Of Mice And Men Sympathy Analysis

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In the novel 'Of Mice and Men', John Steinbeck deliberately creates and describes the character of Lennie and the events that surround him in the aim of evoking the reader's sympathy towards him. It is obvious from the beginning of the novel that Lennie is in some way mentally disabled, and has the mind and actions of a child, the first time that a character mentions this is Slim, who remarks that Lennie is 'Jes like a kid', Curley's wife also point out that he is 'jus' like a big baby'. It is obvious to the reader of Lennie's mental ability by the way he speaks, as he has a definite speech impediment. By having Lennie be described as like a child and by his actions being like a child, it effectively creates sympathy for the character from…show more content…
The events that occur around Lennie are a main factor in creating sympathy for him. The first incident when the reader feels extremely sympathetic towards Lennie is when he is petting a dead mouse and George takes it off him, at which point Lennie starts to cry “He heard Lennie blubbering like a baby ? Jesus Christ! A big guy like you”. This highlights Lennie’s immaturity and childlike characteristics. It is like a young child being scolded and having something something taken off them and then starting to cry, this is how Lennie reacts to this situation. Often in the book George will say to Lennie ‘Good Boy’ , This further shows the childlike character Lennie is, as it has George talking down to Lennie and comforting him the way a child need comforting . Early on in the book , Lennie pathetic yet amusing attempts at proving to George that he could survive living on his own…show more content…
Initially he reacts to this by getting upset and crying “ Why do you got to get killed?” this highlights his lack of knowledge and understanding with the concept of death, the reader feels sympathy towards the sorry state he is. However, Lennie’s then begins to get frustrated and angry about it and hurls the puppy away; he worries that by what he had done George will not let him ‘Tend the rabbits.’ At this point the sympathy towards Lennie stop, as this part shows his aggressive and selfish side as he is worrying for himself. The situation soon becomes much more serious however, when Lennie goes on to accidently kill Curley’s wife by breaking her neck whilst stroking her hair. This time Lennie realizes more the serious implications of his actions and leaves the ranch to hide in the where he was first instructed by George. In opening and closing his novel in nature, Steinbeck is able to connect and compare the actions of his characters with the natural world. George and Lennie disrupt a peaceful scene in the opening; the killing of a snake by a heron prefigures the tragedy in the final chapter. Not only does this way of structuring the novel give it a feeling of wholeness, it also reinforces Steinbeck's central point about Lennie's incompatibility with the social world. He doesn't fit in the shared spaces - the bunk house, etc. - while, in contrast, he romanticizes
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