Lennie's Strength In Of Mice And Men

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The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who travel together during the Depression Era late 1930’s. The novel tells a story of two migrant workers who move around in search for job opportunities. The duo can not hold jobs for very long due to Lennie’s inability to think and animalistic behaviors. Throughout the novel Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck describes Lennie using animalistic behaviors to show that Lennie’s physical strength is his greatest weakness because ha can not control it.
Steinbeck portrays Lennie as a horse through his descriptions of his strength and ability to do work. The book reads “ ain’t nothing to scream about but that bastard right there can put up more grain alone than most pairs can.” (Steinbeck 34) This shows Lennie’s ability not more work than the average human. Lennie’s strength is also his downfall because he is unable to harness it. His strength advantage comes from his lack of mental capacity. Much like a horse Lennie
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Instead of giving us a regular description of a hand Steinbeck describes Lennie as bear-like, using the word paw instead of hand. These descriptions give us an idea of Lennie’s size compared to a normal sized person. Lennie is also described as a bear through his strength. Not only can he do the work of two men by himself but he also has the power to snap a neck and break a hand without realizing it. When Curley’s wife freaks out while Lennie is stroking her hair he too freaks out and begins shaking her so she’ll stop. He does not mean to break her neck; he just does not realize his true strength. Like a bear, when Lennie is scared he is untamable in fear. Lennie’s strength and stature give him bear-like