During the mid 1800s many people had unrealistic aspirations of finding gold in California and selling it for a large profit. People wanted to live in luxury so much so that they would drop everything and move to the promise land of California. People eventually learned that they needed to stay within the boundaries of their success or they would be in for an unexpected surprise. This is relatable to Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, when George and Lennie both have dreams of owning land and attaining monetary success but they both lack the key attributes for accomplishing their goal. Lennie has severe mental issues which makes him incapable of understanding right from wrong. George aspires to reach this goal but he needs a partner who is …show more content…
Lennie struggles with short term memory loss. His mental issues were apparent when George asked him, “You remember where we’re goin’ now?” [after telling Lennie moments earlier] “Lennie looked startled and then in embarrassment hid his face against his knees. I forgot again” (Steinbeck 6). Lennie continuously forgets things which makes it extremely difficult for him and George to accomplish anything. Lennie’s forgetfulness frustrates George. If Lennie continuously lacks the ability to remember important details, he will be unable to achieve his goals. Lennie also does things that are very idiotic, “He looked down at her, and carefully removed his hand from [Curley’s wife] mouth, and she lay still” (Steinbeck 91). Lennie had just killed his boss’s wife which clearly shows that Lennie can't handle thinking things through or choosing right from wrong. In order for a goal to be achieved, one needs to be able to listen to their inner voice and ascertain morally correct decisions. Due to Lennie's many imperfections, it is nearly impossible for Lennie to achieve any of his …show more content…
George often complains that Lennie is holding him back from reaching his full potential. This is obvious when George and Lennie get into an argument and George snaps, “God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want” (Steinbeck 11). George’s frustration towards Lennie had been building for quite a while and when Lennie killed their boss Curly’s wife, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. George had completely lost faith in attaining his dreams and he became so frustrated with Lennie, that he decide to kill him. Teamwork is good but not when there is a major conflict between the two working together. Right before George is about to kill Lennie, Lennie says “but not us” Lennie cried happily. “Tell about us now” “George was quiet for a moment” (Steinbeck 104). It is very difficult to achieve a goal when you do not believe in yourself or in the people that you have surrounded yourself with to help achieve the goal. George does not have the key attributes to achieve his goal which makes his goal unattainable and extremely difficult to
From the beginning of the story, George always seems to get irked by Lennie’s lack of recollection. He cannot seem to remember anything George advises him, besides the American dream they share, which seems to be vividly engraved in his brain. George makes fun of him for this at times, while other times he gets understandably impatient. “‘I wasn't kicked in the head with no horse, was I, George?’ ‘Be a damn good thing if you was,’ George said viciously.
Lennie has been proven repeatedly to not be self-sufficient. He relies on George for everything, for example when they went to the job interview for the wheat bucker interview at the ranch George was the only one who talked. Also, Lennie didn’t stick up for himself
George killed Lennie, was it self-preservation, or was it out of friendship? Many can say they do things out of love, but maybe he was just trying to make himself “feel” better… What do you base a friendship on? What someone might see as friendship, another might see as just a responsibility to stick with someone. Would you call what George did to him nagging or helping a brother out? “ O.K.—O.K. I’ll tell ya again.
This showed that Lennie had to check in with George to see if it was right to defend himself. According to Source D, “It is claimed that sometimes it is permissible to cause such a harm as a side effect of bringing about a good result even though it would not be permissible to cause such a harm as a means to bringing about the same good end.” This shows that Lennie is incapable of thinking and making decisions for
Of Mice and Men How do you think society handle people who are different? People differently when I moved to Connecticut. Everyone talked about me and did not like me because I’m from Texas. Everyone called me dumb because I did not have the same education as everyone else. People use to say “You’ll never be as smart as me because you are from a dumb state.”
Since Lennie has a mental deficiency, he doesn’t realize that this will never be able to happen. Over many years, George has found ways to deal with Lennie. Using this example to focus him makes them both happy, even if it is just a dream. This books shows people being untruthful to protect themselves just as much as To Kill A
Lennie is dumb, but listens to George because he trusts him and Lennie gets hurt and doesn’t get mad at George. Lennie always wants to make George happy. "If it were here you could have some. I don’t want no ketchup." (Steinbeck, 11)
This has been portrayed through his actual character and showed the point of activeness. Everyday we are influenced by our goals or dreams. George was also influenced by his dream of protecting Lennie. This one dream has influenced George by so much that it began to take most of his freedom, and in the process, becoming an aspect of his life.
In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men,George and Lennie are two guys that are heading to their next job. Lennie is a giant and forgetful guy who does not always know what he is doing. George, on the other hand,is the opposite. He is short and knows what he is doing when it comes to work. Lennie was dangerous to everything around him and he also liked to pet soft things.
Lennie was not very intelligent. He would constantly get in trouble by saying or doing the wrong things or messing with the wrong people. George had to act intelligent because he had to make a hard decision and kill Lennie because he knew it was the only way to keep him safe and he knew if he didn’t do it then the other workers would so he figured he would at least be the one to do it and make sure Lennie died happy. From this quote in the book, ”Well, jus forget it, I didn’ mean it. Jus’ foolin’.
Lennie had low brains and high strength, allowing him to get far with George helping him. But, Lennie never knowing when he did something wrong only put him on a clock before he would end up dying for something he didn’t understand. “They run us outta weed,”(Steinbeck 7) this quote shows that already at the beginning of the book Lennie has
George even lies that he and Lennie were cousins so The Boss wouldn’t suspect anything showing that George is ashamed of Lennie but also cares about him. George tries many ways to cope with Lennie’s mind, strategies such as making Lennie repeat what he said and punish him by reminding Lennie what his dream is and how George can ruin that dream for him. Unfortunately none of these strategies successfully ‘fixed’ Lennie but instead made him scared and traumatized by George. By using little events where George stands up for Lennie, Steinbeck drives the story to be more suspenseful because readers become aware that George will do whatever it takes to protect Lennie, building up tension and question of what else will George do and how far will he go to keep Lennie
With Lennie’s mental disability, fending for himself is not always possible thus he has to rely on George’s help for everyday tasks. “‘What you gonna say tomorrow when the boss asks you questions? … I ain 't gonna… say a word’” (Steinbeck 15). This quote exemplifies Lennie’s dependency on George.
That George got rid of the burden that Lennie was to him. On the other hand, George also knows what Lennie is capable of and knows what Lennie has done in the past. For example, the thing that happened in weed, “So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do” (Steinbeck 41). Lennie panics too much and just freaks people out, so George put Lennie out of his confusion. In the end, George murdering his friend was well justified.
What is right and what must be done are two different concepts. Often times, life requires people to do what must be done in order to save themselves, or others, from negative consequences. The characters in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men illustrate how people implement remorseful decisions with astute intentions to help ease the consequences for those they care about. Lennie is a sizable, amicable guy.