Lennie Small Character Analysis

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The character, Lennie Small, in Of Mice and Men, a novel by John Steinbeck, is a mentally disabled farmhand in California. Lennie, and his friend George, run into many problems throughout the story, due to Lennie’s disability. Anything Lennie is able to get his hands on, he manages to kill. Lennie doesn’t know how or why he is killing these people, and genuinely feels remorseful for his actions, despite the fact that he is unable to control himself. Ever since the novel's release, many comparisons have been made to real life criminals who also have mental disabilities, in a plea for sparing the perpetrator’s life. Using the description of Lennie Small, a fictional character, in these cases to represent the mindset of mentally disabled criminals may be humane, but the Lennie Standard is not justified, nor should it be used as the determining factor in deciding if a criminal should be executed or not. Showing such mercy to criminals in cases where they may not be as remorseful is unfair to the victim, and the family.

The Lennie Standard, in the court of law, originated in 2002, in Texas. The Lennie Standard is used to bar the execution of intellectually disabled people. The use of the Lennie Standard spares criminals this punishment …show more content…
He still realizes he has hurt someone, and doesn’t wish to hurt people. In the novel, the narrator says, “Lennie looked sadly up at him. ‘They was so little,” he said apologetically” (Steinbeck 10). Of Mice and Men uses people emotional connection to Lennie’s character to build up unintentional sympathy for criminals with intellectual disabilities. No matter how bad we may feel for Lennie’s condition, we must realize not all cases are similar enough to this fictional character. The Lennie Standard, while a good step in the right direction for justice for people with these illnesses, but there still needs to be steps taken to correct these
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