In this essay I will trace in detail soft things that Lennie pets in the novel, showing that the petting grows more serious as the novel goes on.

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Janiece Charlton

English

Lennie and “Soft” things

        Definition of the word trace: follow, hint, and mark out. In this essay I will trace in detail soft things that Lennie pets in the novel, showing that the petting grows more serious as the novel goes on. In the novel Lennie pets mice, he dreams about petting rabbits, destroys someone’s dress in Weed, hurts Curly’s hand, kills a pup, and kills Curley’s wife. Bad things come in threes, Lennie’s two accidental killings of animals foreshadow the final killing of Curley’s wife, an accident that seals his own fate and destroys not only his dreams but George’s and Candy’s as well.

         In the beginning Lennie used to pet mice that his Aunt Clara used to give him, he would always end up killing them because he didn’t know his own strength. Lennie never killed any pet or person purposely; he pets too roughly and kills them accidentally. An example of his rough tendencies is in the first chapter (page7) when Lennie wants to keep a dead mouse and George wouldn’t let him Lennie says” Uh-uh. Jus’ a dead mouse, George. I didn’t kill it. Honest I found it. I found it dead.” The dead mouse is also an allusion to the novel’s title, a reminder that dreams will go wrong, even petting a mouse.

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        Lennie’s touching of a girl’s dress in Weed is what forced them to leave their last job (page8).What happened in Weed is first mentioned by George when he says to Lennie “An’ you ain’t gonna do no bad things like you done in Weed, neither. The woman was wearing a red dress, and Lennie tried to touch it. She got scared and started to struggle, which only made things worse because Lennie became confused and held on tighter. George heard them and had to hit Lennie with a fence post to make him let go. The woman went to the ...

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*** 3 STARS This is a good essay which uses well selected quotes to support statements and remains focused on the question. At times the essay falls into the trap of merely describing what happens in the novel: while this shows a knowledge of the novel it also needs more analysis and discussion rather than mere description of the novel's plot.