Lennie in Chapter One #1

Lennie is the second character we meet, but visually he is the more dominant of the two.  He can’t resist but draw the reader’s attention and sympathies early on.  He is a follower and literally follows behind George into the scene.  It is interesting that when walking Steinbeck notes that whether on a path or in the open Lennie and George walk “in single file”.  They have an established relationship and journeying together, though together, seems a solitary time – this only heightens the paradox of loneliness in the company of others.

Steinbeck presents two men who on some level are presented as the same; they wear the same clothes, but each is uniquely different to the other.  Again this points to the paradox between the two.  Lennie’s description is most important; Steinbeck makes allusions between Lennie and various animals in the way he is described physically and the behaviour he displays.

Summary Task: Find all the references to animals used regarding Lennie

Steinbeck makes sure that we, the readers, feel an attachment to Lennie.  His actions invoke this, particularly his mimicking of George when he sits down.  The slow and rhythmic way that Steinbeck lists the actions and then re-lists them seem almost like stage directions and you can picture the actor copying George the way a child might.  Not only does Steinbeck use description to gain our sympathy, but also speech.  They way Lennie speaks at the very beginning creates an immediate picture of someone who speaks simply, in almost a child-like manner.

Summary Task: Find three phrases Lennie uses that help emphasise the child-like quality he has.

Further on Steinbeck engages the playful side of Lennie when he tries to hide the mouse, using the precision of George’s question to outfox him.  George asks “’What’d you take outta that pocket?’” and Lennie replies “’Ain’t a thing in my pocket’”.  This sharpness of wit is amusing in itself, but it also shows that George doesn’t have time for it.  Later on Lennie also plays the role of wounded friend threatening to go and live in a cave.  In both instances the childishness of the play on words and the immaturity of the threat make the incongruity of the child in an adult’s body that much more apparent to us and he gains a great deal of favour through our pity for someone in his position.

Preparation Question: What is Lennie able to remember and why?

Throughout Chapter One we are given hints that something bad has happened and something bad could happen again.  There are early references to Weed until eventually we are told what happened by George.  It also seems clear that the two men often lose jobs because of Lennie, “…we got to sneak outta the country.  All the time somethin’ like that – all the time.” The repletion at the end shows us just how exasperated George is, but also just how common it has been for them almost as though they are stuck in a cycle.

Final Question: what is the significance of the moment Lennie “dabbles his big paw” in the pool and creates the rings?