Lennie does not have the potential
to be smart, Lennie has the potential to be a hard worker; however, Lennie's
strength did not work with him and the result was fatal. Lennie is an extremely
large man who had the strength of a bull. With the use of his strength, he
was a great worker but did not understand how strong he was. George explains
Lennie's strength by "that big b*****d can put up more grain alone than
most pairs can," Through his size and his enormous amount of strength,
Lennie could out work the other men of the ranch by himself. By using Lennie's
strength he became a great worker who knew nothing more than to work. Lennie
uses his abilities to work hard, but does not understand how strong he is.
Without George, Lennie does not understand what to do. Lennie, who gets frightened
and uses his strength to hold on to objects, is just like a child. He will
do whatever George tells him to: "Curley was flopping like a fish on
a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie's hand". George slapped
Lennie in the face repeatedly and still Lennie held on. Through Lennie's actions
we can see that Lennie is very similar to a child. Lennie's first instinct
when he is frightened is to hold on. Just as a little kid holds on to its
mum or dad when they become frightened, Lennie holds on to objects.
Because of Lennie's inability
to understand his strength, he becomes frightened and tries to silence Curley's
wife, and, as a result, she ends up being killed: "She took Lennie's
hand and put it on her head...And then she cried angrily...Lennie's fingers
closed on her hair and hung on...He shook her and her body flopped like
a fish...And then she was still". Lennie did not understand his strength
and became frightened, and again, just like just like a little child, he
held on. But he ended up breaking Curley's wife neck. As a result of his
actions Lennie, ended up dead. Lennie had an extremely great ability to
use his strength and become a great worker. However, his difficulty to understand
his strength lead to his death.
