Of Mice and Men Essay Every wolf needs a pack. A pack they hunt with, eat with and travel with. A pack that protects them and cares for them like a friend. Most men in the 1930s did not have a pack. They would bounce from ranch to ranch stalking their work and money their meal. Many lone wolves would go alone with no one else to talk to or rely on, but not George. He has a pack, a friend he can count on to protect him and care for him. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck conveys how even the lone wolf benefits from the companionship of his pack. George and Lennie begin as two guys who just travel together. Being young men, they didn’t think much of it. After Lennie’s aunt passed away, he joined George as they traveled from ranch to …show more content…
ranch seeking work. George said they, “Got kinda used to each other after a while.”(40).
The word “kinda” shows George’s laid-back, casual tone that portrays how their duo isn’t a big deal and the way he says “used to each other” ads how they didn’t hand pick one another; each guy adapted to the other’s personality. Their traveling together gave them someone to talk to, look after and cheer up when they are feeling sad like Lennie did for George. When George needs a pick-me-up, Lennie reminds him of their odd brotherhood. When he says, “If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us,”(14), he compares the average man to their brotherhood in a playful way. The word “rot” ads a negative emphasis to the quotation instead of just saying they will end up in jail. The way “but not us” is quick and short at the end allows for contrast to the previous sentence that was quite harsh while those three words close off the thought on a positive note. George and Lennie feed off of each other's energy throughout the novel like when Lennie broke out into a sing-song rhyme, expressing his playful personality. Lennie says, “I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you,”(14). HIs tone is quite whimsical and childish showing his lack of knowledge …show more content…
but with good intentions. His vocabulary isn’t broad either; repeating the words “got” “me” and “you” supporting the previous point. From the quote on page 40, it shows how George and Lennie: his pack, did not think much of each other, or at least they didn’t want others to think so. Then there is a change in the quotes on page 14 where they become brothers; a pack and feel obligated to protect the other member. Throughout the book, George protects his pack and the unique way he travels, especially when confronted by new people they encounter at the ranch. When George and Lennie arrived at the ranch, they were questioned and criticized for traveling together and was noted pretty suspicious by primarily Curley and Slim.
Curley was astonished to find out that George wasn’t taking advantage of Lennie because his original assumption was quite the opposite. “Well I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy.”(22). When he says “trouble” that leaves a negative connotation implying that trouble is the only outcome of having a pack. Being the boss’s son, Curley doesn’t want anyone fishy waltzing into the ranch and traveling in a pack is definitely uncommon. After settling in the bunkhouse, George has a chat with Slim, another influential man on the ranch and had a reaction similar to Curley’s but not as blunt and aggressive. “Ain’t many guys travel together..Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other,”(35), is what Slim stated and the way he perceived men as being “scared of each other” almost seemed comedic yet a unique perspective. This also shows his wisdom and experience; how he knows what he is talking about, but is still questioning the world when he says in between,“I don’t know why,” referring to why men don’t travel together. Slim is one of the top ranchers, a skinner, so he doesn’t move from ranches to cat houses; blowing all of his earnings. His employment is more permanent, so he doesn’t know what traveling as a lone wolf is like, or at least not for a long time, but foreshadows that in
his past he was a lone wolf at some point and now has a pack, the ranch. Some might argue that traveling with someone can backfire, like when Lennie got in trouble in Weed for grasping the red dress of a lady. Not only did Lennie have to escape the backlash, George had to protect his pack by leaving his job in Weed to look after him. A similar scenario went down at the ranch. Lennie was stroking a girl’s soft ringlet curls and he held tight to those too, although this time his uncontrollable strength shook and suffocated her to death. Since George travels with Lennie, he suffers some of the consequences of his pack by association. Just like how Lennie got in trouble in Weed, someone would automatically think that George was in on the whole thing. Although he may be affected by the mistakes of his pack, traveling with others kept George sane, safe from danger, and made the dull life of a man bouncing from town to town a whole lot more enjoyable. George thinks, “It’s a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know.”(35). The companionship of a pack gave him someone to talk to,rely on, protect him and overall boost his spirits and actions. Without a pack, a lone wolf is vulnerable to danger and it is in human nature to use contact with friends and socializing in general to maintain sanity. This makes it unhealthy to live isolated from a society or pack. Overall, John Steinbeck portrays companionship in a way that compares George's relationship with his pack and other lone wolves to the average working man, symbolizing how the independent lone wolf ultimately needs a pack to survive.
George chooses to stick with Lennie, despite his mental disabilities. They are loyal to each other, even though they are different: “Even in the open one stayed behind the other” (2). Their desire to spend time together in fellowship indicates the theme of true friendship. Later on in the novella, George and Lennie are introduced to Slim, the jerkline skinner on the ranch. Because his job requires him to move around, Slim, like most migrant farmers, is lonely. He observes George and Lennie’s unusual friendship and questions it saying, “You guys travel around together?” (34). George and Lennie’s loyalty to each other protects them from the loneliness of their work, revealing one important benefit of true friendship. Near the end of the novella, Lennie is in the barn with
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...
is in the air. Animals begin to scatter. Two men have arrived on the scene,
"I ain't got no people. I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time... 'Course Lennie's a God damn nuisance most of the time, but you get used to goin' around with a guy an' you can't get rid of him" (45). George proclaims his view on loneliness to give a reason for his connection with Lennie. This connection George has with Lennie makes the two of them unique to the rest of the characters. Many of the men on the ranch have a dream, but only Lennie and George have a chance of obtaining it. Essentially, John Steinbeck wants to show that although George and Lennie have the advantage of being a team, they will never accomplish it because all human beings are in essence, alone. Thus, George's constant playing of the game of solitaire foreshadows his eventual decision to become a solitary man.
Of Mice and Men - George and Lennie seem to have a very close friendship throughout the story. Of Mice and Men George and Lennie seem to have a very close friendship throughout the story. This is strange because they are completely different from each other mentally, as well as physically. The author tells us that George is a small, quick and defined man. He is the leader of the two men and makes all the plans.
As the story continues on and the pair arrive at their job, the character chart begins to branch as we are introduced to Slim, another worker on the farm. After learning of the two’s past together, he openly expresses, “Ain’t many guys travel around together... I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other” (Steinbeck 35). There is a unique value to George and Lennie’s relationship which the world lacks. Rather than combining their might, people would rather watch their own back with one set of eyes than having a second set to keep watch. There is mistrust between people and the idea of backstabbing and swindling is very present due to the economic decline and the loss of wealth for all social classes. Due to Lennie’s mental decline, however and the fact that if it were not for George, Lennie would not be alive, there is a strong bond apparent. To be separated from one another would mean becoming the rest of the world, sad and lonely. Neither of the two would like to bring sorrow to one another or let each other go through
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.
George, like all other men, see women as exchangeable objects that satisfy certain needs with the exchange of money. Women were either seen as this type of stereotype or as nothing more than a stay home wife. This is shows how so call “men” can be seen as cowards because they think they have all the power in the world. “George said,’She’s gonna make a mess. They’s gonna be a bad mess about her. She’s a jail bait all set on the trigger. That Curley got his work cut out for him. Ranch with a bunch of guys on it wint no place for a girl, specially like her’” (Steinbeck 93). George is setting an example of how women are seen as weak and have no mean to be in a man's work place. Curley’s wife soon becomes like an animal in Lennie’s hands, for women were considered as
Lennie and George are best friends but they don't have any ordinary relationship. In their relationship George is like the boss while Lennie is the subordinate. George is very bossy towards Lennie. He is always telling Lennie what to do. Lennie doesn't ever really have a say on what they do. Like when they reach the ranch, George tells Lennie not to speak to anyone at the ranch because he is scared that Lennie might say something wrong, but George only does that because he is very worried and protective of
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
... and feels uncertain of his future in the ranch. For Crooks, it was being segregated from the rest of the workers that made him lonely. And for Curley’s wife, it was the inability to talk to anyone else other than her husband. For George, the hope of such companionship dies with Lennie, and true to his original estimation, he will go through life alone.
The writer has builds a strong relationship between George and Lennie. Their relationship is based on a dream that bonds them together and gives them something to look forward to. Throughout the story this dream is mentioned repeatedly which emphasizes their relationship.
They are an extraordinary team, with Lennie being of monstrous size with a simple mind, and George being a smart and typical worker. Many times throughout the novel, Lennie threatens to go live in a cave to leave George alone so he won't have to take care of him anymore. However, George always explains to Lennie that he wants him by his side at all times because he knows they need each other: "No! I was just foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me. .
In the great work, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck makes clear that George is faced with many struggles. Steinbeck writes of a character that has many internal and external conflicts. Yet, through those conflicts, the reader learns the purpose of the novel; what the true meaning of friendship
The connection between George and Lennie illustrates the adversity during their course towards achieving the American dream. Things Lennie did, either on accident or purpose, foreshadowed what was going to happen in the book and the way people acted impacted this. Like millions of other people, George and Lennie were affected during the great depression heavily, and dreamt of owning land of their own. They worked from place to place making barely any money, and didn’t have a real home. To add to this, Lennie got in trouble a lot and in the end George had to make the crucial decision to shoot Lennie so he wouldn’t have to deal with any more difficulty. George knew he had to do what was best for Lennie and himself.