How does Steinbeck make Lennie a sympathetic character?
In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, John Steinbeck deliberately creates and describes the character of Lennie and the events that surround him in the aim of evoking the reader’s sympathy towards him.
It is obvious from the beginning of the novel that Lennie is in some way mentally disabled, and has the mind and actions of a child, the first time that a character mentions this is Slim, who remarks that Lennie is ‘Jes like a kid’, Curley’s wife also point out that he is ‘jus’ like a big baby’. It is obvious to the reader of Lennie’s mental ability by the way he speaks, as he has a definite speech impediment. By having Lennie be described as like a child and by his actions being like a child, it effectively creates sympathy for the character from the readers. This is because it is always easy for a reader to feel sympathetic towards a person with mental difficulties as you can understand how challenging it must be in their situation.
The events which occur around Lennie are a main factor in creating sympathy for him. The first incident when the reader feels extremely sympathetic towards Lennie is when he is petting a dead mouse and George takes it off him, at which point Lennie starts to cry ‘He heard Lennie’s whimpering cry and wheeled about. “Blubberin’ like a baby? Jesus Christ! A big guy like you’. This highlights Lennie’s immaturity and his childlike characteristics, it is like a young child being scolded and having something taken off them and then starting to cry, this is how Lennie reacts to this situation. Often in the book George will say to Lennie ‘Good Boy’, this further shows the childlike character Lennie is, as it has George talking down to Lennie and comforting him, the way a child needs comforting. Early on in the book, Lennie’s pathetic yet amusing attempts at proving to George that he could survive living on his own shows what a sadly hopeless character he is, ‘if you don’t want me, you only jus’ got to say so, and I’ll go off in those hills right there – and live by myself’. We know for a fact that Lennie would be completely incapable of surviving on his own let alone surviving in the mountains, the effect this exchange has on the reader one again points to Lennie’s hopelessness and adds to the sympathy you feel towards him.
