Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Thank You
This is the end of my blog for my English ISU. I hope you enjoyed reading my posts, and if there are any questions on Lennie's dissabilities, please feel free to post a comment at the bottom. Thank you!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Lennie's Acceptence
There is only one person in 'Of Mice And Men who really accepts Lennie for who he is and that is George. Everyone on the ranch seems to keep away from Lennie but George is always with Lennie either to keep him company, or to keep him out of trouble. George is like an older brother to Lennie in many ways. Whenever Lennie gets into a bad situation, George is there to correct him of his wrongs. George and Lennie have a relationship that the workers on the ranch don't quite understand. The workers believe that George and Lennie are just good friends. George shows that Lennie is a big part of his life when George is told to kill Lennie. George knows that killing Lennie would put him out of his misery, but also keep him out of trouble. George also had a very difficult time trying to kill Lennie because once Lennie was dead; George's life would never be the same again. Lennie's Un-Acceptance
With Lennie's mental disability, fitting in with others is quite difficult. What makes fitting in for Lennie even more difficult is the fact that the characters in the novel are not very intelligent, seeing as though they work on a ranch and the way they choose to speak. With very low intelligence, the workers on the ranch don't understand why Lennie behaves the way he does, so they choose not to become close to him. After Lennie killed Curley's wife, the workers instructed George to kill Lennie so he couldn't cause any more harm to people. The decision to kill Lennie was easy for the workers to decide because Lennie was never close to them.Third Sign (UnControllable Behaviors) Pt. 3
The last part in the Novel where Lennie cannot control his behaviour is when Lennie is alone with Curley's wife. Curley's wife was very lonely and needed someone to talk to. She chose to talk to Lennie. Although Lennie did not know what Curley's wife was saying, he just sat there and listened. Later, Curley's wife wanted Lennie to feel her soft hair, because Lennie had an obsession with soft objects. While Lennie was touching Curley's wife's hair, she moved Lennie's hand out of the way. This triggered Lennie to go into a minor shock. This minor shock however made Lennie pull the hair of Curley's wife, and he put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming and getting him in trouble. The More Curley's wife struggled, the more Lennie gripped her hair and squeezed her head. The amount of force Lennie put on Curley's wife's head, plus the struggling of Curley's wife, it was enough for her neck to snap, and kill her. Lennie's minor, uncontrollable shock had made him a murderer.Third Sign (UnControllable Behaviors) Pt. 2
The other part of the Novel that shows Lennie's emotional behaviours is when Curley and him were fighting. When Curley started to fight with Lennie, he started off by just making fun of him. Lennie chose not to react, but instead looked at George. Curley got fed up with the fact that Lennie wasn't fighting back, so he decided to start punching Lennie. This triggered Lennie's anger, but he didn't fight back, instead he deflected one of Curley's punches and squeezed on Curley's hand tighter and tighter. He squeezed so hard he was destroying the bones within Curley's hand. Although George and Candy tried to stop Lennie, Lennie could not control himself and couldn't let go. Lennie's anger had taken him over which made him behave in a very violent manner.Third Sign (UnControllable Behaviors) Pt. 1
There are many times in the Novel where Lennie's emotions take control over him, and he can't do anything about it. The first sign where Lennie shows that he has no control over his emotions is when he kills the mouse in his hand. When he kills the mouse, he explains to George that he squished the head of the mouse because it bit his thumb. Normally someone would either drop the mouse, or move their hand away from the mouse. With Lennie's mental health it disables him from thinking about the situation and he let's his emotions control him. He felt frustrated with the mouse, so with his frustration he squished the head of the mouse and killed it.Monday, May 16, 2011
Second Sign (Bad Memory)
The night before George and Lennie went on their job interview, George instructs Lennie not to speak at all during the interview. George feels that he should do all the talking. George's request leads us to believe that something must be wrong with Lennie. After George informed Lennie not to speak during their interview, Lennie immediately forgot what George had asked him to do. At this point in the book we can see that Lennie does not have an amazing memory as he forgot George's request in a short period of time. George then instructs Lennie to repeat over and over again not to speak during the interview. George feels this will help Lennie to remember not to speak. Throughout the rest of the chapter and until the interview, Lennie continuously reminded himself not to speak during the interview. Tuesday, May 3, 2011
First Sign Of Lennie's Mental Health (Easily Distracted)
The first sign of Lennie's disability that is introduced in the Novel is how he acts in a very child like behaviour. In the first chapter in 'Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are sitting on a lake shore. Lennie dunk his head in the water to take a drink. Lennie tells George to take a drink from the lake. After George had taken his drink Lennie put his fingers in the water and moved his fingers to create ripples. When he saw the ripples his face lit up and immediately looked to George and told him to at the ripples. This shows very child like behaviour, which gives an understanding that something has to be wrong with Lennie for him to act like a child. Sunday, May 1, 2011
Mental Disabilities
This is my first time writing a blog which I am doing for my English ISU (Independent Study Unit). My blog is mainly about the mental disabilities of Lennie Smalls a character from the novel 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck. This novel is a story about two men named George Milton and Lennie Smalls trying to make a better life for themselves. This entails Lennie and George finding jobs so they can buy the ranch they always dreamed of owning. Easier said then done. Every now and then I will update my blog to give you my insight and opinions about Lennie's disabilities. Thank you for viewing my blog and please feel free to leave any comments that you may want to share.
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