Saturday, March 17, 2012

Not Weak, Yet Vulnerable

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Chapter 5


   Jon, it is interesting that you saw George and Lennie's relationship as being one of benefits, but it makes complete sense. I always thought George simply felt like he was Lennie's family and that was why they stayed together, but the fact that Lennie can get work and other necessities for George also comes into play here. Of course, I still believe George has come to care for Lennie, but your post has made me consider a part of the relationship between these two men that I hadn't realized was present before now.
   One thing that has become extremely obvious in this chapter is that a person with the kind of mental disability Lennie has should never be left without someone who can properly take care of him or her. Without George, Lennie got himself into a heap of trouble by killing Curley's wife (although she did ask for it), and he was not even able to fully understand the severity of what he did. "For a moment he seemed bewildered. And then he whispered in fright, 'I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.'" (pg. 89). It is not at all true that people with mental disabilities need to be treated as if they cannot do things, but some of them do need to be kept under a watchful eye so that they don't feel alone or cause chaos. Lennie never did anything on purpose, but his mental disability kept him from defending himself. Lennie's state of mind is not a weakness in my point-of-view, yet it is something that makes him less able to understand the ways of the world, and therefore, he is a very vulnerable target to things such as mobs and accusations.
   Curley, on the other hand, seems to be the one creating problems for our main characters. This man is too full of himself to see that he will gain nothing by bullying Lennie and that, in fact, doing so just makes him a cowardly being. Curley's wife might have been a very odd character, but she was right about Curley being such an awful husband, considering that he looks like a really mean man in general. "'I don't like Curley. He ain't a nice fella.'" (pg. 86). Part of me is currently hoping something bad will happen to the main villain of our second novel.

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