The quote, "The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for," is appropriate in describing the character Lennie in the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. This quote is expressing that the underlying factors of happiness are something to do, to hope for, and to love, and when one has these, they are fundamentally happy. According to Lennie, this quote is a true statement in describing his character throughout the novel. .
All through the novel, Lennie has something to do or remember for George. He is constantly trying to make George happy and proud of him and it keeps him occupied from the reality of their unfortunate life. The quote, "Lennie droned to himself softly, "I ain't gonna say nothing" . I ain't gonna say nothing" . I ain't gonna say nothing"," implies that he is determined to remember this important statement. He knows that George will be proud of him when he remembers this and that in turn makes him very happy. George also warns Lennie about coming into contact with Curley. The repeated line, "Sure, George. I ain't gonna say a word," displays that Lennie is doing everything he can to remember this with the intention that George will be pleased. .
As opposed to loving something such as playing cards or playing horseshoes like the other men do, Lennie loves something simpler than that. In its place, he is perfectly content when he has something soft to pet. The quote, "-I like to pet nice things. Once at a fair I seen some of them long-hair rabbits. An" they was nice, you bet. Sometimes I've even pet mice, but not when I could get nothing better," is an example of Lennie's love for soft things no matter what it is. Essentially, Lennie is very happy whenever he has something nice to touch. .
The repeated story of George and Lennie's very own ranch gave Lennie something to hope for all the time. It made him so joyful that Lennie would constantly ask George to tell him the story.
