Character Analysis
In the book "Of Mice and Men", the character Lennie Smalls would best be described as a little kid in an adult body. "Lennie's lip quivered and tears started in his eyes." This quote shows that Lennie, although big and strong, is very sensitive towards things. He doesn't know how to react in certain situations, and he doesn't know how to deal with his emotions. "You tol' me to, George, he said miserably." Many times, Lennie isn't aware of what he is doing, and how much power he is capable of. He depends on other people to make his choices for him, and to guide him throughout his everyday life. Based on these examples, Lennie Smalls isn't just big and dumb like everyone thinks he is, but rather sensitive and ignorant.
Beyond the basic attributes of Lennie Smalls, one may categorize him as a gentle giant. "I could pet it with my thumb as we walked along." In this quote Lennie was talking about the dead mouse he found when he was walking. Strong and tough people don't normally care about small, irrelevant things such as mice. "I like to pet nice things with my fingers, sof' things." The gentleness and kindness of Lennie is a characteristic that most people would not see, just by the look of him. If one truly reads the book, they will come to see that each of the characters is not quite as they seemed in the beginning. Each person has hidden qualities that cannot be seen from the outside, and only show when a person really gets to know them.
Research Connection
Lennie Smalls has a disorder called mental retardation. Mental retardation makes it difficult for one to adapt to life and to different situations. They have trouble processing and understanding certain things, and makes their reaction time slower. It affects 1% to 3% of our population. Because of this disorder, Lennie experiences attention difficulties, low frustration tolerance, and dependency. He depends on George to guide him and to care for him. When someone is talking to him, he is pretty much never paying attention. Instead, he is concentrating on the rabbits that he is going to tend when they get their own land. He also can't control his emotions, and gets frustrated when things don't go his way. For example, when he accidentally killed the puppy, he lashed out, first in anger, then in sorrow. This book also took place in the time of the Great Depression. At this time period, people were very poor, and had to take the first job opportunity that they got. Pay was low, and jobs were scarce. Many of the guys that were on the ranch all had "ranch dreams" of their own. However, given the time period, those dreams were almost considered hysterical. That's why when Lennie was telling Crooks about how he was going to have a piece of land with rabbits, Crooks called him nuts, and tried to shut down his idea. He had a pretty negative view of life, mainly because it was the time of the Great Depression and racism.
