Lennie is not the smartest guy you can think of, actually he is quite stupid for his age.
He works at ranches, or atleast the work he can find - and travels around with his friend George. Lennie does not always have control over his actions, and gets often in trouble for them.
But does he really mean any harm by them?
We are in the 1930's, and Lennie travels around with his friend George. Lennie often forgets what people tell him, and is not that bright. The thing people see as a threat in Lennie, is his size. He is a really big, strong, and good-hearted man. George describes him with the following sentence: "He ain't bright, but he's a hell of a good worken. As strong as a bull." to their new boss. That's actually correct. People think that if they insult Lennie, he will beat them up, but Lennie has a big heart and does not want to end up in a situation lke that. What keeps Lennie working on this ranch, is his dream. George told him, every night before they went to sleep, about the big house, the farm, animals, and all the money they were going to earn - all through having a little bit of patience. Lennie was overexcited about all of this, and it really shows the happy character he is in the book. Even though Lennie is the big-hearted guy, he is very unlucky about several things. As the friendy guy he is, he loves tending pets, and he always wanted a puppy. George finds one for him, and if Lennie promises him that he will take good care of it, he can get the rabbits he always wanted. Here is were Lennie makes a mistake, and can not do anything about it. Lennie kills the little puppy, and is quite afraid of George's reaction. Of course he never ment to, the fact is that he was a bit too strong, and the petting got a little bit out of hand.
Lennie's dream is similar to the Amercian Dream, wich was a large topic at the time. Although Lennie wante to fullfill his dream, he was not able to make it, because of the little problem he had, acting like a little child. I think he deserved to fullfill his dream, he was nothing but good at heart.
I guess life is unfair if you are a little bit different than the others around you. He was a dreamer, just like anybody else at the time.
Sources: The book (Of mice and men) and the papers you handed out :)
