In john Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, the reader is introduced to many characters, all having their own limitations. Two of those characters, Lennie Small and George…, are both introduced to the readers right away. In this impactful novella, one can learn about how cruel life really is, and how broken the american dream can be. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck crafts his character Lennie in order to demonstrate the dehumanization of the mentally challenged and how the creation of false hopes can lead to the destruction of the American Dream.
Throughout Of Mice and Men, Lennie small is often described and treated as an animal. In the first chapter, where the reader is introduced to George and Lennie as well as the salinas valley, George …show more content…
Some may even go as far to say that it adds a more vivid image to the character and that all types of characters are given these descriptions to help with comparisons and/or build on the character in general, helping them become more appealing to the reader. However, in Steinbeck’s novella, no other character is given that for of description, let alone such in-depth, negative, animal-like traits. Lennie is already mentally incompetent, leading to his demoralization by not only his “friend” George but by almost every character in the book. And as if that isn’t inferior enough, Steinbeck goes as far as to compare Lennie to a horse, bear, and even a dog, making Lennie’s character completely less-than-man and singling him out amongst the other characters. In other cases, animalistic traits may be either good or bad, and that connotation is left to the context of the book itself, but in the context Steinbeck provides, these traits serve no other purpose than to dehumanize Lennie and single him out from fellow …show more content…
However, he is the only character who never could have had a chance to live his American dream. ‘“Tell about the house george,” “...we’d have a little house an’ a room to ourself. Little fat iron stove, an’ in the winter we’d keep a fire goin’ in it…” “An’ rabbits, an’ I’d take care of em’”’(58). While crooks could’ve managed to make his American dream a reality, as well as the female, by simply making different decisions and putting forth greater effort, Lennie didn't have a chance in the world: everything he was told by George was false hope meant to keep him from getting in trouble, just like a child. These false hopes, fake dreams, and broken ideals still all lead to his death: he still got in trouble, and he still wound up dead. Those false hopes did nothing but portray Steinbeck's major theme: that the American dream is dead, that it never lived. That claim is still true, that anyone who does not fit perfectly into society does not get the chance to live their American dream. Instead, society shuts the mentally handicapped and other “issued” people away from the rest, from schools to jobs to general communication, the average person won’t see someone with a handicap unless they are doing some odd job like cleaning or working in a factory. They've shut away, hopeless, and now even possibly blind, to the American
Throughout Of Mice and Men, Lennie small is often described and treated as an animal. In the first chapter, where the reader is introduced to George and Lennie as well as the salinas valley, George …show more content…
Some may even go as far to say that it adds a more vivid image to the character and that all types of characters are given these descriptions to help with comparisons and/or build on the character in general, helping them become more appealing to the reader. However, in Steinbeck’s novella, no other character is given that for of description, let alone such in-depth, negative, animal-like traits. Lennie is already mentally incompetent, leading to his demoralization by not only his “friend” George but by almost every character in the book. And as if that isn’t inferior enough, Steinbeck goes as far as to compare Lennie to a horse, bear, and even a dog, making Lennie’s character completely less-than-man and singling him out amongst the other characters. In other cases, animalistic traits may be either good or bad, and that connotation is left to the context of the book itself, but in the context Steinbeck provides, these traits serve no other purpose than to dehumanize Lennie and single him out from fellow …show more content…
However, he is the only character who never could have had a chance to live his American dream. ‘“Tell about the house george,” “...we’d have a little house an’ a room to ourself. Little fat iron stove, an’ in the winter we’d keep a fire goin’ in it…” “An’ rabbits, an’ I’d take care of em’”’(58). While crooks could’ve managed to make his American dream a reality, as well as the female, by simply making different decisions and putting forth greater effort, Lennie didn't have a chance in the world: everything he was told by George was false hope meant to keep him from getting in trouble, just like a child. These false hopes, fake dreams, and broken ideals still all lead to his death: he still got in trouble, and he still wound up dead. Those false hopes did nothing but portray Steinbeck's major theme: that the American dream is dead, that it never lived. That claim is still true, that anyone who does not fit perfectly into society does not get the chance to live their American dream. Instead, society shuts the mentally handicapped and other “issued” people away from the rest, from schools to jobs to general communication, the average person won’t see someone with a handicap unless they are doing some odd job like cleaning or working in a factory. They've shut away, hopeless, and now even possibly blind, to the American