How Does Steinbeck Develop the Character of George and Lennie in of Mice and Men

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'How does Steinbeck develop the character of George and Lennie in of Mice and Men' George and Lennie are examples of 'migrant' or 'itinerant' farmworkers who made possible the intensive farming economy during the 'Great Depression', they would receive two dollars to three dollars a day together with food and lodging. The lifestyle of these workers was being threatened by drastic changes affecting America. One could say that both the characters of George and Lennie are the complete opposites, like a leader and his follower, as George is an intelligent, cynical man who is composed and modest, whereas, Lennie is an ironically named man of large structure and immense strength but with mental limited ability, 'George gonna say I did a bad thing. He ain't gonna let me tend the rabbits'. Lennie develops in the way that a child develops, 'oh please don't do that. George'll be mad', slowly picking up, and learning and life skills until its full development both physically and mentally. However, after a careful analysis of his character, we discover, with certain degree of surprise, that Lennie's character hardly develops throughout the novel. He remains child- like and innocent, and he is very much the same at the beginning of the novel as he is towards the end, 'where we goin', George?'. Lennie Small is a big guy who does not identify how physically powerful he actually is, 'uh- uh. Jus' a dead mouse, George. I didn' kill it. Honest! I found it. I found it dead', 'I wasn't doin' nothing bad with it, George. Jus' stroking it', Lennie does not realise that he is petting the mouse so hard that he kills it as he then tries to cover himself up. He does not seem to understand his own strength and also lacks the understanding of what is socially acceptable behaviour. In spite of this, he shows quite normal emotions (despite his mental disability), and he
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