Strengths and Weaknesses(grade this one)

Marcel Northcutt 4/30/08

Of Mice and Men: Strengths and Weaknesses

I believe all the characters in this book had strengths and weaknesses. By reading the book you see there is something always holding the characters back from doing something. They wanted to do the right things but they didn’t know how to. These characters would constantly make mistakes. This is how you notice their handicap.

For example, Lennie was a migrant worker who was mentally ill but his upside was that he was very large, and very strong. Then there was his companion George Milton. He was a migrant worker as well. He may have been small in size but he definelty did . Slim, another character that lived on the farm, was the most respected because nobody would come up to him and disrespect him to his face. It might be because he had an anger problem and he could fight. He became a ally to George and Lennie because he understands the situation.

Therefore, you see the good in these people but they just don’t know how to express themselves in the right way. Some of these characters are really crazy. For example, this character named Candy. He lost his hand in a ranch accident and was kept on the pay roll. He’s afraid he will be fired from the job because of his handicap that has been cast upon him. The book shows racial problems as well as handicaps. For example, the character named Crooks. Crooks is a African American who is isolated from the other field hands because of his skin color.

Lastly, this book shows insensitive people like Carlson. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Then there is the troubled marriage couple, Curley and his wife. Curley was a son of a ranch owner who is small, mean, and angry person who pick fights with people that he thinks he can beat. He is extremely jealous of any men who look at his wife. His wife however, thrives on attention. She goes around provoking the field hands into talking to her. She wished in her earlier years to become a big actor or model.

As you can see, most of these characters have many unfounded talents but they haven’t discovered them yet. If they could unlock their abilities, they could do almost anything. But they use the disabilities to take advantage of each other. Take a second to look at your life and think about the strengths and weaknesses that surround you.