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The American dream according to John Steinbeck
The American dream according to John Steinbeck
Relationship between lennie and george essay
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Of Mice and Men Author Julian Steinbeck creates some of the most dynamic characters in literature in his novel Of Mice and Men. George and Lennie are examples of strength and weakness. They hoped that one day they would be able to achieve their “American dream.” They wanted to have their own farm raising their own animals and crops. George is short, but a smart fellow. He travels to a ranch with a tall guy named Lennie who happens to be mentally challenged. In the end, each are pushed beyond the limits of what human beings should endure. George kills his companion and best friend yet he is innocent because he did it to protect Lennie, they were best friends, and the other men would’ve done worse stuff if George didn’t shoot Lennie himself. …show more content…
George is innocent in the death of Lennie because he did it out of mercy and to protect him.
In the novel, a short guy named Curley gets his hand crushed by trying to mess with Lennie. Curley always thought of himself as the tough man on the ranch, so when George and Lennie arrived Curley immediately disliked Lennie. Curley’s wife tells George, “Curley gon’ta wanta get ’im lynched. Curley’ll get ’im killed.”(Steinbeck 94) Getting beat by Lennie made Curley furious. Another man on the ranch named Carlson, wasn’t a very big fan of Lennie either. Carlson was cold hearted and paid no care to anyone. Carlson stated, “An’ s’pose they lock him up and strap him down and put him in a cage.”(Steinbeck 97) Carlson could not have cared less about what happened to
Lennie. In the novel Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie were best friends. They spent their lives together and worked together to achieve their “American Dream.” George is innocent in the death of Lennie because in the beginning of the novel he states, “I want you to stay with me Lennie.”(Steinbeck 35) George knew it was his responsibility to take care of Lennie and he did everything to keep Lennie happy. He actually did love Lennie even though he would be harsh to him. No matter how much George complained about him being forgetful, George liked traveling with a companion. George stated, “It’s a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know.”(Steinbeck 35) Traveling together gave them hope to achieve their dream and work hard for what they wanted. George killed Lennie because if he did not the other guys would’ve done much worse to him. Curley was so furious at Lennie for an incident with Curley’s wife. Curley shouted, “I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big son-of-a-b**** myself. I’ll shoot ’im in the guts.”(Steinbeck 96) Curley wanted Lennie to die a slow and painful death. Towards the end, George took Carlson’s gun. Carlson thought Lennie had taken it and orders Curley, “When you see ’um don’t give ’im no chance. Shoot for his guts. That’ll double ’im over.”(Steinbeck 97) At the end of the novel, George had to shoot Lennie before the other men got a chance to. In conclusion, George would be known as innocent in the death of Lennie because he did everything to protect him, they were best friends, and the men at the ranch would have done worse stuff if George didn't shoot Lennie himself. Unfortunately they did not get to achieve their “American Dream” that they’ve been hoping for because George had pulled the trigger, though he did it out of mercy and love.
In chapter one, George and Lennie are introduced onto the scene and you get to know them a little bit and you get to see how they are related/ their relationship. When I read this first part, I could tell that George was pretty much Lennie’s caretaker and it was his job to find Lennie a job and make sure he ate enough and stayed a live. He kind of resented having to drag Lennie around (pg 11~12: “Well we ain’t got any!” George exploded. “Whatever we ain’t got, you want. If I was alone I could live so easy… But wadda I got? I got you. You can’t keep a job and you loose me every job I get.”), because Lennie’s a bit slow and he messes up a lot. He tries really hard to be good and listen to what George tells him to do, but in the end of every situation, Lennie forgets what George told him beforehand and sometimes it creates a little trouble (pg 45~46: “Well, he seen this girl in this red dress. Dumb like he is, he likes to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do. Well, this girl just squawks and squawks. I was jus’ a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on. I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go. He was so scairt he couldn’t let go of the dress. And he’s so strong, you know… Well, that girl rabbits in an’ tells the law she’s been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in an irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day.”). But when you look at them, you can tell that George is...
John Steinbeck wrote a story about two men that only had each to depend on. Many of George and Lennie's struggles come from things they cannot control such as Lennie's mental issues. George and Lennie are very poor and they work on farms together, but they have to move a lot because Lennie always does something stupid. The greatest tragedy in Mice and Men was when Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife. She was the reason why Lennie ended up being killed. She knew of to manipulate others to get her way and that is what she relies on most of the time.
How does John Steinbeck use the character George to illustrate aspects of 1930s American society?
A coon dog and a tick, an oak tree with moss on the north side, a termite and its internal bacteria, and a shark with tiny fish that eat the extra meat chunks in between the teeth all have one thing in common: symbiosis. Defined as the interdependence of organisms, symbiosis is the basis of the relationship between George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. One type of symbiosis helps both parties while another type involves one organism being hurt by the exchange. The dog is hurt by the tick while the termites and the bacteria benefit from each other’s presence. These types of symbiosis can occur in humans and are evident in “Of Mice and Men.” Both types of symbiosis exist between George and Lennie in the novel.
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.
Even from the very start of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the uniqueness of George, as a character, is already noticeable. He is described as “small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features” and has an obvious dominance over the relationship between Lennie and himself. This lets the reader know from a very early stage in the book that George is different, and probably the essential character. George’s character seems to be used by Steinbeck to reflect the major themes of the novel: loneliness, prejudice, the importance of companionship, the danger of devoted companionships, and the harshness of Californian ranch life.
“Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck is a novel about the hardships of life and the importance of having other people around. The story is of two men trying to survive with one another in a world full of loneliness; their relationship is quite rare and strange. Lennie, a large bear, has a mental disability which causes him to be in a childlike state. George, a much smaller and more competent man takes care of both of them. Although they work for others on ranches, their dream is to get by on their own and live off the land. However, Lennie’s state causes conflict as they travel from job to job. Steinbeck uses clever ways in his novel to develop his theme and characters as the story progresses; both of these elements also help create a large
Walter Winchell, an American newspaper and radio commentator, was once quoted saying, “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” George and Lennie from the novel, Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, embody Walter Winchell’s definition of a real friend by always walking in for each other when it seems like everyone else walks out. The relationship of these two friends is one that is better than the relationship that Romeo and Juliet have in the novel, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Of Mice and Men is a novel about two traveling workers, George and Lennie, during the Great Depression who arrive and begin working on a farm in California. The unlikely bond between George, a small but intelligent
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel about two men named George and Lennie. They are determined to fulfill their lifelong dream of owning a farm. This novel follows the two men as they move from farm to farm looking for work to earn enough money to make ends meet. Of Mice and Men takes place in Salinas, California during the Great Depression in The United States. At the end of the novel George faces a moral dilemma and must make a choice whether to kill or keep his friend Lennie alive. George makes the gruesome decision to shoot his best friend in the back of the head. He justified his actions as a mercy killing for Lennie, but there is no such thing. George should not have killed his friend. Several more courses of action could have
Walter Winchell once said, “Never above you. Never below you. Always beside you.” Relationships should be based on people who are equals to each other. People in a relationship shouldn’t have more power over another person. George and Lennie in the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck don’t follow the equality principle while Romeo and Juliet in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare did. In the beginning of the Of Mice and Men novella, George and Lennie are on a trip to a ranch to get work. Lennie is a big guy who has a mental disability, while George is a small guy who is the boss of the relationship. They are working to get money for their dream home. During their time at the ranch, Lennie gets into a fight with Curley. Lennie
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck creates the character George, who is a very hard working and responsible. George is a laborer that goes all over the state looking for jobs during the great depression (Attel). George is a very responsible person because he has to take care of Lennie because of Lennie’s mental condition. Lennie travels all around with George to get a job because they have a dream to own their own farm with a bunch of animals. George has to take care of Lennie and has to try to keep him out of trouble (Sparknote Editors).
To have a strong relationship means to do anything for the one you love, even when the circumstances are not ideal. Loving somebody often comes with challenges, which is clearly presented in Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. This author tells the story of George and Lennie, two men who have grown a brother-like bond throughout their time together. They stick together in a time where everyone else is alone and go along finding work so that someday they can achieve their dream together. The presence of a strong relationship is also found through another well known couple by the names of Romeo and Juliet, in a popular novel written by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet are a dynamic duo on opposite sides of a seemingly never-ending
When one looks at the character Lennie, we begin to see that Steinbeck compares him to several animals. Lennie is compared to a horse and a dog as well as his hands being called “big paws”(3 and 9). Lennie also seems to have a lot of characteristics related to animal instinct.
A healthy relationship between two people requires both parties contributing toward a common goal. Effort and contribution by both individuals is necessary to maintain a mutual relationship. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, the two main characters, George and Lennie, have a type of father-son relationship even though they are not blood related. Lennie has a mental illness, which makes it harder for him to put effort into the relationship. George (the father figure) has to take care of himself, the relationship, and Lennie, which proves to be hard to manage. The relationship between these two, although unbalanced, is mutual, in that they both get something out of it even though it is not equally balanced.
What does a good relationship look like? Is it rushed or does it develop over time? Is it making the decisions based on what is best for both parties, or just best for oneself? All of these questions are answered correctly by George and Lennie’s relationship in the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. In this story, it is clearly illustrated that George and Lennie’s relationship is stronger than Romeo and Juliet’s relationship from the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. In the book Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are best friends that stick together while going out and working. The pair look out for each other. George is the smarter of the two and has to do a little more looking out for Lennie, than Lennie has to do for George.