Key Characters In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ examines the way that contrasts between key characters affect their relationships and how they develop throughout the story. The author, John Steinbeck, explores themes such as; friendships & relationships, racism & violence, and gender & sexism. These themes are explored through different techniques of presenting and contrasting the key characters, Lennie and George. The way in which Steinbeck does this leads on to key events in the storyline, and provides a good, clear structure to the narrative.
The first theme we pick up on is physical appearance, and how Lennie and George look completely different. George is ‘small and quick...with restless eyes and sharp strong features’. He has ‘small, strong hands, slender arms, and a thin and bony nose’. On the other hand, Lennie is ‘his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping soldiers’. These features suggest different individual traits that help to make their relationship work. The fact that George always walks in front could suggest that he does this to protect Lennie, as he seems to be in control of him. Steinbeck also uses imagery such as ‘he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws’ and
When George says “Lennie, for God’ sakes don’t drink so much”, it shows again that he is very much in control of Lennie, as he is instructing him to not do something. When Lennie ‘continued to snort into the pool’, it shows that he is disobedient sometimes, much like a small child or a young puppy. It also refers back to this point later on in the chapter – ‘like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball back to its master’. This portrays Lennie to be quite a simple character, as he has to be instructed and told when he has done something