Lennie is a maniac about petting nice and soft thing such as velvet, soft small animals (i.e. rabbits and mice). These things usually some how put him in trouble such as “the big disaster that happens”. Lennie is mentally like a child; he didn’t have any sexual emotion. How the society can accuse him that he could do soothing like that? It shows the illiterateness of people however there are people who can read and publish magazines.
Lennie always is a problem and George tells him. At stages of the story George gets angry with Lennie and tells him about his life without Lennie:
“Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, a no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town an' get whatever I want."
George and Lennie lives so hard life, so bleak that they used their dream as a way of comforting themselves. Daydreaming and talking about it was the only thing that gave them hope. George was kidding himself he knew that their will not becoming true. He just used Lennie as companion to have someone to talk to.
The dream that Lennie and George have is not a reality till the characters are introduced to Candy. He is an old, one-handed man; he befriends George and Lennie when they first get on the ranch. Candy becomes a very lonely man after Carlson kills his only companion, his dog and hopes for the same fate." When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me" When he hears Lennie and George talking about the dream he becomes excited and offers money towards it so they can buy a farm, he also offers to work on the farm.
John Steinbeck gives an insight of the dog and gives hint that this what is going to happen to Lennie. John Steinbeck also gives the descriptions of Lennie being very strong.
Lennie killed Curley’s wife. Curley and other went to get him. George told Lennie in the beginning when he gets in trouble he should “go in the bushes”. George knew that Curley would give Lennie hell may be put him in the cage and will assaults in different ways. George had no option then killing Lennie. George met Lennie in bushes and start to tell him about their and suddenly pulled the behind his back and killed him. Lennie was responsible for ending their dreams and died while listening about their dream.
Curley’s wife:
Curley’s wife is another major character in the novel. She is naïve as she believes in everyone even Lennie. She is pretty as says “…because I am natural” she also had a dream; her dream was to be a Hollywood actress. She was being told that she work in the films by a director while filming a picture. She didn’t understand men. The director told her that she can be an actress that was the easiest way for him to get her in the. She didn’t realise that working in the Hollywood is not a joke; actually people need knowledge and beauty to work down there.
Curley’s wife’s dream wasn’t going to come true due to she was married to Curley soon she would have a dozen of kids. She didn’t like Curley “Curley an’t a nice fella” as Curley was a controlled freak. She was the only woman in the ranch. She had the right to speak to other people, however when she find someone to talk they ignored her due to she was a troubled man’s wife.
So Curley’s wife flirted with men to attract them “she was heavily made up such as roughed lips, wide space eyes, red finger nails and hair” this was may be due to she was newly married. When she found men and Curley wasn’t there she start to flirted “she was standing in the door way, she putted her had behind her back to lean against the door frame so the body was thrown out” putting her hands behind her back means to show her body, to show her breast bigger, so as her hips. All these descriptions make attraction.
The way she talked to men “I guess I better look someplace else’ and she said ‘playfully” she may be wanted attraction for her sexual life due to Curley might not have full filled her sexual wants “as Curley always kept one of his soft.” gloves full Vaseline”. Curley’s wife knew that Lennie crushed Curley’s hand, so how can she allow him to touch her as he was a stranger. She is also the person responsible for ending George’s, Lonnie’s and Candy’s dream. Her death by Lennie was actually a favour for her due to she was the only person who died without seeing her dream not coming true.
Crooks:
Crooks was the other major character in the novel. When George arrived found about Crooks “found a winkle in his bunck” said “give the stable back hell.” Crooks was then described by Candy that “he is a nigger” this shows the amount of racism that occurred those days as a black man was called by a racist word. Everyone gave him hell “he was nearly being killed” in the Christmas when he bring a gallon of whisky and when the people got drunk he was being beaten up.
He is also being described as “a nice fella” however he was not being accepted in the society. When Lennie went to see Crooks he told him “you got no right to come in my room.” Crooks was angry so much at first due to he hurt in the past by white people that he doesn’t give a chance to hurt him again as through his life he has been a boxing bag that everyone punched and went. When he finds Lennie weaker then himself he tries to wind him up as he tells Lennie “spouse George gone a left you alone, what will you do” Lennie was scared and nearly knock Crooks out.
Crooks was an American citizen, he wasn’t a slave like other black people in America those days. “I an’t a southern Negro’ I was born right here in California” he had that life style as a normal American white citizens. When he was a kid he used to play with white kids and go to their place and sometimes they came to his father’s ranch”.
John Steinbecks wrote this book due to he wanted to show to the people what had happen during depression. Steinbecks dream is an aspect of all the characters dreams of an equal society; Crooks, equal rights for different races, Candy's, rights for work and ageism, Curley's wife, women's rights and Lennie’s, right of a mad person. Steinbeck would like to see all these aspects in his idea of society. He saw the problems of his society and maybe tried to change them with this book.
Steinbecks again mention in the from George point of view where he describes to Lennie at the end “The place no-ones gonna hurt you." This tells us about heaven where everyone is going to be treated the same way and everyone would have the right to live a free life.
Hashmatullah Ghulam of 3
Mrs N Willbourn
English
