Tragedy In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Tragedy, according to Aristotle, is a story in which a nice person who is important to society suffers destruction because of their fate and natural flaws. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a good example of tragedy. This is because of how the main protagonist, Lennie is portrayed. He is described as a “huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders”(Steinbeck 4). Lennie is a good person at heart and can do his job really well but suffers a major fall because of his mental disability and his childlike behavior. This is shown when the boss is suspicious as to why George is doing all the speaking for Lennie. George reassures the boss and defends him by saying,“‘he's sure hell of a good worker, strong as a bull but ain't that bright’” (Steinbeck 22). His physical capabilities are …show more content…
Because of his uncontrollable urge to pet things, “‘he gets in trouble alla time’” (Steinbeck 41). This compulsive behavior of Lennie resulted in George and Lennie having to leave their job in Weed and made their dream farm impossible to achieve. The contrast in his personality also led to his own death and Curley's wife's death. Of Mice and Men is a tragic story because of how Lennie’s personality of physical strength and mental weakness clash against each other. This ruins George and Lennie’s camaraderie and makes their life disastrous which evoke the emotions of pity and sorrow in the reader.
However, some may argue that Of Mice and Men is not a tragedy because the main protagonist, Lennie got himself into all the mess and it was his fault. He disobeyed George's orders and talked to Curley's wife even though George said that “‘she would get them in a mess’” (Steinbeck 85). If Lennie obeyed George's orders, Curley's wife would not have died and George would not have had to kill Lennie. Lennie would still have be alive and this book would not be considered a
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