to care for him. There were events throughout the story where Lennie does some bad things that gets him and George in trouble and at risk of getting kicked out of the ranch.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, George faces a difficult choice as to whether or not to kill his best friend, Lennie. George’s actions were the right thing to do, even if it was a hard thing to do. After learning that Lennie had killed his wife, Curley says that he will kill Lennie. George made the choice to take Lennie’s life himself rather than by Curley's hand. George also ensured that Lennie would be unable to bring harm to anyone else, seeing that Lennie was incapable of realizing the wrongs of his actions.
The character traits of Lennie are that he is a vulnerable and innocent character. In the novella, Lennie is an innocent and vulnerable character. He has a disorder that makes him not know right from wrong, almost like a child. At the farm, he kills Curley’s wife by breaking her own neck. He then is later killed by George, who puts Leenie out of his misery.
Lennie's inability to comprehend that what he did was wrong would
The unconscious acts of Lennie in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck lead to terrible incidents. Steinbeck exemplifies in the book how even good people can act in violent ways. John Steinbeck uses Lennie’s action of killing Curley’s wife to communicate to the audience how he isn’t killing her with malicious intent, but how he is a good person who acted violently. Curley’s wife is intrigued by Lennie and his infatuation with petting soft things. She giggled at him realizing how he was on the strange side, even so he seems harmless, and with his intentions he is.
People are naturally biased, meaning they are uncomfortable with events that contradict societal norms. This shows very strongly in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck where the story highlights Lennie who has special needs, and the controversy surrounding how he is being accused of raping a girl in Weed, the town they had to flee, and towards the end Lennie suffocates and kills Curley’s wife. While some critics contend that the novel Of Mice and Men does not exhibit the literary merit that the conclusion of the novel and the general rhetoric of the story elicits a complex discussion and does not end in a cliche. However, the novel Of Mice and Men definitively shows literary merit through the discussion of people with mental disabilities,
This relates back to naturalism, because Lennie gets himself into a situation that he cannot control. He does not understand that he has to be very careful with the puppy because it is so small, and he does not know his own strength. “What is clear is that Lennie’s body wins out over his mind repeatedly,- in the end with tragic consequences”(Keener 1215). Lennie is very kind- hearted, and never wants to hurt anyone. This quote explains that Lennie’s strength wins over his intentions.
George was a good worker, but Lennie was an amazing worker with a tenacious work ethic and stamina. Lennie had incredible strength, but sometimes he did not understand just how massive he was. Many times throughout the book Lennie is caught hurting people or killing animals on accident. The biggest reason Lennie should not have been killed was because he was a major asset in the working force. That means he could have helped continue to bring in money towards the farm they dreamed about operating someday.
In “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, George made the right decision in shooting Lennie because Lennie did not know his own strength. Another reason is If George did not kill Lennie others would have killed him. However, the other side might argue that Lennie did not mean to kill Curley’s wife, thus he deserves to live. George should have killed Lennie because Lennie did not know his own strength, that is the reason why he killed many things by accident and caused many problems. “Why do you got to get killed?
The book shows that George makes sure to care for Lennie after Lennie killed Curley’s wife. George tried to convince Curley to let Lennie live, and said that Lennie didn't really know what he was doing (Steinbeck 91-95). The next main character, Lennie, also has problems with emotions.