The first topic this novel explains is the importance of companionship in one’s life. Companionship, and also lack of, is a consistent theme throughout the novel regarding George and Lennie’s friendship, and also the ranchmen's lack of companionship. From the beginning of the novel it is easy to realize that George and Lennie have a very special friendship. It is not just a friend or bestfriend, but rather a big brother to a little brother or even a dog to its master. George and Lennie spend their lives roaming from ranch to ranch in search of work, which many men did during the times of the Great Depression which is the era the novel takes place. Except many ranchmen often travelled alone, but not George and Lennie thanks to their unlikely friendship. …show more content…
An’ why? Because...because I got you to look after me, and you’ve got me to look after you, and that’s why” (14). This is a common exchange between the two characters when describing a common “dream” the two have. The dream describes them living on their own ranch, living off of the land, and Lennie tending to the rabbits. George uses this exchange to remind Lennie that this “dream” will one day occur, and to keep him from messing up another ranch job. Another example regarding George and Lennie's friendship is when Lennie exclaims, “George wouldn’t do nothing like that. I been with George a long time. He’ll come back tonight-” (71). This shows Lennie’s undivided loyalty to George and his hope that he always comes back no matter what. This is much different compared to the other ranchmen’s lives. Other ranchmen often travelled alone, and often did not like or welcome the company of others around them. In particular, the ranchmen Crooks is described as, “A proud, aloof man” who “kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs”
Imagine being discriminated against because of your ethnicity; or being the only woman on a ranch, stuck in a loveless marriage, when all you really want is someone to talk to. What about having to kill that friend, and bury all chances of breaking free from the life of the average migrant worker? How would you feel? These scenarios in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men illustrate the need and desire for companionship in life. There's Crooks, the negro stable buck; Curley's wife, whose marriage to Curley hasn't exactly been lively; and George and Lennie, whose friendship is strong enough to get them to a better life and out of the negetive cycle that the average migrant worker became trapped in during the Great Depression.
The main cause of George and Lennie's lonesomeness and that of all the people at the ranch was a lack of a home. The only thing that kept the two men going was their friendship with each other and the hope to soon get a place of their own. In the novel George and Lennie mention what their dream place is going to be like: "Someday we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house, and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and ---" (Steinbeck 16). Throughout the book the reference to having a place of their own is stressed. It is a deeper dream for Lennie than George because he is always asking to talk about it. It is here where the friendship between both men is starting to develop as they share the same basic dream.
It is not, however, a one-sided friendship. George must be very close to Lennie because he goes to a lot of trouble to make sure that they both stay together. When Lennie got himself into trouble in Weed George didn't abandon him; they ran away to a different ranch together. I think George relies on Lennie for companionship because of the unfriendly and lonely environment they are in. he obviously cares about lennie because he says, "God, you're a lot of trouble.
Within the beginning of the story, the dynamic of George and Lennie’s relationship is introduced, one that is uncommon and presents a fatherly vibe. The readers are thrown into the novel at the height of the great depression, an economic catastrophe that shook the world. Within these dark time, an unlikely friendship is in full blossom and we are meet by Lennie and George setting up camp for the night by a riverbed. After the duo’s personalities are expressed, they begin to set up the idea of a commonly shared dream which exists according to Lennie “Because... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie is seen as a quite simple minded and extremely dim-witted character from just the first
The emotional symbiosis between George and Lennie helps each man. Lennie’s attachment to George is most strongly visible when Crooks suggests George is not coming back. Lennie is almost moved to hysterics and his fear does not quickly abate. George prefers to feign dislike for Lennie to Lennie’s face: “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail” (7). When pressed, George reveals his true feelings for Lennie. “I want you to stay with me Lennie” (13). They stay together because “It’s a lot easier to go around with a guy you know” (35). Both men need and value their strong emotional relationship.
When George and Lennie find a job on a nearby ranch , not to far from
Lennie thinks of George as his only friend, his guardian, someone who he can trust and depend on, someone who had accepted him for who he is despite his childlike tendencies. Every time he did something wrong, his only thoughts would be of George’s disapproval. “I did a real bad thing. I shouldn’t have done that. George’ll be mad at me.
True friends are difficult to find in life, especially as an adult. Lennie, a main character in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, was lucky enough to have George, despite all the odds he faced with mental illness. Lennie, having a tall, stocky frame, was intimidating to many people at first glance (Steinbeck 2). However, after they discovered his childlike nature, he quickly became an easy target for ridicule and violence. George sacrifices a normal life to protect Lennie and those he encounters. This relationship is crucial to their survival. The importance of friendship is a major theme found in the book. This is shown through the character’s strong bond between one another, how they face society in the 1930s, and how they influence each other’s actions.
...ie had a special bond and friendship that may not have been understood by most of the other men on the ranch. Lennie is a static character because from the beginning of the story, up until his death, his love and intentions remained pure. George, on the other hand, is a very dynamic character. George’s complex relationship with Lennie is the ultimate factor that changes him; despite loving Lennie like a brother throughout the story, he begins to accept that he had to kill Lennie in order to do the “right” thing. “If I was alone I could live so easy” (Steinbeck 90). This line expresses verbal irony, because no matter how much Lennie annoys George he would not be the same man without him. “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why” (Steinbeck 65). This line represents the true companionship that was present between George and Lennie.
Despite the frustration that Lennie causes, without him George would probably be a lot like the other men on the ranch; simply roaming the country-side of California looking for work, and although he often prides himself on being different, he sometimes complains, usually after Lennie has caused trouble, and wishes that he could be like a normal guy and not have to live with Lennie’s hindrance. An example of this is seen when George responds sharply to Lennie's constant request for ketchup. "If I was alone I could live so easy…no trouble…no mess at all.
Through George, Steinbeck establishes two themes of the story early: loneliness and male companionship. Later in the story, it is shown how all of the workers on the ranch besides Lennie and George travel alone. Because of this, all of the characters in the story exhibit some sort of loneliness throughout the story, and it becomes a recurring theme. All of the other workers on the ranch feel jealous of the relationship that Lennie and George have and also want that type of male companionship.
When Lennie says “‘An’ I got you. We got each other, that’s what, that gives a hoot in hell about us’” the reality that George
‘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.
“An’ why?... Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.” (Steinbeck 14), In the quote they both look out for each other because they care for each other. Throughout the novel Lennie and George have considered each other as the only family they’ve got because there relationship is is really close.
A quote from the story that correlates with this statement is “Guys like us, that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They belong no