George and Lennie. Discuss how Steinbeck reveals the characters of George and Lennie in section 1 of the novel

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "George and Lennie. Discuss how Steinbeck reveals the characters of George and Lennie in section 1 of the novel"

Donald Strickland
7 years ago
Views:

1 George and Lennie Discuss how Steinbeck reveals the characters of George and Lennie in section 1 of the novel

2 Sample essay Steinbeck uses many techniques to present the characters of Lennie and george in Of Mice and Men. This in turn then reveals many insights into what may happen to the two characters as the novel progresses. The reader can tell lots about Lennie through the description of his character s physical looks and actions opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face. From this physical description, the reader can analyse that Lennie is the uncivilised character. He is featureless, an image of an animal with the basic instincts to stay alive. He is extremely strong and very large. However, we can see that his brains are only a tiny proportion to his build. The fact that Lennie is walking behind George mirrors their relationship, Lennie is in tow following. The reader s beliefs that Lennie is not smart are confirmed by actions soon after: dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in splashes. This shows a very childlike image of Lennie. He looks like a brute yet his mind hasn t entered the basic stages of adolescence. That is why he is fascinated by water splashes, or touching fur and soft material. Thus, this foreshadows the fact that when Curly s wife offers Lennie to play with her hair, he will not refuse and get into trouble.

3 Continued The reader can also see that Lennie does not know his own strength: I pinched they re heads a little and they was dead. The reader can see that Lennie cannot judge his own strength. It empathises his animal instincts and how he is strong, but he does not know it. He will do whatever he thinks is best when he is in trouble, completely discarding the fact that he is in the civilised world. The reader gets an image of a bear trying to live with humans. This also foreshadows that Lennie will kill the pup and Curly s wife. George is the man who looks after him, it is a weird pairing as they both act and look completely different: small, strong hands, slender arms. Steinbeck describes George in detail to contrast the description of Lennie. This suggests that George is the civilised man of the pair. The fact that his body is developed mirrors his sharp brain. Thus, this is a complete contrast of the character of Lennie. George also has defined emotions, one of these is his short temper: Jesus Christ! You re a crazy bastard! This shows that George sometimes feels annoyed at the stupidity of Lennie. He loses his temper as he hits the limit on how much more of Lennie he can take. He feels Lennie is a burden and acts that way although secretly he needs Lennie s companionship. This foreshadows that George slowly cannot cope and eventually will not be able to anymore. It shows that George will eventually have to kill Lennie in order to live his own life.

4 Continued The reader can see that George and Lennie have a strange relationship. George is the parent and Lennie is the child: Good boy! That s fine! To analyse, the reader can see that George is doing the job of a parent by boosting Lennie s confidence and self-esteem. However, we can also see that the relationship can also be master and pet. Here, Lennie appears to be a dog, Good boy!, is a term used as a reward for Lennie for being goof, again showing the animal characteristics of Lennie. Steinbeck has many purposes by introducing George and Lennie in the opening chapters. Firstly it is to show the relationship the pair share Lennie imitated George exactly, Steinbeck wants to show that the relationship between the two is much like leader and follower. Lennie follows George around, looking to him for advice, help and guidance. It suggests that without George, Lennie would not be able to survive. Furthermore, this shows throughout the novel, that Lennie is incapable of making his won decisions. Secondly, Steinbeck wishes to convey the fact that the dream they share will never come true. He does this by using imagery of light and dark. dusk came into the valley. Steinbeck uses a very basic technique of pathetic fallacy using dark moments to symbolise the fact that it is impossible and the dream will never happen.

5 continued We know the dream will not come true, because we know that Lennie will do something bad again. George will not get his out of trouble and eventually kill him as a last resort. Through these techniques in the novel, we learn a great deal about the relationship the characters share and how they react to make the other person happy. We see that George is the clever one, however, we also see that Lennie can react to George being very cruel by using his own defence; if you want, I can go off and live in a cave. lennie does this to make George feel guilty. It is a sly technique that shows the reader that Lennie can make George feel guilty. The reader then sees Lennie using his cunning instincts to work George and to gain an advantage. He forces george to tell him the dtory of the dream. Both characters react to this in a special manner, with hope, optimism and ambition. This is when positive light imagery appears to symbolise hope.

English 10 Of Mice and Men Chapter 1 Questions (16pts) 2. List words that describe Lennie. What animal is he compared to?

English 10 Of Mice and Men Chapter 1 Questions (16pts) 2. List words that describe Lennie. What animal is he compared to? Chapter 1 Questions (16pts) 1. Describe the setting of chapter one. 2. List words that describe Lennie. What animal is he compared to? 3. List words that describe George. What animal could he be compared