The Theme Of Autism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the novel Of Mice and Men it is very obvious that there is something wrong with Lennie. He has a childlike demeanor, has memory loss, and seems to panic in stressful situations. Although Steinbeck never mentions what is wrong with Lennie in the novel, all of these symptoms match up to one intellectual disability, Autism.

The first symptom of Autism is sensory issues. Most people with Autism have a dysfunctional sensory system. Meaning that people with autism can be more sensitive to light, sound, and smells. When Lennie was in the situations where he was holding on the girl’s dress, holding onto Curley’s hand, and holding onto Curley’s wife’s hair. He was experiencing something called a Sensory overload. A sensory overload is one or more of the body’s senses experience over-stimulation. When Lennie was in these situations where he was being touched and yelled at, his hearing and touch senses were overstimulated which caused him to panic and hold on tighter to whatever he was holding onto in the first place.

Although it is rare, some people with Autism can experience long term memory loss, but can usually remember short term information. This would explain why Lennie can’t remember his childhood, but can remember the rabbits and to go hide in the brush if he gets in