Death In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
When visiting in a nursing home, one may begin to feel depressed. The residents are carrying on in a childlike demeanor and not fully understanding where they are and what they are doing. The people that enter this facility including the employees excuse the residents actions knowing that these helpless people have no idea of how they are behaving a lot of the time. In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, there is a character by the name of Lennie Milton. Lennie's mental handicap prevents him from understanding things like his strength and his handicap causes him to act in a childlike manner and as a result of this, the novel has many occurrences of death or near-death experiences.
Because of his mental handicap, Lennie has a tendency to …show more content…
Lennie's greatest feeling of security comes from petting soft, "furry" things like rabbits (Pg 16.) The recurring motif of death in the novel often involves Lennie. Because of his disability, Lennie does not have the capability to understand such an abstract concept like death. For example, Lennie carries around a dead mouse not realizing that the mouse is dead but only understanding that the outer coat of the mouse leaves a satisfying touch on Lennie's fingers (pg 5-6.) Even though the mouse is alive when Lennie picks it up, he kills it when petting it because he doesn't know his own strength. Lennie's prodigious strength along with his childlike demeanor makes a dangerous combination. George does not realize how dangerous Lennie can be, and because of it, it makes it harder for their dream of owning a farm to come true. Lennie's innocence keeps the dream alive, but his handicap makes the dream impossible to realize. When Lennie tries to pet a new puppy, he nearly kills it (pg. 43.) Lennie moves up a ladder throughout the novel in the size of animals he kills or nearly kills. He eventually reaches the top of the ladder by killing a woman who he thought felt soft. He repeatedly say that George "is gonna be mad" (pg 88) knowing the partial consequence that he learned about from
Because of his mental handicap, Lennie has a tendency to …show more content…
Lennie's greatest feeling of security comes from petting soft, "furry" things like rabbits (Pg 16.) The recurring motif of death in the novel often involves Lennie. Because of his disability, Lennie does not have the capability to understand such an abstract concept like death. For example, Lennie carries around a dead mouse not realizing that the mouse is dead but only understanding that the outer coat of the mouse leaves a satisfying touch on Lennie's fingers (pg 5-6.) Even though the mouse is alive when Lennie picks it up, he kills it when petting it because he doesn't know his own strength. Lennie's prodigious strength along with his childlike demeanor makes a dangerous combination. George does not realize how dangerous Lennie can be, and because of it, it makes it harder for their dream of owning a farm to come true. Lennie's innocence keeps the dream alive, but his handicap makes the dream impossible to realize. When Lennie tries to pet a new puppy, he nearly kills it (pg. 43.) Lennie moves up a ladder throughout the novel in the size of animals he kills or nearly kills. He eventually reaches the top of the ladder by killing a woman who he thought felt soft. He repeatedly say that George "is gonna be mad" (pg 88) knowing the partial consequence that he learned about from