Character Analysis

From Mice and Men, the characters in the novel had many connections with historical events and current problems. Adam example, in the novel a character named Lennie was first described as a man who was dumb. But as we read on, a deeper meaning was shown. We could infer that Lennie had some sort of mental illness. In one of the research, it was a research on mental retardation, which shined light on what looks like a problem that Lennie could have suffered. Mental retardation is a mental illness that is diagnose before the age of eighteen. This would explain the incident of a horse kicking Lennie in the head. Additionally in the novel, the character George said that Lennie cannot take care of himself and one of the disability that people with mental retardation is that it is harder for them to do daily functions. The person affected by this also has hats times learning and understanding things. Thus,explaining why George tells Lennie to keep shut in order to hide the fact of his illness. A historical event, the great depression also sheds light on went the book is like the way it is. During the time of the great depression, the economy was week and more and more people were losing jobs. This shows the reason why it was so difficult for George and Lennie to buy the house. During the great depression less people were able to afford things and it was generally just hard time for most everyone. As a result these connections between the novel and history shows better understanding of the book itself.

Lennie- In the beginning of the novel, we just learned that Lennie was a character that was not bright. But as every deeper into the book we soon learn more about Lennie's childhood and what happened to him. One of the first glimpse of Lennie's state is shown on page 4 paragraph 4 " 'So you forgot awready, did you? ... 'I forgot,' Lennie said softly." Although this just seems like Lennie is no the brightest man in the book but there are more meanings to this. Mental retardation. An illness that someone can acquire in their life. As a result from that illness, the person is less capable of doing average functions such as learning and remembering. Showing the reason why George is always telling Lennie to keep quiet and that Lennie needs him or he won't survive. Looking at the real reasons why Lennie acts and talks a certain way can be understood more by looking at the fact of his illness. However the illness is not the only factor to his behaviors. "George snapped his fingers sharply, and at the sound Lennie laid the mouse in his hand." Contrasting to their sizes George is more of the boys than Lennie. This shows the obedience of Lennie. One may refer to him as a gentle giant or the inverse of his body. Showing more about his character. Even though he hesitated a bit he still listened to George. Revealing his side of gentleness and obedience.

Diving deeper into the book, one can discover more about a character. Lennie becomes a character that seems too timid for his size. To the point where he could've died unless George told him otherwise. "Lennie's hands remained at his sides;" During a little fight between Curley's hasty actions, Lennie is unable to defend himself. He is too frightened in a situation where he can easily overcome it. His inability to think quickly burdens him in situations as so. His timidness shows when he is faced with the obstacle of making his own decisions. Even though Lennie is unable to remember many things, he is able to remember the things that he is stubborn about. " I can still tend the rabbits, George?" is what Lennie said with all the chaos. Even with what just has happened, his response is wondering about if he would be able to still tend for the rabbits. The stubbornness is displayed through Lennie's consistent begging of tending his rabbits. Which also shows his determination and his passion about this subject. As a result, Lennie had many characteristics that made him one of the roundest characters in the novel.