Lennie and his
relationship with other
characters
By: Tristan, Alex and Max
About Lennie
Lennie is a 'gentle giant', and wouldn't intentionally harm a
fly. He doesn't know his own strength, and because of
that, he accidentally injures those around him.
Whenever he has a new 'toy' like a mouse or puppy, he
ends up playing too rough with them, and he can
seriously injure or even kill them. Lennie is definitely not
the sharpest tool in the shed, but he can still retain a
sense of humility and is able to restrain himself.
Lennie's relationship with George
Lennie's relationship with George is a strange one. Why
would a smart man like George allow himself to be
slowed down by a man like Lennie? For one thing,
Lennie is a strong young man, and will do what he is
told. George also promised that they would buy a farm
with the money they saved. George knows that Lennie
cannot survive without him although George would still
feel lonely without Lennie.
"No-look! I was jus ' foolin', Lennie.
Cause I want you to stay with me"
Lennie's relationship with Candy
Candy's relationship with Lennie is a weird one. At first,
Candy is the distant loner that is always with his dog,
and is payed to clean the bunk house, just so that he
feels he is needed. But Lennie inspires Candy to join
them in their dream of having a nice house, living the
american dream. Candy opens up the them, and dares
to hope on this unlikely dream.
"Well-Hell! I had him so long. Had him since he
was a pup. I herded sheep with him."
Lennie's relationship with Slim Jim
It is quite a neutral relationship as they don't talk very much
but George tells Slim about Lennie sometimes. Slim is a
kind person like Lennie but is much more confident and
dominant and is described as "prince of the ranch" while
Lennie is shy. He is the only one who really understands
George and Lennie's relationship. They both will show
respect if it is given to them. Lennie and George's'
relationship with Slim is important because it gets them
more comfortable with everyone on the farm and.
Lennie's relationship with Curley
Curley is intimidated by Lennie, and from that spawns
hatred. It doesn't help that Lennie broke his hand. Curley
is a very cruel person and tries to pick fights with tall
people to show that he is tough. Nobody on the farm
likes Curley, and they only tolerate him because his
father owns the ranch. Lennie doesn't have any anger
towards Curley, but Curley misinterpreted the death of
his wife as "revenge" and he wanted to kill Lennie, and
wanted to do it in very creative and colourful ways. "what
the hell you laughin' at?"
Lennie's relationship with Curley's
Wife
Curleys wife is called a "tramp" by many of the workers on
the farm, or "jailbait". They call her this because she
teases them with sexual innuendos, and she does
nothing to contribute to the life of the farm. She isn't even
given a proper name, even though she is such a big part
of the story, and is the only woman on the farm. Because
of this she is ostracised. She finds Lennie entertaining to
talk to because of his childish nature. "...you're kind of a
nice fella.
Jus' like a big baby.
Lennie's relationship with Crooks
He only really meets Crooks once and after talking to each other for a
bit, Crooks realises that Lennie is not very smart and uses him to talk
about things he wouldn't usually talk about because he doesn't get
company very often. He pretends that he does not really enjoy
Lennie's presence although he is actually very happy because he is
the only person who does not treat him like a lower person because
he is black. Crooks does not exactly like Lennie but he enjoys the
presence of being able to talk to someone and the fact that hes very
nice.
"Come in and set a while." Crooks said. "Long as you won't leave me
alone, you might as well set down."
Lennie's relationship with Carlson
Lennie and Carlson do not meet or talk much and Carlson
isn't a key character. The main contributions he makes to
the book are of the execution Candy's dog, and at the
end of the book when his firearm is stolen. Lennie is
only related to Carlson through work, and they share
nothing else in common. He has little regard for
another's feelings as at the end when George shoots
lennie is says "What the hell...is eatin' them two guys?"