Of Mice and
Men notes: Lennie
· Lennie undergoes no
significant changes, development, or growth throughout the story and remains
exactly as the reader encounters him in the opening pages.
o He adores soft materials or
animals, has a huge faith in George and their vision of the farm, possesses
incredible physical strength and is incredibly unintelligent.
o Nearly every chapter or scene
with Lennie confirms these specific characteristics.
o ‘I could pet
it with my thumb…’ (chapter 1) ‘He can put up a four hundred pound bale’
(chapter 2) ‘He’s so God damn dumb’ (chapter 3) ‘George won’t do nothing like
that’ (chapter 4)
· Lennie is totally defenseless.
o He cannot avoid the dangers
presented by Curley or Curley’s wife because he does not understand them
§ ‘“She’s purty,” said Lennie
defensively’
o He is a character whom
Steinbeck sets up for disaster, a character whose innocence only seems to
ensure his inevitable destruction.
§ ‘Lennie was still smiling with delight at the
memory of the ranch. Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier. ‘What the
hell you laughin’ at?’
o His innocence encourages readers to like him and sympathize with him.
· Lennie is huge and lumbering
and, in many ways, the opposite of George.
o Where George has sharp
features and definite lines, Lennie is "shapeless"
o Lennie is
‘huge’ and George is ‘small’
o Lennie is
mentally incapable and George is fairly intelligent.
o This
highlights their unlikely friendship.
· Often Lennie is described in terms of animals.
o He lumbers
like a ‘bear’ and has the strength of a ‘bear’
o His actions
are often described like those of a dog.
§ ‘George snapped his fingers sharply, and at the
sound Lennie laid the mouse in his hand’
§ Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a
ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again.
o He is
compared to a lamb in his fight with Curley.
§ ‘(Lennie) bleated with terror’
· Lennie has enormous mental incapabilities, which
hold him back.
o He does not
think before he acts. His actions are defined by their consequences.
§ ‘George is going to give me
hell’
§ ‘George won’t let me tend the
rabbits’
o He is unable
to learn from his mistakes – he lives in the present, and does not consider or
give thought to the past
§ ‘Lennie. You gonna be sick like you was last
night.’
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