Of Mice And Men - Lennie

A detailed Summary of Of Mice And Men - Lennie

"Of Mice and Men", the novel by John Steinbaeck, is about two men's struggle to achieve their dream. George Milton and Lennie Small are casual workers who move around different ranches doing jobs when they are required. They move to a ranch near the town of Soledad with the hope of making enough money to buy a ranch of their own. The novel ends tragically when Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife and George is forced to shoot him. Lennie is one of the most interesting characters in the book because he differs from the others in a number of ways. He has a very simple mind and often acts like a child. He is also very strong but he is not in control of his strength. I admire Lennie because he is unprejudiced and treats everyone the same.

We don't know a lot about Lennie's background. Judging by what we are told of his past, he didn't have a "normal" happy upbringing. We don't know what happened to Lennie's family and parents and why he didn't live with them, just that he was looked after by his Aunt Clara. Lennie was picked on by George and his friends because of his lack of intelligence but to Lennie this must have seemed normal. We learn from George about out an incident that happened when they were younger. Georg

Another aspect of Lennie's child like mind is his lack of prejudice. He does not understand people's prejudices and treats everyone the same. I think this is one of Lennie's most important qualities, although it is sometimes a disadvantage to him. As most people grow up, they develop bias towards certain people. This is usually based solely on what they have been told and not their own judgment. For example, the men on the ranch may have been told, when they were younger, to avoid black men and that there is something different about them. So as they grow older this develops in to racism. For this reason, Crooks is not allowed in to the bunk house and is unable to talk to them. Lennie may have been told the same things, but forgotten them, so he did not have the same prejudices against people. This is why he went to talk to Crooks when he was lonely, he didn't see why the other men ignored Crooks. " 'I ain't wanted in the bunk house...' 'Why ain't you wanted?' Lennie asked." Lennie also didn't understand why the men didn't talk to Curley's wife. He didn't see her in the same way they did. To Lennie she was just "purty". This got Lennie in to trouble, he didn't know that Curley would get very angry at Lennie for talking to her. This is sad because Lennie had nothing but good intentions.

Lennie has a very simple mind, he doesn't think on the same level as the other characters in the book. He doesn't have a good memory and often forgets things that George tells him. "So you forgot that awready, did you?" Lennie has a selective memory, he doesn't remember a lot of important things, like where they were going but he remembers their dream. He is always thinking about the rabbits and worries, that George wont let him tend them if he gets in to trouble. Lennie doesn't have a lot of common sense. He is dependent on George to make decisions, he couldn't survive without him. "You ain't got sense enough to find nothing to eat." He doesn't know that when someone screams he should let go of the instead of holding on. He doesn't realise that he is hurting them.

e and his friends had told Lennie to jump in the the river as a joke, knowing that he would do what they said. Lennie couldn't swim and almost drowned. George had to jump in and rescue him. Afterwards, Lennie was very thankful to George for rescuing him but he couldn't remember that George had told him to jump in, in the first place. Lennie is very trusting and will do anything that George tells him to do. He is the only person Lennie has in the world. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie started to go round ranches with George. George dad promised Lennie's

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Approximate Word count = 1787
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English