"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck: Character Review

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Character Review of Lennie Small

Ansh Singh

        This short story revolves around the lives of George Milton and Lennie Small. George Milton is an intelligent, small guy who takes care of Lennie. Lennie Small is a big, strong man, who is unable to control his own strength. Though, later on in the book, readers discover that Lennie is "not so bright."  

        Lennie has a mental disorder, specifically a learning disability which causes him to forget many things and makes it difficult for him to control his own strength. Lennie is dependant on George, as he fears of George leaving him behind. Lennie and George are quite the opposite people and George commonly scolds Lennie for being a nuisance, but they still deeply care for eachother.  

        These two travel together looking for place of work while dreaming of owning their own ranch. Eventually, George and Lennie start to work at a ranch in Soledad, but things stop working out for them after that.

         As I mentioned earlier, Lennie has a learning disability that prevents him from remembering most things while also making him unable to control his own strength. Lennie loves to pet soft and fluffy animals, but often kills them on accident. He is not aware of his own physical strength and is always killing the things he touches. For this reason, George takes away Lennie's permission to touch anything small, but promises to get him a rabbit.

         I think of Lennie as a ticking time bomb. Lennie will eventually make a mistake, causing another collapse in the story. Lennie does not have a bad objective and he is very loyal to George, trying his best to follow George's order. But, his mental disorder is too much of a problem and soon enough George will completely realize that. Lennie is a soft-hearted, innocent person. He has simple desires and wishes only to be with George. Though his unbelievable strength and his lack of awareness of it, makes him a dangerous person, even if he has good intentions.