Lennie In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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In John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men set during the Great Depression, Lennie is one of the main characters. Lennie and George, his friend, go to work on a ranch near Soledad, California (Steinbeck 1). Lennie is described in this quote by George, “Oh! I ain’t saying he’s bright. He ain’t.” as not very smart (Steinbeck 22). John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, Lennie Small may not be smart, but he is kind-hearted, strong, and hardworking.
First, Lennie is introduced as a big and strong man, but he is very kind hearted. When Lennie feels, he has done something to upset George he says “If you don’t want me, you only jus’ got to say so, and I’ll go off into those hills right there⎯right up in those hills and live by myself” (Steinbeck 13). He has an emotional soft spot for George because he never wants to inconvenience him. George is the only person Lennie has left in the world who will truly care for him, so …show more content…
He is praised by Slim for working hard by saying “Maybe he ain’t bright, but I never seen such a worker as not very smart but a hard worker. He damn near killed his partner buckin’ barley. There ain’t nobody can keep up with him” (Steinbeck 39). He is working hard to help George get enough money for a ranch of their own. He knows if he works hard he George will let him take care of the rabbits. When Lennie is in stressful situations he panics, and gets in trouble; like when he touches a girl’s dress because it is soft, and she starts screaming. Lennie’s first reaction is to hold on tighter, but that makes it worse and gets him in big trouble (Steinback 41). He doesn’t know any better when he gets panicked, he just does what his first instinct is. When George tells him to stop he does, and when he realizes what he has done it makes him sad and upset because he hurt someone. His like for soft things sometimes puts him in stressful situations, but he really works hard in the
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