Explain how Steinbeck describes the differences in character between Lenny and George Essay

Explain how Steinbeck describes the differences in character between Lenny and George The author, John Steinbeck described Lenny as the opposite of George. Lenny and George are good friends but mostly have nothing in common except that they both share the same dream, the American dream. Steinbeck described what the characters are wearing at the beginning of the story. Then he started describing the difference in characters between George and Lenny. George is the smart one and Lenny is the one who’s childlike. Lenny always depends on George because George is the only friend he’s got and George is like the only family of Lenny. At the beginning of the story, Steinbeck first described what George and Lenny are wearing at the beginning of the story as â€Å"Both dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons†. Then he started describing the difference between George and Lenny. First he defined George as â€Å"small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose†. Then he described Lenny with no similarity to George as â€Å"a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders†. Steinbeck uses a simile to describe Lennie. He tells us how he walk by ‘dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws’, he described Lennie by comparing him to an animal. Steinbeck wants us to draw an image in our mind of how Lennie moves. In the next paragraph he compares Lennie to an animal again, when he ‘drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse’. The author described Lennie like an animal so that we’ll imagine it clearly by picturing Lennie like the way an animal move. The role of George in novel is like a parent to Lennie who’s a big guy but has a mind like a child. Since Lennie’s Aunt died, George is the one taking care of Lennie. ‘When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin’, George said to Slim. Sometimes he tells Lennie the things to do and thing he’s not supposed to do. Lennie, for God’s sakes don’t drink so much’, George told him off like telling off a child. George acts as a parent to Lennie. Lennie imitates George sometimes. He copies George by the way he acts and the way he tells Lennie something to do, as if he’s also looking after George. ‘You drink some, George. You take a good big drink’, he told George. Steinbeck told us many things that describe how childish Lennie is. For example, when Lennie found out what Lennie had in his pocket. ‘It’s only a mouse George’, Lennie said nervously. He is afraid that George might take the mouse from him. Lennie love to pet animals like the way a child pets an animal, but Lennie doesn’t realise his strength. He accidentally kills the animals he pets because he’s stroking them to hard. George and Lennie argue sometimes. And when they did at the beginning of the story, George told Lennie about all the stuff he would do if Lennie was never with him. ‘if I was alone I could live so easy†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, George described what it would be like without Lennie because George always gets in trouble because of Lennie. George said to Lennie angrily, ‘You keep me in hot water all the time’. George would like to be alone, but he doesn’t know how it feels to be a loner, he imagines what it feels like to take care of nobody except himself and he wants to know how it feels without the trouble of Lennie. He also wants to know if he would be happy or he might be lonely without Lennie. This is the feeling of George that Steinbeck wants us to know. Although, George is not the only one who would like to have a feeling of being alone. Lennie is a very confused man that cannot think very well. However, Lennie sometimes feel that George hates him because George doesn’t want him by his side. ‘If you don’t want me, you only jus’ got to say so and I’ll go off in those hills right there – right up in those hills and live by myself,’ Lennie talks like he’s defending himself. He’s acting strong and he’s trying to show George that he can live and he can take care by himself alone. But then George realises how mean he was when he talked about the things he would do if Lennie wasn’t with him. George changed his mind in the end. Then George replies, ‘I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself†¦.’ George replies to his thinking of living alone. George feels bad about what he said to Lennie. He is still worried about Lennie. He only imagines the bad things that might happen to Lennie if he was by himself. Steinbeck wants us to know that George don’t want Lennie to go, not only because Lennie can’t take care of himself alone, but it’s because George and Lennie are also best friends and have already known each other since childhood. Steinbeck tells us that George is the only that describes Lennie the way he is. George is the only one who knows him very well. ‘Hell of a nice fella, but he ain’t bright. I’ve knew him for a long time’ George described Lennie proudly. When he tells someone, like Slim, about Lennie, he doesn’t use the word â€Å"crazy† to describe Lennie because he already know what ways to describe Lennie. He even tells Slim that having Lennie isn’t so bad at all because they got each other to take care of. ‘I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good. They don’t have no fun†¦.’ George was sincere when he was talking to Slim about them being friends. I think Steinbeck wants us to know that even though George and Lenny have nothing in common, they always had each other as friends. The author wants us to realise how strong George and Lennie’s bond. Their friendship can’t be broken by anyone, easily. The two characters played a good role to people to show how important friends are. Even though Lennie wasn’t bright, George accepted Lennie as he is because he is his friend. Both of them know that they have each other to take care of. Compare to other people who are alone, are the loneliest people. John Steinbeck described each of the character uniquely, unlike any other character in a novel. At the very beginning of the novel, Steinbeck described the surroundings of the Salinas River. He wants us to picture in our mind what the place looks like. He creates an image in our mind that relate to the senses, including sight and touch. ‘The Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ He also uses a metaphor to describe things clearly. ‘the golden foothill’. He wants the reader to imagine what its like and because he knows that we’ll understand what it means because it’s just a metaphor. The writer did all this at the beginning of the novel to make the target audience want to read this novel. And once they become really interested in reading the beginning of the story, they’ll plan to read the whole book.