List some words that Steinbeck uses to describe Lennie. List some words that Steinbeck uses to describe George. How do these descriptions compare and/or contrast to one another?
In part one of Of Mice and Men, the two companions, George and Lennie, can clearly be seen as complete opposites, but they do have a few similarities. In the first couple of pages, Steinbeck uses these words to describe George, "... small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features ... small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose" (2), while he describes Lennie as, "... a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders..." (2). Here it is depicted through these words that they look completely different one another. The author even directly states this fact when he is using the words above to describe their differences, "Behind him walked his opposite..." (2). Another difference between the two is that George is very harsh and strict with Lennie when he uses strong language with him for being hard to deal with and to take care of. George scolds Lennie many times throughout part one, and I don't think that will change for a while, at least. But Lennie is always very sweet and sensitive (the sensitivity may be due to his mental disability). He, a grown man, cries at times when George gets angry with him. This is something you won't see too often, especially in the time period where the story takes place because men were stereotyped to be strong and tough, and that they don't have feelings (these things aren't true for all men, especially the feelings one).
But as I wrote earlier, they do have some similarities. For example, they are wearing the exact same clothes, "Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders" (2). They are also both hard workers because George will work to get as much money as he can so he can afford a nice place to stay in the future (their dream place living on a ranch with the rabbits). We can tell that Lennie is also a hard worker when George says, "If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won't get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we're set" (6) What George is trying to say is that Lennie is mentally disabled, but not physically, so if the boss hears Lennie talk and constantly forget things, then he won't hire them because he'll judge Lennie for being a "... crazy bastard..." (6). For the most part though, these characters contrast more from each other than they are similar to each other.
I do agree with you. I have never thought of how they might be similar to each other than how they would be different. I didn't notice that Lennie and George both wore the same clothes. This might be because they came from the same job before they got fired, or Lennie is always trying to be like George, so he copied his clothes. They do contrast more then they compare though. They are very opposite from each other. I wonder if we will see more similarities between them later in the book, or if they will always be more opposite.
ReplyDelete