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Lennie in Of Mice and Men Essay

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How does Steinbeck make the reader feel sympathetic towards Lennie?

The novel Of Mice and Men was written in 1937 by John Steinbeck. The book is set in the 1930s in America during the great depression. The story is about two men (called George and Lennie,) and their life working on a farm-ranch and their travels from ranch to ranch. They had to travel from ranch to ranch to earn some money. They had to leave their last ranch because of an incident that Lennie got them in, which resulted in them being chased off the ranch. One of the reasons they still work is so that they can get the money to live the American dream. There dream in which they both share is to own a ranch of there own. Unfortunately the harsh reality is that this will never happen as an unforeseen catastrophe follows the characters. John Steinbeck uses lots of different techniques to make the reader feel sympathetic towards the character Lennie; the description of Lennie immediately makes us feel sympathetic towards him.

Lennie is described more like an animal rather than a human being e.g. dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. And the way he Drinks like a horse. He is quite clumsy and he follows George around every where he goes. The first impression Lennie gives to the reader is that he is a huge man, shapeless to face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, and that gives the reader the idea that he is not human because of his size. This really gives us (the reader) a clue that he acts like an animal, like an animal Lennie is unable to think for himself and can not effectively communicate with people like an animal. His speech also makes us feel sympathetic towards him.

Lennie does speak but it is in a simple way. Why sure, George, I remember thatbutwhatd we do then? I remember some girls come by and you says you says In todays world he would be called a retard and under classed for it as he sounds like a kid in many ways. For example he repeats words like he has a stutter, I aint gonna say nothin I aint gonna say nothinI aint gonna say nothin. He does this especially when he talks about the rabbits, the dream in which they both share. The dream is for George and Lennie to own a ranch of their own and have many animals on the ranch, Lennie will look after some rabbits, which is all he can ever think about. George and Lennie talk about this to brighten their lives up. Like a kid Lennie love the story being told to him even if he knows it like the back of his hand, but we feel sorry for him and this is probably just a dream that will never happen.

Other characters treat Lennie in ways that make us feel sympathetic towards him. This is manly because he is simple-minded. One of these characters is Curly; he does not like him because he despises bigger men. By Christ, hes gotta talk when hes spoken to. What the hell are you getting into it for? He is also picking on him because he is aware that if Lennie was normal, then Lennie would beat Curly in a fight but then because he is the bosss son George and Lennie would be fired. Lennie would win because of his size and he has more strength than the average man.

George is always kind to Lennie and says nice things to him which makes the reader like him. We realise that someone cares for Lennie even though he is simple-minded. We know that he needs looking after, I want to you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebodyd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself He is unable to look after himself however hard he tried so we feel sorry for him because at the end he ends up killing Curlys wife. We are worried and wonder how he would cope if he was caught. For one thing we know that he would be upset, confused and probably crying because he has done a bad thing. (Quote to be added) we all know that Lennie is not bad and would not intentionally hurt someone George tells Lennie that he has never bin mad, an I aint now. The reader understands this and does not dislike Lennie.

Many other characters find Lennie as harmless e.g. Curlys wife and the stable buck, and can talk to Lennie and they all have one thing in common and that is that they are all lonely for whatever reason. But Lennie is not really lonely because he has George (Quote) it makes you feel better because he is being looked after. Lennie cannot remember things and because of that, he is like a sounding block for other characters, taking in their stories but not taking part, as he only cares for his and Georges story. Crooks tells Lennie all of his problems but all Lennie says is about the rabbits. We feel sorry for Lennie when Crooks upsets him saying that George will not come back from town. (Quote) Lennie get really angry and upset at this comment. At the end of the novel, he starts to cry when he thinks the rabbits are talking to him saying Hes gonna leave you, ya crazy bastard. He gonna leave ya all alone. He gonna leave ya, crazy bastard.

Curlys wife is also alone and recognizes that Lennie is not like other men and feels safe when she is near him, because he will not flirt with her or treat her like a bitch. She is alone because she is the only female in the novel Steinbeck does not even give her a name because she has so little importance to the play. Lennie likes to touch,purty things he wont bother the girl until she asked him to feel her hair. We worry for her safety as we know Lennie kills things unintentionally when he pets them. (Quote) we then feel that it is not his fault and how bad he will feel when he finds out she is dead.

Lennie knows when he has done a really bad thing When he meets up with George down in the river he expects George to tell him off, Anit you gonna give me hell? like a child would expect from an adult. When he kills the pup he is not up set for the pup. It is humorous because he thinks he can not tend the rabbits.

When Slims dog is having pups Lennie is really excited you can tell this by the way he speaks. All he wants is the Brown and white one, and wants George to ask Slim, Right away. We feel sympathetic for Lennie because George told him he might not kill a pup if he pets it harder, but we soon realize, the size of the animal does not matter whether it lives or dies. This shows his brutal strength and how uncontrollable it is. Reading the novel, you feel that each problem is becoming worse by the minuet and this all adds to the tragedy. At the end of the novel, the reader is very moved by Lennies situation. He is left alone with the girl even after George warned him to keep away from her, cause shes a rattrap if ever I seen one. The ironic thing is that she is in fact the jail-bait that would make Lennie end up in jail. George warned Lennie about her after he realized the problems they had in weed. Unfortunately, Lennie has a quiet moment and automatically knows This aint o good place. I wanna get outta here.

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