Lennie Small Character Analysis in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay Example

In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small represents the oppressed. He is a vulnerable character that is exploited, and Steinbeck uses his character to illustrate the negative impacts of a bigoted and prejudiced society. The verbal abuse of Lennie by some of the members of the ranch makes Lennie feel extremely vulnerable. The mistreatment Lennie experiences on the ranch physically harms him, resulting in pain and ultimately his death. The oppression and ostracization that Lennie endures on the ranch from people like Curley and Crooks leads to a very stressful, low-quality life for him. These are all the result of a society that singles out a person or a group of people because they are not the norm, and continues to pick on them time and time again.

The verbal abuse that Lennie endures on the ranch causes him to feel exposed. Crooks especially is one of the people who caused Lennie to feel this way. “‘I said s'pose George went into town tonight and you never heard of him no more.’” [Steinbeck 72] Crooks is trying to use his power over Lennie to convince Lennie that George might be dead, making Lennie feel distressed. This makes Lennie feel that he cannot be with any stranger without being verbally harassed. Another example of said verbal abuse comes from Curley. “...‘No big s********** is gonna laugh at me. I'll show ya who's yella.’” [64] This is another example of Lennie feeling vulnerable. Curley is exploding with such a rage on Lennie that Lennie, at this point, feels as if he can’t interact with anyone but George without being attacked verbally. This is magnified in this instance even more because Lennie did not think that he was doing anything wrong to garner this sort of reaction from Curley. Overall, Lennie feels very vulnerable whenever he comes into contact with anyone other than George because everyone he meets is treating him with prejudice.

Not only is Lennie affected psychologically, but he also faces physical harm on the ranch, with most of it coming from Curley. “Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right. Lennie gave a cry of terror. Blood welled from his nose.” [64] Lennie’s nose starts bleeding as a result of multiple punches to his face from Curley. It is not indicated that he was ready for this attack, as he screamed in terror, so although Lennie later wins the fight, he still sustains a level of pain as a result of Curley’s impulsiveness.  “He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again.” [106] Lennie’s death itself is also a result of the threat of physical violence by Curley and his gang after Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife. This is because George was always by Lennie’s side, which is proven by the simple fact that Lennie, who always got into trouble, had not been incarcerated or killed before he began work at the ranch. Based on this evidence, it can be inferred that George killed Lennie to spare him from a painful death at the hands of Curley and his gang. In this case, the level of prejudice is such that not only does Lennie suffer physically, he loses his life as a result of it.

The combination of physical and psychological suffering that Lennie endures at the ranch results in an extremely stressful, low quality of life for him. For instance, as a result of Crooks’ taunting, Lennie feels miserable [74]. Feeling miserable is not something that will make Lennie’s life enjoyable. This is especially true when Lennie’s reason for feeling miserable is possibly the most distressing thing that could happen to him; in this case, Lennie losing George is the worst thing that could happen to him emotionally. Another example of Lennie having a stressful time at the ranch as a result of the societal bigotry that he faces comes when he kills Curley’s wife [91]. When he kills Curley’s wife, he is already stressed because he knows that George does not like him doing bad things like that. On top of that, he is running away from people who he thinks might be trying to find him and kill him for the things he did. This is a huge mental burden on Lennie, especially since Lennie has such an emotional tie to George and he hates to make George unhappy. Because of all of this prejudice, Lennie’s life not only ends before it should have, but the life he had during his time at the ranch was also extremely stressful.

Overall, the verbal abuse, physical mistreatment, and mental stress that Lennie experiences as a result of prejudice on the ranch has many negative impacts on him. The verbal abuse makes Lennie feel vulnerable, the physical mistreatment hurts him and causes his death, and the combination of the two causes him to feel on edge constantly. Steinbeck proves this throughout the book, using Lennie, an exploited character, to drive home just how destructive prejudice can be. This concept, however, is not just one that can be read about and forgotten. It is one that illustrates an underlying problem in the real world, and emphasizes the importance of kindness in communication.