Archetypes, which are characters symbolic of universal ideas, are things that John Steinbeck make present in the novella Of Mice and Men. Each character provides symbolism to the story but the one that sticks out is Lennie Small. What is his archetype? Well, Lennie is symbolic of innocence and immaturity and serves as the scapegoat of the story. He is not a bad character, just misunderstood. For Lennie’s archetype, his character represents innocence. In the story, Lennie is always in need to pet some kind of animal. His want of constant comfort from an animal is a childish quality for a grown man to have. This childish quality makes Lennie’s character have the innocence of a child no older than eight years old. Lennie’s immaturity