Lenny and Gene

Killing your best friend keeps their innocence safe

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck is surrounded by many themes, including innocence. Lennie is George’s friend, a ranch hand, and also a murder. He is portrayed as an innocent childlike man. He is of best friends with everyone, especially George, a nice man, but it changed when he saw the difference between reality, and in his “utopia”. Lennie was peaceful in the beginning, thinking about having his own farm, but it gets ruined by his “innocents”.

Lennie is considered for a kid at times because of his lack of being in touch with reality. He only cares about his farm, rabbits, and everything George tells him. In the beginning all Lennie could think about was the farm and tending all the rabbits while working peacefully by George’s side, through weed, until he got to Curley’s farm. At Curley’s farm, everything changed for Lennie, including his childlike innocence.

Lennie always follows, and does what George asks him to do, and if he does do something wrong, all he asks is “I still can tend the rabbits, George? I didn’t mean no harm George” (Steinbeck 64). Lennie does not think about any other consequences that could happen to him besides George not letting him tend the rabbits, because Lennie is only focused on the rabbits and does not know about jail, prison or the mentally ill homes.

Near the middle of Of Mice and Men, George tells Lennie to stay away from Curley and Curley’s wife. Lennie gets defensive because George had never told him to stay away from anyone before, so Lennie said “I don’t like this place George. This ain’t no good place. I wanna get out of here” (Steinbeck 33). Lennie realizes that George told him to stay away from 2 people, he senses that they must be bad, and wants to leave and “go back to his innocence” but is caught and he started to change. While Lennie changes, he slightly becomes aware of good and bad.

After George’s talk to Lennie about Curley and his wife, Lennie goes back...