Saturday, October 5, 2013

Who is the most tragic character in Of Mice and Men and why?

If by "tragic" you mean the classical definition of the tragic hero, then the problem with Lennie is that he lacks the qualities of a tragic hero, the most important of which would be an awareness of his own condition.


I'm not sure you can apply classical definitions to Of Mice and Men in any sensible way.


If by "tragic" you mean a more colloquial use, the way hear it used by newscasters talking about a "tragic" car crash or a "tragic" fire that destroyed a historic landmark, then I agree that Lennie probably would be the most "tragic" since he has so little, and doesn't even really understand why he loses that.


For me, though, the really tragic figure is George, who has a clear awareness of Lennie's limitations, and who just as clearly loves him as we so often love those close to us who just can't quite cope.  George has to shoot Lennie not out of anger, or even despair, but in order to protect Lennie from worse than being shot by his best friend.  George is the one who loses the most in this novel, in my opinion.

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