“’Sure, he’s jes’ like a kid. There ain’t no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he’s so strong.’” (Steinbeck 43). According to the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, to be “childish” means, being “marked by or suggestive of immaturity and lack of poise” or simply “lacking complexity”. As seen throughout the novel, Lennie Small possesses quite a few childish traits such as being immaturely manipulative, easily influenced, delicate, and at times impulsive. Cases are made to go against the fact that this character is extremely incompetent and vulnerable to the point where he is guilty for his crimes. However, is it really fair to blame a man who is developmentally stuck at the stage most kindergarten age children are in, for murder and assault?
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On page 91 Lennie tries to explain the consequences from George he believes he will receive if she tells on him, causing him to hold her even tighter, still not meaning any harm, “’I don’t want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will. Now don’t you do that.’… and she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” This event is clearly foreshadowed as something that Lennie cannot help but do mainly due to his previously noted childlike curiosity along with a tactile addiction. Noting back to the incident in Weed, “’Jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress—jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse—Well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells…’” (Steinbeck 11). This flashback reference shows that when Lennie sees something he likes, he will want to touch it no matter the circumstances that he knows go along with it or not. We are also made aware of Curley’s Wife more or less setting up her ability she knew she had to take advantage of Lennie when on page 77 it says, “Looking in was Curley’s wife. Her face was heavily made up. Her lips were slightly parted. She breathed strongly…” We see here the complete ability that the woman knowingly has to effectively catch Lennie’s attention by just entering a room …show more content…
One not belonging to Lennie himself or the narrator but from his companion, George Milton. In the last section of, Of Mice and Men, we are taken through a gut wrenching chain of events in which, caused by nothing other than an unsafe environment for Lennie due to his mistakes, George must kill him. There should not even have to be an argument after the previous two examples as to why there is no possible way that Lennie’s own killing could ever be his fault. Yes, it was because of how badly he had messed up that the man he saw as his best friend wanted to get him out. Yet it was not Lennie’s choice nor did he know what was going on or have the mental capacity to realize it sooner. We hear phrases earlier on such as on page 12 George saying, “’I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself.’” along with, on page 45, “’The way I’d shoot him, he wouldn’t feel nothing. I’d put the gun right there.’” Both of the occasions foreshadow in one way or another that Lennie will be shot as they as both conversations consisting on how someone would be killed in the same style Lennie ultimately was or by the person who killed him, Lennie having no clue about either
On page 91 Lennie tries to explain the consequences from George he believes he will receive if she tells on him, causing him to hold her even tighter, still not meaning any harm, “’I don’t want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will. Now don’t you do that.’… and she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” This event is clearly foreshadowed as something that Lennie cannot help but do mainly due to his previously noted childlike curiosity along with a tactile addiction. Noting back to the incident in Weed, “’Jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress—jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse—Well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells…’” (Steinbeck 11). This flashback reference shows that when Lennie sees something he likes, he will want to touch it no matter the circumstances that he knows go along with it or not. We are also made aware of Curley’s Wife more or less setting up her ability she knew she had to take advantage of Lennie when on page 77 it says, “Looking in was Curley’s wife. Her face was heavily made up. Her lips were slightly parted. She breathed strongly…” We see here the complete ability that the woman knowingly has to effectively catch Lennie’s attention by just entering a room …show more content…
One not belonging to Lennie himself or the narrator but from his companion, George Milton. In the last section of, Of Mice and Men, we are taken through a gut wrenching chain of events in which, caused by nothing other than an unsafe environment for Lennie due to his mistakes, George must kill him. There should not even have to be an argument after the previous two examples as to why there is no possible way that Lennie’s own killing could ever be his fault. Yes, it was because of how badly he had messed up that the man he saw as his best friend wanted to get him out. Yet it was not Lennie’s choice nor did he know what was going on or have the mental capacity to realize it sooner. We hear phrases earlier on such as on page 12 George saying, “’I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself.’” along with, on page 45, “’The way I’d shoot him, he wouldn’t feel nothing. I’d put the gun right there.’” Both of the occasions foreshadow in one way or another that Lennie will be shot as they as both conversations consisting on how someone would be killed in the same style Lennie ultimately was or by the person who killed him, Lennie having no clue about either