Summary Of John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
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George Milton and Lennie Small travel the Salinas Valley for work. While many workers travelled alone during the depression, that is not the case for this pair. George and Lennie leave a town called Weed, and find work on a ranch. Through working at the ranch, Lennie faces the consequences of accidentally killing a woman. Even though Lennie’s troubled mind is more of a burden to George, he does not leave him. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, he conveys the crueler side of humanity through the use of characterization, tone, and imagery.
Through characterization, Steinbeck conveys the toxic traits of the workers on the ranch. When George is talking about what happened in Weed, he tells Slim that Lennie had scared a woman by grabbing onto her dress. George says Lennie reached, “out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, an he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do” (Steinbeck 41). Though Lennie Small is depicted as an innocent and childish character, that is not the case. Lennie conveys violent characteristics layered under his clueless personality. His lack of understanding of any situation makes him react violently, causing his panic to resort to violence. Lennie’s instinct do not allow him to fathom what is right or wrong, causing him so appear violent and dark. Lennie’s savageness expresses that humans are unpredictable and uncontrollable. When Carlson talks to Slim about Candy’s dog,