How Is Lennie A Dynamic Character

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The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was a poignant read. The story takes place in California during the Great Depression, when George and Lennie are stranded miles from a farm. They are typical migrant workers, even though Lennie has a mental disability. George tends to Lennie, feeding both of the men’s fantasy of the true American Dream: living completely independent of other people, on a nice farm with a lot of animals. However, they are currently stuck working for someone else, with a group of men who all share the same ambition. Lennie has a strong passion for soft animals, but oftentimes accidentally kills the animal. This is a foreshadowing for later in the novel, when he is sitting with Curley’s wife after he has just killed…show more content…
This causes George to want to be the one to kill Lennie when the time comes. This was an extremely emotional book for me. When faced with looking at character development, I believe that Steinbeck made Lennie a very static character to show that he is sort of the rock between himself and George, because without Lennie’s mental disability, it is very possible that the two men would have gone their separate ways after Aunt Clara’s death. Of course, this means that George is the dynamic character, and he fills this role tremendously. He is more than capable of transforming, as shown when he admits that he took advantage of Lennie’s disability before they were friends. Steinbeck leads George to a painful cognizance; the only way to move up in the world is to prey on those below you. I feel that the biggest shift in emotion and character was the assassination of Lennie, at George’s hands. Here he puts to rest the idyllic future he has with Lennie, and the thought of any American Dream coming true. However, for me it was hard to visualize George as a happy-go-lucky daydreamer who only serves to fulfill fantasies that Lennie
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