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Lennie In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Decent Essays

In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the plot follows George and Lennie. Dull-witted and heedless, Lennie tends to cause trouble. George tries to keep him in check. George and Lennie recently left the town of Weed, because Lennie assaulted a girl, and are heading to a ranch to work. At the ranch, Lennie and George meet Candy, an elderly man, Curley, a hot-headed man, Crooks, a black man who works in the stables, Slim, a friendly man who is popular on the ranch, and Curley's wife, a seemingly unfaithful woman. Slim’s dog has puppies and Lennie is immediately infatuated with them. One day everyone on the ranch except Lennie goes into to town. Lennie heads to the barn to sit with the puppies and while in the barn Curley’s wife shows up. She tries to talk with Lennie, but at first, he is hesitant as George told him not to engage with her. But soon he opens up and starts talking with her. He notices her hair and begins touching it, this prompts her …show more content…

This is during the opening scene of the book when George and Lennie are sitting by a pond while on their way to the ranch. Before this quote George discovered Lennie with a dead mouse. In the heat of the moment George begins berating Lennie about how much easier his life would be if he did not have Lennie around. Afterwards George apologizes and attempts to lift Lennies spirit by reciting a speech of his. George says that ranchers, like him and Lennie, tend to be lonely as they are forced to move around often and cannot form close connections. But that they are different from the other ranchers in view of the fact that they have each other. This scene reflects a main theme of the incompatibility of dreams and relationships. George is caught between his emotions and his aspirations. George wants a farm of his own but cannot achieve this because he continually moves around due to Lennie’s knack for getting into trouble. Despite this George stays with Lennie because he is afraid to be

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