Feedback Form
Quality
Research
Material!

Of Mice and Men

Innocence: Can it survive as you mature? John Steinbeck effectively relates this driving question to his novel, Of Mice and Men. Several passages in the story explain and relate to the answer. Lennie and George, the main characters, possess innocence and answer this question in several different ways.

By definition, innocence is free from guilt or sin through lack of knowledge. Lennie demonstrates the definition when he and his colleague George rest from their journey to the ranch for new work. Fire blazing, George cooks some canned beans for dinner. Lennie suggests, “I like’em with ketchup.” (Steinbeck, 10) Innocently, Lennie is more concerned about the taste of his beans instead of his journey

. . .

Innocence also means harmless in effect or attention. Lennie had murdered the flirtatious wife of Curley a rambunctious co-worker who is jealous of Lennie's size and strength. Therefore George acts like Lennie’s brain, and Lennie does what ever he is told. George then shoots him in the back of the head because Lennie had no understanding of the make-believe ideas of his American dream and what would happen to him if George had not of killed him but left to Curley to torture Lennie.

A third definition of innocence states the lacking of something. Lennie’s friend, George, complements Lennie's qualities. Oppositely, George matured from his innocence from the drowning incident and he has and will survive. “Right in the back of the head” (Steinbeck 107)

Lennie was destined to die because innocence survived with him as he matured. Lennie was allowed to play with her hair, pulled to hard and killed her by snapping her neck. Lennie is mentally challenged and therefore only thinks like an innocent child, despite his massive and powerful physic. An example of this definition is Lennie’s lack of understanding. Unfortunately, George took advantage of this control and almost drowns Lennie.

Approximate Word count = 475
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.

CREDIT CARD
ONLINE CHECK
JOIN BY PHONE
Members get exclusive access to over 100,000 essays.
Don't pay per page, get instant access to the whole database.

Essay's Topics

All research is for reference purposes only.

Copyright (c) 2001-2008 Mega Essays LLC, All rights reserved. DMCA