Lennie Small

Lennie Small is the deuteragonist of John Steinbeck's renowned 1937 novel Of Mice and Men, as well as its 1992 film adaptation.
In the film, he is portrayed by John Malkovich.
==Appearance and Personality==
Unlike the more intelligent George, Lennie has limited intelligence likely stemming from mild mental retardation or having a low natural intelligence, and as such, he relies on George and needs him to help him get through day to day life. Like all people, he likes to stroke soft things (Especially velvet and various kinds of animal fur), but his strength and limited intelligence gets the better of him and he often accidentally kills things due to underestimating his own strength.
==Novel==
George and Lennie are dropped 30 miles from a ranch which they have to get jobs on, having been run out of another town after Lennie's love of stroking soft things led him to stroke a random woman's dress, which caused her to assume Lennie was trying to rape her and scream for help. They decide to sleep over and go to work in the morning as it is getting close to night time. The next day George and Lennie get their job and meets Candy and Curley as well as Curley's wife and unlike George who hates her Lennie finds her "purty" however George tells him not to even look at her. Later on Lennie becomes involved in a fight when Curley (A short man who has a bit of a Napoleon complex and hates large men like Lennie due to jealousy) viciously attacks him, but he defeats Curley by crushing his hand.
That night Lennie tells another ranch worker Crooks about his dream but Crooks tells him to forget it. It will never happen but after hearing that Candy is in on the plan Crooks wonders whether it's possible. Curley's wife hears them discussing their dream and mocks them.
Earlier, Slim had given Lennie a puppy, but he ends up accidentally killing first it and then Curley's wife, due again to his tendency to underestimate his own strength. After her death, Lennie runs off and hides. Remembering George's advice, Lennie hides in some bushes until George comes. George is the only one who can calm Lennie down and reminisce about their dream then Lennie is saved from the mob after George shoots him in the back of the head and kills him. George does this as an act of mercy, because otherwise, Lennie would have either been tortured and killed by a vengeful Curley, or put in an insane asylum and chained up like an animal.
==Trivia==
*He was the inspiration behind the name of Leni Loud from The Loud House. Fittingly, Leni Loud is just as unintelligent as Lennie too.
*The film adaptation makes a small change to his character: In the book's portrayal of the scene where Lennie unintentionally kills the puppy, it shows Lennie experiencing regret for what he has done. In contrast, the film depicts him as angry and confused.
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