I found myself liking to Lennie the most out of all the characters. Just from the start of the novel, he seemed nice, even though he had an obvious mental incapability, I felt like he was going to play a big role in the story. I really kind of felt what he was going through when Curley was giving him a rough time because of Curley's "little man syndrome", just because Lennie was a bigger guy. This I can relate to a bit because I am also a bigger guy and some smaller people, you can tell, just have a problem with you for no other apparent reason other then that you are so much taller than them. Lennie wasn't looking for a fight, so he was tossed into one by Curley himself, but at the end when Lennie broke his hand, it made me feel like Lennie had really accomplished something after the beating he was taking. Near the end however, after he killed the dog and Curley's wife, my view of him diminished and reality settled in on that he couldn't really control himself when it came down to it, which is how he killed Curley's wife because he could control himself petting her hair.
Hi Nic!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that Lennie seemed to be the focus of the story directly from the beginning of the book. His disability and kindness isolated him from the rest of the characters and made him a easily likable. It's unfortunate that Lennie and you would have to deal with guys who have napoleonic syndrome. I have a hard time understanding why particular individuals are so unsatisfied with their appearance; especially since Curly had the lack of dignification to harass someone with a mental disability, and had so many boxing achievements under his belt.
When Lennie retaliated against Curley's attacks, I too felt that Lennie had altered the social hierarchy, and earned some respect for himself.
However, I never overlooked the fact that Lennie was unpredictable and capable of accidental violence since the portion of Of Mice and Men, when he kept a dead mouse. This act displayed Lennie's misunderstanding of his strength and of death itself, and I feel that while Lennie had improved his status in relation to the social setting, I realized he was still unpredictable. In this way, I don't think that my perception of him diminished after he killed Curley's wife, but simply confirmed my assumptions of his disability.
-Megan Sheridan
I also found myself liking Lennie. His optimistic attitude and his drive for happiness make him likeable. To me, there is an important life lesson to be learned from Lennie, that people should focus on the things they like to do in life. Even though Lennie's hobby was petting soft things, he never seized to find something to pet even when George would take his mice away. More people need to have this drive for happiness that Lennie has.
ReplyDeleteI also felt angry when Curley picked the fight with Lennie. Curley was too insecure with himself that all he could think about were his inaptitudes. What Curley should have focused on were the things that he was good at, like boxing. Curley should try making friends with people instead of bossing them around. Then maybe he wouldn’t be so angry all the time.