Responsibility Of Lennie In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

“Only 50 years ago persons with intellectual disabilities were scorned, isolated and neglected. Today, they are able to attend school, become employed and assimilate into their local community” (Nelson Mandela). Prior to the later part of the 20th century people with intellectual disabilities were often ridiculed, treated unfairly, feared, and locked away in institutions. According to Rhonda Nauhaus and Cindy Smith in their article Disability Rights through the Mid-20th Century, The laws of any nation reflect its societal values. The real life issue of discrimination towards people with intellectual disabilities in the United States and Australia is demonstrated in the novel, Of Mice and Men by showing how this issue affects one of the main characters, Lennie Smalls.

Disability is defined as a condition that restricts a person physically and/or mentally. In the John Steinbeck novel, of Mice and Men, Lennie suffers from this. He is mentally disabled. This forms the story’s conflict. Lennie tries to be in line with society however, his disability makes it much harder, especially in the time period that this story takes place in. To begin, public hospitals were understaffed and patients were often left without any kind of treatment. According to blogs.cofc.edu, conditions were also deteriorating due to a lack of funding during the Great Depression. This is important because it could explain why Lennie is not getting any actual treatment in the story. People who had a mental disability were also usually

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? You ain’t so little as mice. I did not bounce you hard” (Steinbeck). This quote shows that Lennie did not know his own strength. He plays with the puppy, bounces it with his huge hands and at last he killed his puppy by accidentally.

“Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.” Throughout this book Lennie and his partner in crime George encounter many problems and contradictions that shakes things up a notch. After reading John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George is justified in killing Lennie because; Lennie is a liability and he is already suffering mentally enough.

In the novel Of mice and men by John Steinback, it shows the special relationship between the two main characters, George and Lennie. George is like a father figure to Lennie because Lennie obeys what George tells him to do and George makes sure that Lannie is well protected. George has a more rocky relationship with Lennie. This is shown how in the beginning of the novel George says that his life would be easier without Lennie but later mentions, "No-look! Lennie I was jus foolin' , Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me." However, it is shown throughout the novel that these two characters care about each other unconditionally. What keeps them together, the difficulties they face, and what makes them different from the rest all contributes

Nearly 1 in 5 people have a disability in the United States. In our society, people who have disabilities are looked at differently than those who do not. In the book Of Mice and Men, one can imagine the abuse one takes because of their differences. During the 1930’s in Salinas CA, There is a man named Lennie Small, but do not be fooled by his last name because he is a large man who is also very strong. Unfortunately, he suffered an accident which caused him to have a brain injury. This forever changed his life. People should never take advantage of another person when they have a disability. For one to live a fulfilled life, they need to treat all with equality and respect. Lennie experiences some abuse throughout the book through George, Curley’s wife, and Crooks.

What is right and what must be done are two different concepts. Often times, life requires people to do what must be done in order to save themselves, or others, from negative consequences. The characters in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men illustrate how people implement remorseful decisions with astute intentions to help ease the consequences for those they care about.

In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays the relationship between George and Lennie as very dominating yet caring. George has been a father type figure to Lennie ever since he started taking care of him. With George being a father figure to Lennie, that means he has to watch over him, keep him out of trouble, and love him, which he did.

Mental illness is one of many things that can isolate and damage a person. It can cause them to be ridiculed, it can change the lives of those who surround that person, and it can even lead someone to act against their will. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small is a character who, because of his mental disability, portrays many of the qualities mentioned above. Lennie’s life long companion, George, is Lennie’s protector who keeps Lennie from being isolated and lonely. However, there were certain things that Lennie’s mental illness caused that George could not protect him from. Lennie’s disorder altered the way he was treated by those around him. It also drastically changed the outcome of the novel, as well as the life of George.

As george and lennie are always on the run, George reaches the limit of how much responsibility he is willing to take. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel about the importance of companionship and devotion for one another. George and Lennie are on a journey to find a place where they can both be free, but as challenges come closer George has to take responsibility for Lennie's actions. George takes responsibility for Lennie at every step along the way, up until the very end of Lennie’s life.

Rochester edu defines intellectual disabilities to be below-average in cognitive ability also with significant limitations in adaptive skills areas. (Rochester edu). An example of when Lennie proved to have below average cognitive ability was when George expressed, “ Used to play jokes on ‘im cause he was too dumb to even take care of himself... to even know he had a joke played on him” (Steinbeck 40), George’s statement solidifies the argument of whether Lennie is “Mentally Retarded”. In actuality, Lennie shows signs he knows he has a mental disability and to find work-around for it. In Chapter 1 in Of Mice and Men the narrator writes, “Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly. He pushed himself back, drew up his knees, embraced them, looked over to George to see whether he had it just right. He pulled his hat down a little more over his eyes, the way George's hat was.” (Steinbeck 4). Lennie in this scenario is trying to be like George, he dresses like him and attempts to act like him. Why is this significant? A mentally retarded individual would not know how to take care of themselves so, to imitate person who knows exactly would they are doing is Lennie’s way of unintentionally declaring himself as a normal

We read Of Mice and Men in English class recently. The two main characters are George Milton and Lennie Small. Toward the end of the book, Lennie gets into trouble for murdering Curley’s wife; George did the proper thing and executed him.

A theme that is emerging from the story is discrimination against people with disabilities. The central problem is about Lennie’s struggle to remember things. For an example, when Lennie and George were at the Weed, Lennie touched a girl’s dress, refusing to let go of her. When Lennie refused to let go of the girl’s dress, the girl accused Lennie of rape. Another example is when Lennie is talking to Curley’s wife Lennie explains to Curley’s wife that when Lennie was playing with his pup, the pup looked like he was going to bite Lennie, so Lennie smacked him. My last example is when George is talking to Slim about Lennie. George tells Slim that although Lennie isn’t mean, he’s really dumb. The examples show that Lennie not only has trouble remembering

Although the action of George shooting Lennie in the back of the head in the novel “Of Mice and Men,” is absolutely heart wrenching, I completely support George’s decision and action, for he was providing protection for Lennie, himself and others.

Although friendship and loyalty are major features in the novel Of Mice and Men love is the key to all traits. Without love all those major features would fail, fall apart. At the end George has no other option to kill Lennie. But George truly loves Lennie, he shoots Lennie painlessly in the back of the head. Lennie dies with a happy thought of a dream of the farm they want to own someday. George truly loves Lennie through thick and thin. He protects him, he guides him, and ultimately saves him from misery. George has sacrificed a better life for himself in the name of loyalty for a friend. In spite of not achieving their american dream of “A’ live off the fatta the lan” (14). George knows he did his best, and all to help Lennie live the most