Friends Make Life Tolerable
“In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” (Albert Schweitzer) The novel, Of Mice and Men, portrays the lives of the main characters, George and Lennie, as they make their way from one city to another in search of jobs and the obstacles they face. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck reveals that to get through life, one needs friendship and companionship. He explains this through dialogue, conflict, and characterization.
Friendship and companionship in the novel Of Mice and Men can be shown through dialogue. As both George and Lennie run away from an accident back in Weed that Lennie was at fault for, George backed him up even though he knew it was Lennie’s fault. Seeing that the men spent every moment together, they became good friends. No matter how many mistakes Lennie made or how many times their lives were put into danger because of Lennie, George has always stuck by Lennie’s side. George and Slim have a conversation, “‘You guys travel around together?’” asked Slim
“‘Sure, we kinda look after each other’” replied George. (Steinbeck 34). This quote shows that George is not afraid to say he and Lennie travel together and is not embarrassed to be with him. Another example of friendship shown in the novel would have to be when George and Lennie talk to the boss and George says to Lennie, “‘Let me do all the talking’” (Steinbeck 23). George helps Lennie out because he knows that Lennie is not good with his words. George has always wanted the best for Lennie and he knew that Lennie would either be tortured in the end or get killed anyways. ...
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...er you, and that’s why’” (Steinbeck 14). This quote explains the relationship between both George and Lennie. They both look after each other like big brother, little brother.
In the end, dialogue, conflict, and characterization portrayed throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men, illustrates that it is important to have friendship and/or companionship to get through life. George and Lennie’s friendship grows stronger as the novel goes on. Every event taking place in Of Mice and Men brings the men even closer. Conflict exposes how people act when they do not have that person to call a friend. As a result of friendship, George shoots Lennie out of care and respect. George takes Lennie’s life into his own hands and decides to put him out of his misery. “Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest... It's about who came, and never left your side...” (Unknown)
Steinbeck starts his book off with the aura of brotherhood between George and Lennie. George is always watching out for Lennie because he is unable to look out for himself, “because I got you to look after me, and you got
“There is no greater loan than a sympathetic ear (Frank Tyger).” It’s always very important to have someone to confide in and vent to otherwise life just feels empty. You feel lonely without anyone. That’s what the characters in Of Mice and Men experienced. Loneliness. This book demonstrates what they viewed a friendship as. Most of them don’t even know what it’s like to have a friend. In this book Lennie, George, and Carlson deserve the most sympathy because each one of them has gone through some tough phases from being treated like crap to not having anyone who understands them and who sympathizes why the things they've been through reflect who they are as a person.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
George’s struggles with himself become apparent at the beginning of the novel. Steinbeck clearly lets the reader know that George has conflicting feelings about Lennie. He believed, “ ...if he was alone he could live so easy. He could go get a job an ' work, an ' no trouble” (11). George is basically telling Lennie that sometimes, he wishes he could live
In Of Mice and Men, friendship is dangerous: every time any character gets close to any other, something goes wrong. George Milton and Lennie Small are the two main characters in the novel, who are California farm workers, traveling from ranch to ranch to find work. But what makes them unique is that they travel together. Unlike the rest of the workers, George and Lennie are not alone; they have each other. Lennie and George, who come closest to achieving this ideal of brotherhood, are forced to separate tragically.With this, a rare friendship vanishes, but the rest of the world represented by Curley and Carlson, who watch George stumble away with grief from his friend’s dead body fails to acknowledge or appreciate it. All of the
‘If you don’t want me, you just’ got to say so, and I’ll go off in those hills right there.’” (Stenbeck, 1). This shows true friendship, because the reader can pick out how they are both being virtuous towards each other. Lennie is upset, and wants to leave, so George wants to show how much he cares to keep him around since he enjoys him. They truly care, and do not expect anything from each other, just the care within the bond they have.
“The great thing about friends is that they bring a new energy to the soul” (Shanna Rodriguez). In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George, one of the main characters, deals with the consequences of his friend Lennie’s frequent misunderstandings. In the end of the novel Lennie makes a mistake that ends up taking his friendship and life. Of Mice and Men has many examples of both positive and negative relationships. The most positive relationship occurs between Lennie and George. George had told Lennie how he had felt about the situation the occurred in Weed. Once George had told him how he felt, Lennie suddenly became miserable and George had to react quickly, “‘ I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me’”(p13).
For example, Lennie confidently encourages George that their support of each other will lead to the success of their American dream. In the novella Lennie states, “...’because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you’…” (Steinbeck 14). The quote means that Lennie and George have each other to rely on and support throughout their journey. This proves that friendship affects Lennie because despite his size and strength, Lennie needs George to make sure he does not get in trouble for doing something harmful that he did not mean to. Another example of how friendship affects Lennie is when he tells George he could leave him alone so he would not be bothered anymore. “‘I could go off in the hills there. Someplace I’d find a cave’” (Steinbeck 12). Then, George asks Lennie, “‘How'd you eat? You ain’t got sense enough to find nothing to eat’” (Steinbeck 12). In the quote, George says if Lennie went off on his own, he would not be able to survive. This proves that Lennie is not capable of doing anything by himself in order to survive which is why he relies on his friendship with George to protect him. By depending on George for responsibility, Lennie is affected by friendship because George is always there to get him out of
True friendship has a different meaning to everyone. A true friend is someone who protects you, is there for you, and helps you through the tough times. In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are two grown men that travel together and because of all the traveling they are best friends. Lennie is a big guy that is mentally challenged, and George is a much smaller guy who travels with Lennie to help him out in life. After many times of running away because Lennie has gotten into trouble, George and Lennie reach their final destination at a ranch in Soledad, California to begin working.
In the story Of Mice and Men some of the characters in this novella share friendship and some don’t throughout the story. The big question is how do all the characters look at friendship in this novella ? Well there are many perspectives of friendship in this story. In Chapter three, Slim said something along lines of: “Why does it seem like everyone is afraid to travel together”, (Steinbeck 20). Slim was referring to this as a question to George because George traveled with his best friend, Lennie.
George and Lennie take care of each other through out the story. In the story it says, “Because… because I got you to look after me and you have me to look after you, and that’s why” (Steinbeck14). This quote means that as long as George and Lennie are together, they take care of each other no matter what happens to them. This goes with the topic because they take care of
(Steinbeck 7). Lennie doesn’t understand that you cannot go up to a girl and start touching her. She is going to feel violated. George was there of course to save Lennie and himself from being jailed or anything some similar to that. George got Lennie out of this tough situation and that is something true friends do.
"Were born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that were not alone” Orson Welles. In this novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck focuses on the loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930’s. One of the most important things in the life is to have a friend, without friends people will suffer from loneliness like in this novel, not everyone in the novel has the same connection and special friendship like George and Lennie’s. Of Mice and Men is the story about lonely men who travel from ranch to ranch not really communicating with other ranch hands. Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all were lonely and dealt with their loneliness in different ways.
The characterization of George and Lennie’s friendship shows the importance of having a friend to be staunch for you. Here, when George and Lennie argue, they resolve to do whats best for eachother. “I was only foolin’, George. I don’t want no ketchup. I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me.” Lennie later adds: “I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it.”(Steinbeck 12) Lennie, although mentally disabled, still does what he can for George and only wants him to be happy because he knows how much George does for him. He can’t help himself, but when it comes to George he’ll do anything for him, because George gives him hope. Lennie gives George the ambition to succeed because George knows he has to succeed to support both of them. Lennie is later told by Crooks what it’s like to be lonely: “A guy needs somebody―to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick.” (Steinbeck 72) Without a friend, Crooks doesn’t have the brightest light for a great future because he has nobody to depend on like Lennie and Georg...
Even though the book has its rough spots, Steinbeck portrays the true bond of friendship that even people as close as siblings have. Throughout the story, George and Lennie stand up for each other, understand one another, and George always knows what is best for Lennie. George did not want to kill Lennie, but at the same time, he did not want him to have to suffer the horrible consequences; he knew that Lennie’s death would be beneficial to Lennie in the future. Furthermore, George knew what was best for Lennie and decided to kill him for his own good.