Lennie In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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At heart, we are all animals. But we as humans choose to hide this barbaric side of us. Some of us succeeding better than others, as this pent up wildness may rise up occasionally in our humane selves. However, John Steinbeck’s character, Lennie Small, defies this statement. He is an animal in a sense, and is taught to act human. These set of circumstances being the result of his mental disability. The mentally disabled man is set within Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. And using animalistic descriptions of Lennie, the author allows us to understand who Lennie is, how the other characters view him, and why these opposing viewpoints led to the death of Lennie Small. One of the most significant factors leading to Lennie’s death was his personality. He is a…show more content…
Creating a false sense of security in the other characters, since they cannot see his dormant but violent instincts. They see him just as they see Candy’s dog, who is old, weak, and harmless. Lennie becomes George’s big dog with table manners, and even though he appears unsafe, the others pay no mind because of the loyalty he shows to his master. George himself describes this relationship to Slim in the following passage: “‘Why he’d do any damn thing I tol’ him. If I tol’ him to walk over a cliff, over he’d go’” (Steinbeck 40). Lennie seems obedient and trained. Yet he is not the only one guilty of deception, in another aspect, George is just as guilty for aiding in Lennie’s innocent facade. When in fact, Lennie is anything but brittle and innocent. Evidence of the success of this facade on most of the characters’ can be represented in Slim’s words: “‘He ain’t mean,’ said Slim. ‘I can see Lennie ain’t a bit mean’” (Steinbeck 41). Indeed this is proof that many of the characters are ignorant in regards to Lennie Small. His obedient demeanor has covered and shielded the others from his aggressiveness. Which will eventually set off a chain of events leading to
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