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Animal Imagery In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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“Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character; and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.” Stated by S. Chopenhauer describes that one can only be a good man if animals are treated like another living being. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie Smalls is the man in question for not being careful and treating animal’s right. Although Lennie does not mean no harm, he still ends up hurting not animals alone, but humans as well. In order for the reader to understand this, the author John Steinbeck uses animal imagery when describing Lennie, which helps depicts his character and potentially the entire working class of the time.

Lennie acts like a few different animals …show more content…
Although Curley may be the boss's son, he also acts like an animal under attack. ‘ His arms bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists’ (25). Curley is always on edge and waiting to start a fight with anyone. Curley is not the only one who acts on edge, Crooks also acts like he is under attack. He is discriminated against for his color and is not allowed in the bunkhouse with the rest of the men. “You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room” (68). Crooks is territorial of his space and he feels as though he has a right to his area and privacy. The entire working class may also act like animals but they do not seem to care, for they have no one to impress.

Throughout the entire novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck describes Lennie Smalls as several different animals which helps the reader truly understand how Lennie acts and why he acts in such ways. However, this does not only help the reader with understand Lennie as a character, but the working class of the time. Lennie is smart in ways the other men do not understand, although he might be smart in some aspects, he does not understand his strength and power, or when the consequences of such

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