Lennie Small is a main character in Richard Stein beck's Of Mice and Men. Not many folks understand what kind of person Lennie is and what his thought processes are. Partially because he's so big, partially because of a limited mental capacity, Lennie probably gives off the impression of a very unstable person, mean and quick to anger. I too, have been stereotyped "mean" simply because I am so large and appear so intimidating. This is one of Lennie's problems, because he likes to do what he feels like doing but doesn't stop to consider the consequences of his actions. Lennie is misunderstood yet a very essential character in this book.
Lennie Small is a very complex character, although he may not appear to be at first glance. One of Lennie's biggest concerns is for continued love (friendship) from George. He does not really have to worry about this though, for as George is so fond of saying, " We have a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us (at this point Lennie interrupts) Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you." (Stein beck, 45). Lennie isn't a loner, as so many of the farmhands were back then. Lennie has George. Although he is enormous and extremely strong, he still is defenseless is a way. For example, when Curley is beating Lennie up, Lennie cant fight back because he's been taught (trained) not to. The only reason he actually did fight back was because George told Lennie to defend himself. Conversely, the only reason that Curley still has a hand after Lennie grabbed it was because George had to go over and slap Lennie to get him to release the scumbag. Albeit Lennie has a simple mind, his core is very, very compound.
A great way to judge Lennie's significance is to predict what life would have been like for others had he never existed. For starters, had Lennie not been around, George's dream of owning his own farm probably wouldn't have existed, losing a major portion of the book in the process.
