Saturday 7 May 2011

I ain't gonna say nothin'...I ain't gonna say nothin'

Select a quotation about or said by Lennie.  Repeat it in a post and write about what it reveals about Lennie's character.

"Lennie...imitated George exactly."

"Lennie smiled...Strong as a bull."

"Lennie sat  in the barn and looked at the dead puppy..."

"It ain't  no lie.We're gonna do it.  Gonna get a little place an' live on the fatta the lan'"

"Lennie obeyed him." (When George tells him to kneel down by the river and look at the hills)

21 comments:

  1. "Lennie obeyed him"

    The true innocence of Lennie is revealed within this quote. Anyone that has gone through the corruptible world of the Homo-Sapiens would have questioned the order given by Gearge to face the hills; yet he didn't. In plus of demonstrating total innocence, it also portrayed Lennie's unquestionable trust and faith in his guardian.

    From this we can understand that Lennie is a simple man of simple pleasures. He likes to 'pet nice things' and that seems to always be his downfall. Through Lennie, I think that the author may be trying to send out a universal message: strong and uncontrolable yearnings and desires may get you killed.

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  2. "It ain't no lie.We're gonna do it. Gonna get a little place an' live on the fatta the lan'"

    As well as exploring the character of Lennie, this quotation also explores the friendship between George and Lennie; Lennie believes in everything George says and trusts him, as he is convinced ''It ain't no lie'', simply because George told him so. Their friendship can be compared to that of a parent and a child, as throughout the novella we see that George is Lennie's role model (which is shown by him often mimicing his actions), someone he looks up to and believes in everything he says, the same way a child would. It also shows that George is dominant in the relationship, as he has to obey George and trust him.

    Moreover, it emphasises Lennie's simplicity; he believes the dream is going to become a reality, simply because George told him so. He does not see the difficulties in achieving it, which shows the contrast between him and George; whilst George has to take care of things, Lennie seems to have an easy, simple life. It also shows their contrasting attitudes towards it; whilst George sees it as a dream, perhaps something that is not likely to become a reality, Lennie sees it as hope for the future.

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  4. Ashley Bailey

    "Lennie...imitated George exactly."

    This reveals how much Lennie looks up to George, the strong bond between them that intriges Lennie to go as far as imitating him, giving the impression that Lennie actually desires to be just like George. Throughout the novel Lennie imitates George not only once but at a few occasions, revealing that in Lennie's mind, that George is always right and does everything accurately therefore Lennie does not want to get into trouble and imitates his actions forshadow that he is good. With Lennie not being as equally inteligent as everyone else, he looks up to George for guidance.

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  5. "Lennie smiled....Strong as a bull."

    This quote shows Lennie's true character in that he is simple minded. His strength dosen't shine, this quote only emphasises his weakness and shows that he is weaker than George. It shows he is limited by his mental ability and by his utter subjugation to George. It reminds you of a child, in that he repeats whatever George says, like hes in a mans body, but has a childs outlook on life. He seems to be completely emotionally dependant on George, and leaves him to make all of his decisions in life.

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  6. "Lennie sat in the barn and looked at the dead puppy..."

    Once again, Lennie has caused himself trouble by the accidental death of his puppy. The rather melancholy scene shows us how Lennie's accidents often leave him unable to act or think by himself; he just panics, and becomes statuesque, standing in a courtyard of his own regret. The quotation may not seem like much, but we can draw from it quite a lot of information; Lennie is hopeless in a crisis such as this, dwelling on his wrongdoing until attempting to, later on in the section, cover it up in futility. This quote alone however, shows us the depths of Lennie's reliance on George; he simply cannot operate as an independent unit, always requiring George to solve, or, more often than not, bail him out of trouble. His morose stare at the puppy's cadaver is merely him waiting until George can intervene.

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  7. ''Lennie smiled... Strong as a bull.''

    Throughout the novella 'Of Mice and Men', Lennie is persistently stereotyped and made out to be a animal - like human. This is evident as he is repeatedly referred to as a 'bear': or in this particular quotation, a 'bull'. Readers will immediantly develop their knowledge of Lennie; appearance wise predominately.

    Furthermore, this empathises Lennie's feelings and how proud he is of himself. This shows Lennie's distribution of his feelings is there for all to see.

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  8. "Lennie obeyed him."

    This shows Lennie's attitude and obeyediance towards George. Lennie looks up to George massively throughout the Novella and this quote is somewhat relevant to both of their characters. George, being that of Lennie's role model and Lennie being mentally challenged and 'slow'. George feels the need to throw orders out to Lennie because it is shown throughout that he seems that of scared of Lennie's actions if the orders are not obeyed; taking the responsibility and consequences into his own hands automatically. Lennie deep down knows that George is being like that for his own good but his disabilities make his actions uncontrollable which is not intended.

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  9. "Lennie...imitated George exactly."

    This quote identifies quite clearly the relationship between Lennie and George. Lennie looks up to George and sees his actions as being the right thing to do, imitating them on more than one occasion. Additionally, he is established as the more childlike in the father-son style relationship that is portrayed. His position in their relationship links to his intellectual level and also his somewhat undeveloped social skills. He see's George as a guide; a male role model that he may have been lacking during his childhood. It is also interesting to note that the majority of mistakes Lennie makes occur when George isn't present to give him guidance.

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  10. "Lennie...imitated George exactly."

    Steinbeck uses this quote to portray the relationship between the pair as much like leader and follower. Lennie constantly follows George around, observing his every move and looking to him for help,support and guidance. this illustrates Lennie's incapability to survive without the presence of George; and as Alistair states most of his misjudgements occur in the absence of George. This shows that throughout this novella, Lennie's intellectually inferior state makes him susceptible choosing the wrong decisions.

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  11. "Lennie sat in the barn and looked at the dead puppy..."

    This potrays how helpless lennie feels pretty much all the time. His vinerability is exposed... the dead puppy seems to reflect on how lennie is feeling at that very moment. Though he wishes he could, theres nothing he can do but sit and stare.

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  12. vunerability*

    Lennie's isolation in this scene is apparant. He never seems to give the impression that he's lonely... the puppy (and george) are possibly the only people that lennie felt content and safe with. Fundementally... the puppys death results in lennie mourning.

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  13. "Lennie sat in the barn and looked at the dead puppy..."

    Lennie stares in deep guilt as he realises something isnt right, it seems as though hes in a daze wondering how he will explain to George he has once again been troublesome, he has also once again disobeyed Georges rules by taking the puppy away from its mother. Throughout the novella Lennie continues to behave this way. He seems vunerable and lonesome, so confindes in in other people/animals to comfort him.

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  15. Lennie imitated George exactly’

    I believe with this sentance Steinbeck wants to show us straight away that the relationship between the two is much like the releationship of a parent and child, and not one of equality.

    From the first sight of Lennie and George, a dynamic in their relationship is established. Though the men are of the same class (wearing identical clothes and carrying identical gear), one still walks behind the other. Lennie looks up to george for guidence and inspriation. It could be said that Lennie lacks a mind of his own, and needs George in some form as part of his own identity.

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  16. "Lennie sat in the barn and looked at the dead puppy..."

    Prior to this, Lennie had accidently killed the puppy by 'petting him too hard'. Lennie does not admit to himself his wrong doings, and does not think abut the puppy, instead, Lennie goes into a state of panic and loss of thought. Throughout this novella we see that the onloy time Lennie get's into trouble is when he strays from George, its hard for him to think about specific things and know what to do without the comforting helping hand of George, this reinforces the idea that Lennie cannout cope indipendantly.

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  17. "Lennie smiled....Strong as a bull."

    Bulls are regarded as a powerful, strong and agile breed of animals and have been used by many past and present Homo-sapiens as a symbol of Strentgh not weakness, Agile not slow and Powerful not feeble. In many cases humans ofen forget the mental capability if these animals.

    Every year in Spain the 'Bous a la Mar' Bull running Festival is held. Several Hundred Bulls are set alesh and run the streets of spain towards their destined/assumed area "Bull ring". Many feeble minded people disregard the strength of the bulls and plant themselves in their routes; often ending up being skewered by the uncomprehendable Bulls.

    Lennie's slow witted mental state is more less than often emphasised and stated by the author 'John Stienbeck' through many of the characters. It is portayed to us that it is due to his mental state, that often leads him into being discriminated against, George being constantly annoyed and more or less often leads to his constant flaws and eventually his catastrophe.
    In continuation from what I stated earlier on, all animals are innocent and fragile, and do not have the mental capacity to act morally or know good from bad. The Bulls do not realise exactly the extent of their strength and do not know exactly whether or not running over the citizens of Spain is a good thing. Thus; somewhat applying to Lennie, with him being compared to an animal, not realising his strength he seems to be crumbling and crushing everything that he comes into contact with, 'Why do you get killed? you ain't so little as mice. I didn't bounce you hard'.
    Furthermore, the bulls follow each other like a flock traveling together,with the Bulls having an 'assumed/destined' place to be 'Bull ring' they endanger anything in their path just to reach that specific 'goal', this is the same for Lennie who follows Gerorge's lead, travelling together, who also has an 'assumed/destined' place which is the farm of which he will be able to care for the rabbits and unknowledgable places in danger anything thing that withstands itself within his path like the bulls.

    This has a strong theme of universality that we humans of the modern day world often overlook and disregard these sort of people, maybe what Stienbeck was trying to get us to realise was that we shouldn't look down on these people but to see them for who they truly are as they may somewhat contribute to the society more than many ordinaries living in society. "He can put up more grain alone than pairs can" e.g Stevie Wonder: Entertainer, Tom Cruise actor, Marilyn Monroe Actor and Sylvester Stallone: Actor. All had/have disabilites but well renowned in society.

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  18. "It ain't no lie. We're gonna do it. Gonna get a little place an' live on the fatta the lan'"

    This quotation represents Lennie's gullible side. As George tells Lennie throughout the novella, they're going to 'live on the fatta the lan' and George can 'tend the rabbits'. We're never sure if George has intentions of following this through, or whether he says it just to keep Lennie happy. Either way, Lennie believes George and this makes me feel sort of sorry for him, because he looks forward to it, and it seems to be the only thing he has to look forward to. It also shows George has more control over Lennie, as he knows he can tell Lennie whatever he chooses and he'll believe him. You could say he takes advantage of Lennie in a way.

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  19. "Lennie...imitated George exactly."

    This quotation illustrates how much Lennie looks to George for what he should be doing, even down to the small details of how to sit. In the novel, George seems to be Lennie's only role-model, and Lennie often shows that he thinks very highly of George, mentioning the fact that he will never leave him. It also shows us that Lennie doesn't really have anyone else to relate to in his life. His only way of assuring himself that what he is doing is right is to imitate or consult George.

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  20. "Lennie...imitated George exactly."
    this quotation exemplifies the fact that either Lennie isn't comfortable with his identity, he hasn't developed his own identity, or believes that if he was just like George, he would' do any more 'bad things'.

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