How Does Steinbeck Present Lennie's Irrational Behavior

In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Lennie's irrational behavior can be seen as reasonable because he was just following his instinct or following the instructions given by others. Lennie was described as having a child like mind, but children are said to be good judges of character, so the same can be said about Lennie. Little was known about mental disabilities in the 1930s, so Lennie was often misunderstood and judged for some of the things that he did or said. From his strange obsession with soft things, to killing mice, a puppy, and a girl, Lennie's behavior shows a lot about his character and the world around him. Lennie's behavior can be described as doing the wrong things for the right reasons. Soft things brought Lennie peace, they comforted him and distracted him from the cruel world that didn't understand what he was thinking, so when he grabbed what comforted him he didn't want to let it go and got scared when violence was shown. Most of Lennie's actions were based on making George happy, or trying to cover things up to prevent George from getting upset. Lennie’s actions throughout the novel can all be reasonably explained by either extinct or instructions. Lennie is completely loyal to George and looks up to him like a little kid does to their dad; …show more content…
Lennie's mental disability is obvious and shows how little is known about mental disability and how people with mental disabilities are treated in the settings. Lennie’s strength in size and power with the simpleness of his mind make Lennie a ticking bomb. The littlest things could make Lennie snap at anytime, and since he doesn't know his true strength he becomes very dangerous and has the potential to kill people. For example when Lennie was petting Curley's wife's hair and she yelled at him to stop, he became frightened and “closed on her hair and hung on...Lennie's other hand closed over her mouth and