Lennie From "Of Mice & Men"
By: Andrew Leustean
Description about Lennie from "Of Mice & Men"
A mentally disabled, but physically strong man who travels with George and is his constant companion.[6] He dreams of "living off the fatta' the lan'" and being able to tend to rabbits. His love for soft things conspires against him, mostly because he does not know his own strength, and eventually becomes his undoing. ~Wikipedia
For more about this character visit the following links:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/micemen/canalysis.html
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/o/of-mice-and-men/character-analysis/lennie-small
http://www.shmoop.com/of-mice-and-men/lennie-small.html
Death Of Lennie Small
One of the Themes For "Of Mice & Men" How does it relate with Lennie?
The Predatory Nature of Human Existence
Of Mice and Men teaches a grim lesson about the nature of human existence. Nearly all of the characters, including George, Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, admit, at one time or another, to having a profound sense of loneliness and isolation. For example, near the end of the book, Lennie was all alone in the farm. It was until Curley's wife came by to talk to him about whatever they were talking about. After that, Lennie starts messing around with Curley's Wife's hair and as she struggles to get out, Lennie broke Curley's Wife's neck in which it ends up killing her... yeah... really scary! As far as I know at least I think so, this is suppose to show Lennie's frustration of being alone or it shows that he just wants to be loved, in this case with Curley's Wife. But it does show how Lennie's action here relates to this theme. Each desires the comfort of a friend, but will settle for the attentive ear of a stranger. Curley’s wife admits to Candy, Crooks, and Lennie that she is unhappily married, and Crooks tells Lennie that life is no good without a companion to turn to in times of confusion and need though, this happens before Curley's Wife gets killed. Curley's Wife also explained that the only reason why Curley was married to her was just because Curley's Wife just wanted to escape from her family and mother, this is where the quote "Stealing her letters" (From Chapter 5) comes in handy, because according to this chapter, stealing the letters could have saved her from being famous. The characters are rendered helpless by their isolation, and yet, even at their weakest, they seek to destroy those who are even weaker than they. For example, near the end of the book (I believe Chapter 5) Lennie killed Curley's Wife's puppy, at least I think it was her puppy unless she randomly found it but either way it's her puppy. Thanks to my amazing memory, I'm not quite sure why Lennie killed her puppy. I think it has something to do with Lennie's frustration again for being alone or he just did it by accident, or it was... let's just say etc. Well the most important thing is that it relates to the theme. Perhaps the other most powerful example of this cruel tendency is when Crooks criticizes Lennie’s dream of the farm and his dependence on George. Having just admitted his own vulnerabilities—he is a black man with a crooked back who longs for companionship—Crooks zeroes in on Lennie’s own weaknesses.
Lennie Theme #1: Kind and Caring
Lennie is a kind and caring person mainly because he likes to pet objects/animals most of the time. It just shows how much Lennie cares about life, he cares about others not just himself. Lennie for the most part is never mean to others.
I was only foolin', George. I don't want no ketchup. I wouldn't eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me."
"If it was here, you could have some."
"But I wouldn't eat none, George. I'd leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn't touch none of it." ~Lennie Small
Lennie Theme #2: Being Alone
As explained earlier, Lennie never really meets any new faces. Instead, most of the time he hangs out with George so somebody can look over Lennie. George most of the time doesn't really care about Lennie so he wishes that he could be alone. Because of this, Lennie is a type of guy that is alone, and not too many people care for him.
"If you don' want me I can g off in the hills an' find a cave. I can go away any time."
"No—look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me." ~Lennie Small
Here is the link to the part of the classic movie "Of Mice & Men" from the 1930's when George kills Lennie. It shows how alone and independent Lennie really is without noticing it.
(Sorry, I'm quite sure how to post videos onto smore!)
Lennie Theme #3: Lennie Kind and Caring #2
Lennie has a feeling where if a certain character talks about a story, fact, or anything Lennie will believe that. This also shows that Lennie believes everybody, he cares for anybody. This also relates to the ending where George shoots Lennie while George was making Lennie excited about something.
"And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle
of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently,
but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The
crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie
jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering." ~Chapter 6
(Go to Chapter 6 and go to the last part of Chapter 6 to read the part where George kills Lennie!)
http://staff.oswego.org/ephaneuf/web/ENG_9R/Steinbeck,%20John%20-%20Of%20Mice%20and%20Men.pdf