Lennie is cheerful and kind most of the time, quickly forgetting things that make him unhappy. You drink some, George. You take a good big drink. He smiled happily. Even though George has just told Lennie off, Lennie quickly moves on and is focused on his immediate, positive experience. The way that he smiled happily suggests that he is focused on simple pleasures and can be satisfied with small things in life; he is not demanding. Lacking control How is Lennie like this?
Evidence He was so little, said Lennie. Analysis The use of ellipsis here shows how upset Lennie is as he is not able to speak fluently, demonstrating that he did not mean to cause any harm to his puppy. Despite his age, Lennie acts and speaks with immaturity due a mental disability. By comparing him to a terrier he becomes viewed as irrational with a very instinctive side to him. It stresses his naivety and also his loyalty to George. By writing this Steinbeck has suggested that the innocent Lennie is and both a victim and villain throughout his life.
No matter how harmless he is within his mind, his strength betrays his personality leaving his child like mind, and brute strength a threatening combination. This quote emphasises the dominance in the relationship and how Lennie is always following behind George because he wants to show him respect. It produces the thought that maybe all Lennie wants is for George to be proud of him and is symbolic to the fact Lennie looks up to George as a role model.
He speaks down to Lennie in a patronizing manner which also symbolises the authority in the relationship. In this novella one of the key things about Lennie and George is the dream they both wish to achieve.
Tell me. Please, George. Like you did before. It could also portray the subconscious worries Lennie has so he feels the need to be reassured about their dream. When Slim, the jerkline skinner, is first introduced to Lennie and George he is taken aback by the oddness of their relationship with each other. At first he only sees the childlike Lennie but after the situation explained he understands and views Lennie in a completely different light. Another relationship that Lennie has is one with the stable buck, Crooks.
Steinbeck enforces this unspoken friendship between the two because both are isolated from the rest of the ranch workers, Lennie because of his size and childish behaviour and Crooks because of him being black and being segregated from the rest of the workers. It could also show that Lennie sees crooks as an equal unlike the other men on the ranch who merely see his colour. When the rest of the world gets complicated and scary, petting soft things helps Lennie feel safe.
In petting dead mice, Lennie is doing something that makes him feel safe. Society as a whole would disapprove of what he is doing, but Lennie sees nothing wrong in his actions. When they have their farm, as George tells him at the end, Lennie will not need to be scared of bad things any more, and he can tend the rabbits and pet them.
Lennie's prodigious strength combined with his lack of intelligence and conscience make him dangerous, and he needs George to keep him out of trouble. George takes care of Lennie and makes the decisions for him.
George also gives him advice and helps Lennie when overwhelming forces, like Curley , scare him. George keeps the dream out in front of the huge man as a goal: Their farm is a place where they can live together, have animals, grow their own crops and, in general, feel safe.
Lennie has little memory, but the story of their dream is one he knows by heart.
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