Lennie Small
Lennie is described as being a ‘huge man, shapeless of face,
with large, pale eyes, with large, sloping shoulders.’ The way that he is
described suggests that he is slow but gentle, as most of the words used
suggest a kind and docile sort of man. As ‘large’ is used repeatedly, it
suggests that he is strong and capable of inflicting some damage, and yet we
still get the image of the sort of person that wouldn’t hurt a fly. His
personality is reflected in the way that his physical traits are described. For
example, Lennie is always getting himself into trouble, and so being a ‘huge
man,’ it is easy to image than he could cause a lot of problems if he wanted
to. He is described almost in the way that you would describe a large dog-
docile and peaceful, but able to hurt you if he had the urge. ‘He walked
heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws’ also backs
up the fact that Lennie has almost animalistic qualities. Bears are also
dangerous animals, but are often associated with being cuddly and soft, which
gives the impression that Lennie is the same. Lennie, though he is quite slow
and clearly has something mentally wrong with him, can be a clever man at
times. This can be seen when he threatens George that he can go and live in a
cave. He ends up getting George to tell him the story about the ranch to shut
him up, and so knows how to get what he wants.
Lennie’s relationships with characters differ. With George
he has a close, intimate bond, mainly because he has been looked after by George
for many years. As a result of this he loves George and respects him in almost
a son-like manor. George cares deeply about Lennie and tries to keep him out of
trouble, again in the way that a father may look after his son. Lennie gets on
okay with Slim, the well-regarded ranch worker, but doesn’t really have much to
do with him. Lennie doesn’t bond much with any of the ranch workers, but, out
of all of them, Slim is the nicest to him. Slim also likes Lennie, and seems to
accept him even when most of the others don’t, saying to George ‘he ain’t a
mean guy.’ Curley’s wife causes many issues for Lennie right from the first
time he meets her. Lennie is clearly infatuated with her, most likely
mesmerised by the way she dresses. George warns Lennie off her, as he knows
that she will get him into trouble. Curley’s wife sees Lennie as an easy
target, as she knows that he is not capable of thinking for himself about the
dangers she could bring. Lennie doesn’t like Curley as he is horrible to him
every time they meet, and he is always trying to cause fights. Even though
Lennie isn’t the smartest, he can see that Curley is not good news. Curley
hates Lennie because he is intimidated by men that are bigger than him. He is
wary of Lennie after he breaks his hand, as he finds out then that Lennie is
capable of hurting him and fighting back. Candy and Lennie have quite a good
bond, as do Crooks and Lennie. Candy and Lennie share the dream, which means
that they both get on well with each other and want to get the ranch together.
Lennie doesn’t like Crooks in the beginning, nor does Crooks like Lennie.
Crooks is not very nice to Lennie about George in the bunk house, which makes
Lennie fear him slightly. Crooks doesn’t like Lennie because he came into his
room uninvited, which was not done. By the end of their conversations, though,
they end on a better relationship than they started with, and Crooks even very
nearly plans to share the ranch with George and Lennie.
One of the main themes that is explored through Lennie’s
character is loneliness. Unlike nearly every other character in OMAM, Lennie is
the only one who is not completely alone. This is one of the main things that
sets him and George apart from the other ranch workers. Lennie is aware of
this, making numerous references to the fact that he has someone throughout the
novella. One of the main quotes about this is when he is talking to George at
the Salinas River, and says “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look
after you, and that’s why.”
The American dream is another main theme that is explored
with Lennie. George and Lennie have the classic ‘American Dream’ of having
their own place, not having to work hard every day and having security. They go
into minute details about this, and plan it through completely. Lennie loves
hearing about this, and he actually believes this could happen. When Lennie
kills Curley’s wife, he realises that the dream is not going to happen.
Another theme that is used with Lennie is discrimination.
Lennie has a mental disability, and is discriminated against throughout the
novella because of it. For example, he is told not to talk when they first
arrive at the ranch because George is worried that Lennie will ruin it for them
by showing his disability before his work. He is called things like ‘crazy
son-of-a-bitch’ all of the way through OMAM by various people (including
George) for things like forgetting things, which he can’t actually help. This
isolates Lennie from the rest of the men, just because he is a bit different.
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