Lennie - Strength

Test yourself on Lennie - Strength

After reading these notes, test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Physical Strength

Lennie's physical strength is striking to the other characters in the plot. Although Lennie is not confrontational he is unaware of the damage he can do with his own strength.

First impressions

Contrary to his name, Lennie Small is “a huge man” (Section 1), and it seems as though the first thing people notice about him his physical stature.

A good worker

Due to his superior physical strength, he is known as a good worker: “Maybe he ain't bright, but I never seen such a worker. He damn near killed his partner buckin' barley. There ain't nobody can keep up with him.” (Slim, Section 3)

Avoiding conflict

Despite his physical strength, Lennie avoids confrontation and does not want to be involved in conflict with anyone else: “I didn’t want no trouble.” (Lennie, Section 3)

Accidents because of Lennie's strength

However, when he does find himself in serious trouble, such as when he is attacked by Curley, Lennie proves that he is more than capable of defending himself: “Curley's fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie's big hand.” (Section 3)

Animal-like

Steinbeck sometimes describes Lennie as being more like a bear than a human, emphasising his physical size and strength: “Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water…” (Section 1)
Although physically Lennie’s may be bear-like, his personality is better compared to that of a loyal dog, with George as his master. He mostly obeys all of George’s commands, even when they go against his nature, such as when he defends himself against Curley: "You tol' me to, George." (Lennie, Section 3)

Lennie's Lack of Control

Lennie cannot control his physical strength. Steinbeck also reveals flashes of Lennie's hidden aggression. We can see that he doesn't have the same emotional capacity as others and can lash out.

Lack of control with animals

In Section 1 of the novel, Lennie accidentally kills the mouse he has been petting in his pocket. The subsequent conversation with George reveals he has a history of killing mice in this way: “Aunt Clara… she stopped givin' 'em to ya. You always killed 'em." (George, Section 1).
Lennie kills the puppy that Slim gives him by playing too roughly with it: “I didn't bounce you hard.” (Lennie, Section 5).

Lack of control with Curley

When told by George to defend himself against Curley’s attack, Lennie uses excessive force and seriously damages Curley’s hand: "We got to get him in to a doctor … Looks to me like ever' bone in his han' is bust.” (Carlson, Section 3).

Lack of control with Curley's wife

In the most serious incident of the novel, Lennie breaks Curley’s wife’s neck while trying to make her stop screaming: “He shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” (Section 5).

Hidden aggression?

Although Steinbeck presents Lennie as a generally a good-natured character, there are a few times in the novel where we see flashes of aggression in Lennie’s behaviour, mainly when the things he loves most are threatened:
- For example, Lennie shows aggression towards Crooks when he suggests that George has abandoned him, causing Crooks to back off: “Suddenly Lennie's eyes centered and grew quiet, and mad. He stood up and walked dangerously toward Crooks.” (Section 4).

Lennie's awareness

Lennie is aware of good and bad, in the sense that he knows what will make George happy and what will make him sad, but he never realises until it is too late.