Steinbeck uses many techniques to present the characters of Lennie and George in Of Mice and Men.

by aziza456 (student)

Of Mice and Men is a story centered on the American depression in the 1930’s. The country known as a‘the land of opportunity,’ is dismissed as it became deprived and inept. Many men were traveling workers that travelled from ranch to ranch looking for wages that would be sufficient till they moved on. These types of men were the loneliest, with no companionship. It is this brief traveling lifestyle which highlights the importance of the relationship between Lennie and George.

George and Lennie are an unusual package deal within the novel. From the beginning Steinbeck enforces the idea of a parent –child relationship. He distinctively sets the two apart as they ‘walked in single file’ and ‘one stayed behind the other.’ From first sight, a dynamic in their relationship is established. George is the one if front, revealing himself as the leader. As the story progresses we can acknowledge that George does not consider himself as superior to Lennie, it is simply his duty to control and guide Lennie who is mentally hopeless and regarded as a ‘crazy bastard’. We can work out from this that Lennie is in no shape to take care of him and need George to help him. Lennie’s nature is almost childlike; Steinbeck describes the character in such a way so that the readers identify him to be incapable and dependent upon George ‘Lennie, who had been watching imitated George exactly.’ Steinbeck implies from the innocent actions by Lennie, that he genuinely admires George. Although it seems as though Lennie is dependent on George, this is not the case. I believe that George, enjoys the company of Lennie; however a burden he may seem.
Together they both hold the goal of accomplishing the ‘American dream’ This dream is what boosts both Lennie and George to go on. Lennie is set on ‘tending rabbits’ while George could have more freedom in general. Steinbeck places importance on these two and dream, while we believe they will be successful as the story develops. ‘With us it ain’t like that. We got a future.’ Steinbeck reveals a definition of friendship, Someone who listens and that cares for you. They are reliant upon each other, as even though George conducts the ‘dream’ speech, Lennie has also memorised this dream, maybe in hope it will bring them closer to it.
Their friendship is natural, for George it had always been a promise to care for Lennie, but they simply bonded over time. George even admits this ‘got kinda used to each other after a little while.’
Steinbeck highlights the importance of the relationship with the death of Lennie. George who shot him in an act of compassion showed mercy and care. The tension Steinbeck builds in the last chapter, shows how troubled and vulnerable George became and eased Lennie of torture and pain to come. ‘George shivered and looked at the gun’ as the tough impression of George breaks we see his emotions and his thoughtful actions which suggest he had valued the relationship. This is jumps to the fact that their dream is destroyed and will never be achieved. This is really the climax of the relationship where Steinbeck reveals feelings in the relationship.
Steinbeck uses the thoughts and curiosity of other characters such as Slim and the bitter, avenging side of Curley to show the relationship between Lennie and George. The support George had given Lennie from the time he was in a fight with Curley to when he kills his wife, shows the action and defense of the relationship. George would always look out for Lennie, as Lennie would always be protective over George.

Steinbeck uses many techniques to present the characters of Lennie and George in ‘Of Mice and Men’. his 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 ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

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. 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 ho w 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. 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. 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 defense;

‘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 story 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.

Curly is arrogant, self-centered and jealous. His wife is a flirt and definitely lacks the attention (the right kind of attention) she should receive from her husband. She's a trophy, and he treats her as such. They had a short engagement (they married the night they met), and Curly's wife, from the little we really know about her married Curly for little more than to get away from her mother.

Curly and his wife have a very unstable marriage, lacking in communication, love and respect. Curly believes that his wife is a possession, and that manipulation, intimidation, and insensitivity provide him with power over a wife who is fact just a lonely, young woman who needs to be loved. Not to let the wife off the hook here; Curly's wife is far from stupid. She likes the money and the nice house; she never tries to leave him., but she also holds some power in their relationship.

Curly's wife possessed his mind, and as I've already stated he's very jealous. Being the only woman on the ranch, Curly is even more worried about her behavior with the men who work there, if he didn't know where she was for even a minute, he was off looking for her.
"You seen a girl around here?" he demanded angrily." (Page 39)

She made him crazy and enjoyed it. So ultimately, neither one of them are very happy, it's a pretty unhealthy relationship.

Steinbeck has presented Curly’s wife as a person who is frustrated to her life and lost all her wishes of being a scrumptious movie star. on the ranch she is presented like being frustrated, alone and trust less in her life and also she in not being respected by any one on the ranch, the people on the ranch just afraid of her to not be something wrong with her and they may not lose their job at all...! and she is really feeling solitude on the ranch with no wish in her life always looking for someone to talk with. Curly's wife is so lost, lonely and insignificant that Steinbeck does not even give her a name. She spends the novel trying to find company under the guise of looking for her husband. Curly is in fact an intensely abusive person with a major case of small-guy complex. The irony is that while she pretends to be looking for Curly, she is actually trying to avoid him. The men on the ranch fear Curly's wife. She is a temptress of sorts and she is a possession of Curly’s (hence her name). She projects undertones of sexuality in almost everything she says. The men are lonely which only highlights her danger. They do not want the bosses son, Curly, to get angry. They simply can't afford to lose their job during a depression.