The Characteristics Of Lennie Small Essay Research

The Characteristics Of Lennie Small Essay, Research Paper Lennie Small a very complex character. The description of this character is very precise, and so is his personality. Many of the other characters in the book react to Lennie in very different ways; some liking and some disliking him. The location and the time period of the novel both play important roles in the characterization of Lennie Small in the book Of Mice and Men. The location and the time period of the novel both play key roles in the development of Lennie Small?s character. The novel takes place some time during the Great Depression. During this time, there was very little money available in the United States of America. This made education very low. People were not as smart as they are today. Lennie was one

of those uneducated people. Another thing that contributed to Lennie?s personality and other characteristics was the location of the story. It took place in the south. There were no large cities; only small towns and lone ranches. The slang and vocabulary of the people in the south at this time were extremely hard to understand. Lennie?s mental condition made his vocabulary limited and hard to understand. But, it also effected his intelligence. Lennie Small has an extremely accurate character description. His intelligence for one is described thoroughly. Lennie?s intelligence is extremely low. The way that he acts in the story, almost suggests that he has a mental retardation. His thoughts are of those of a young child?s. For example, Lennie tried to sneak a young puppy into his

bunk while everyone was around. He walked in through the door with his arms hidden with the puppy and his denim shirt draped over his shoulders as if it was a cape (Steinbeck 47). A person with a normal amount of intelligence at his age would have known that his little plan would not have worked. Also, when Curley was attacking and beating up Lennie, all that he did was stand there with his hands over his face screaming in terror; crying out like a frightened child, unable to think about what to do. It was not until George told him to fight back, that he did (69). This shows that Lennie cannot make his own decisions without the assistance of George. Also, that he mostly only does what George tells him to do. In a way that a child follows orders from his parents. Not only can he

not make decisions on his own, but his memory is dysfunctional as well. Lennie?s memory is short termed. He cannot remember most things from long ago. An example of his short termed memory was when he said, ?I remember a lady used to give ?em to me-ever? one she got? (10). Lennie was referring to his Aunt Clara who used to take care of him. The things that she used to give him were mice. He was unable to remember her. Also, George told Lennie not to say anything to their new boss when they were to first meet him. But, Lennie later went on to say in front of the boss, ? Strong as a bull? (24). Lennie later confessed to George that he had forgotten not to say anything and that he was sorry. That was an example of how short termed Lennie?s memory was. The very little that Lennie

actually remembered was the rabbits (15,62,100,ect). He was so fascinated with tending to the rabbits is also an example of how he has the characteristics of a small child. Lennie also only paid attention to the things that deeply interested him. His attention span was short. He was either thinking about the pups (puppies) or the rabbits, or petting and holding the young pups. Whenever a situation came up that did not interest Lennie, he would talk about the rabbits and how he was going to be able to tend to them. For example, Curley?s wife was talking about how she could have been an actress; and all Lennie does to respond to what she was talking about was to tell how he could hide the dead puppy which he had just killed by accident and still be able to tend to the rabbits