George and LennyOf Mice and Men
Opposites Attract John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men is about two men working hard for money to buy a farm. Steinbeck revolves most of the story around George Milton the protagonist. In the story George has to manage the life of his “simpleminded” best friend, Lennie. George and Lennie’s physical characteristics are the opposite of what one would expect their roles to be. George is a small man and Lennie a huge man. That could cause the reader to think Lennie is the leader and George he follower, but the opposite is true. George is small and smart where Lennie is huge and clumsy. George dreams of settling down on a farm of their own, but contrary to that dream Lennie constantly keeps them in trouble and on the run. George persistently complains about Lennie. George constantly reminds Lennie that if it weren’t for him, he would be far better off, yet George doesn’t do anything to change their arrangement of caregiver and beneficiary. In short George is small in statue but the brains of the operation. George is a constant complainer and though it appears Lennie provides the fodder for George’s temper, if Lennie weren’t around George would still find plenty to complain about, because that is the way he is.