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Essay on john steinbeck's life
Compare the characters of George and Lennie
Compare the characters of George and Lennie
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At times people may be with other people because of devotion, but also companionship. Similarly, in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the reader follows two principal characters, George Milton and Lennie Small. George is very sophisticated, while Lennie is very childish and at times capricious. Although George may get enraged at Lennie for his actions, the author illustrates that George will never abandon Lennie for anything in the world because George is accountable for Lennie and also because George needs a comrade along the way. In spite of popular belief, the author John Steinbeck illustrates throughout the novel that George will never leave Lennie because of obligation and the necessity of having someone along the …show more content…
way. At times Lennie may be malevolent, but it is not because he wants to, it is because he is childish and does not think about the consequences.
For instance, in the beginning of the story when George is talking to Lennie about what to do if he gets in trouble once they arrive at the ranch, Geroge states “Hide in the brush until I come for you" (Steinbeck 15). This quote written by Steinbeck depicts authority because George makes sure Lennie will be safe no matter how big the problem is. George wants to be certain that Lennie is in no way harmed, and that is when the reader realizes that George wants to guard Lennie. The author also tries to communicate to the reader that George has this parental instinct that makes him want to be protective of Lennie. In addition to this, when Lennie and George finished meeting Curley’s wife, George tells Lennie,“Well, you keep away from her, 'cause she's a rat trap if I ever saw one” (Steinbeck 32). This shows that George is responsible for Lennie because George perceives that Curley’s wife will generate them a lot of trouble. George can already foreshadow that if they do become friends with Curley’s wife it will end in a dire ending. George wants to protect Lennie from having any interactions with Curley’s wife. George …show more content…
also wants to preserve the jobs that they were able to get because it is very precious. This is because they may not be able to find a new job. The responsibility that George has for Lennie is like a compass. George tells him in the direction that Lennie is supposed to go. Lennie also depends on his “compass”, George to guide him through life because he is incompetent to do that by himself. Also in the eyes of Lennie, George is omniscient. In conclusion, the author reveals that at times people need to be responsible for other people even if they don’t. Along with George demonstrating responsibility, the author depicts the relationship that Lennie and George have is a friendship.
For example, in the novel when George is talking to Lennie about why they travel together, George states,"I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody shoot you for a coyote if you were by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn't like you running off by yourself, even if she is dead"(Steinbeck 13). This quote exemplifies that this is genuine friendship because George is saying that he would never leave Lennie for anything in the world. George also shows authentic friendship because he thinks of what might happen to Lennie if he was by himself and he thinks it’s terrible. In addition, George in a way compares himself to Aunt Clara because he says that she wouldn’t like him running around and neither does he. Another example is when George is questioned on why he travels with Lennie, he states,"It ain't so funny, him an' me goin' around' together,’ George said at last, ‘Him and me were both born in Auburn, I knew his Aunt Clara, She took him when he was a baby and raised him up, When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin', Got kinda used to each other after a little while’"(39-40).This quote also shows friendship because he defends himself and Lennie when they are questioned and in a way made fun of for traveling together. George is also saying that even though in the beginning he
might not have approved of Lennie, now he’s gotten so used to him, that he sees him as a best friend. George is also very fastidious toward Lennie. The friendship depicted in this story is like a Christmas ornament. It is seen to be very beautiful and is appreciated by many. This relates to George and Lennie because the other men in the ranch were so lonely that they in a way envied the friendship that they had. Even though it was a wonderful friendship it sadly ended in lament. Just like when an ornament falls. It cracks and it can never be the same again. One may be aghast in the beginning, but in the end, one is able to surpass this. The universal message that John Steinbeck displays with the story is that everyone should be appreciative of the things that people do for other people, especially if they are very close friends. This message also tells the reader to cherish the moments and memories created with other people.
Steinbeck believed that friendship was important. Lennie knows that George will always have his back, although Lennie cannot really protect George he feels like he can (Steinbeck 14). Even though George says, he does not want Lennie with him, he does not want to leave him by himself (Steinbeck 13). When Lennie and George first get to the ranch, the boss starts to ask them questions. George answers all of them even if they were asking Lennie. He knows that if Lennie talks, he might say what happened in Weed (Steinbeck 22). The boss, at the new farm, thinks that George only wants to take Lennie money. But George tells him that he only wants to take care of Lennie. The boss tells George that he had never seen two men traveling together like him and Lennie (22).
It is very apparent that each of the four characters in the two friendships feed off of each other. In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are very different, yet they need one other. George is a very independent, loyal, and caring person who takes care of Lennie because Lennie is unable to take care of himself. Although George makes it seem like he would be better off without Lennie, George makes it clear that without him he would be better off. This is evident because of this conversation h regularly had with Lennie” I could go get a job an’
I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl. " If George wanted to leave Lennie and change his lifestyle completely, he easily could. But he stays with Lennie throughout the whole book so they must have a special friendship.
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
Lennie’s fear that George will leave him and his reliance on him is what makes him powerless. When George and the other ranch fellows, on a ranch, go out to a bar; Lennie meets Crooks, an isolated man. Lennie tell Crooks how he and George are such great friends and their plans together; however Crooks brings up the fear if George, “don’t come back no more… What’ll you do then?" (Steinbeck 39-40) Lennie is worried by the thought since for the first time he realizes how great he depends on George, which intensifies his fears. At t...
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about the friendship between George Milton and Lennie Small, who travel together due to the fact that Lennie suffered a childlike mental illness and someone needed to take care of him. Lennie only listens to his friend George, no matter what George may say. This novel shows characteristics of their true friendship and George's compassion towards his companion. George shows acts of love and kindness out of sympathy for Lennie, yet he also seems to show an unconscious effort to make up for Lennie’s mental impairment.
These devices are incorporated into the journey of two companions working their way towards a dream. Steinbeck uses symbolism to complement his words to depict a higher meaning. As experienced readers will discover, the relationship between the intelligent, but small and weaker George Milton and the mentally handicapped, but large and stronger Lennie Small is symbolic. Even Lennie expresses this relationship “because I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you, and that's why” (14) .This suggests that they are not alone-they have each other. While George complains in the first chapter that he does not know why he keeps Lennie around, George argues "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail"(11), he later explains the importance of Lennie's friendship -:“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” (41). Although he is often irritated with Lennie, The reader can infer George stays with Lennie out of his promise to Lennie's aunt or the reader could look deeper and understand George cares about Lennie and that, meaning in life depends on upon sharing. This idea is central to Steinbeck's theme of brotherhood and how men are better if they are not alienated because, if alienated, they become mean and cruel out of their fear of vulnerability. The strength to oppress others originates of weakness, Steinbeck tells his readers. Most importantly for both George and Lennie, Lennie is the keeper of the dream. Without the child-like Lennie there is no dream of a ranch and rabbits and "livin' off the fat of the land." It is for Lennie's sake that George repeats the dream of them owning land. At first George does not really believe that this dream will come to fruition. But, with his childlike friend's
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 are a variety of relationship of people can have with other people. In John Steinbeck's novels, relationships between characters can be difficult, but are always important. The central relationship in Of Mice and Men is between Lennie and George.
Steinbeck shows that people will trust others because of their personal prejudices. Because of his mental disability, Lennie often acts in inappropriate ways that cause both him and George to lose their jobs. George complains to Lennie that “I got you! You can’t keep a job and lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shoving’ all over the country all the time. An’ the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (Steinbeck 11). Just like in Weed, a town that they have once worked at, Lennie and George has to hide from the townspeople because Lennie grabbed a woman’s dress in panic. Although Lennie acts with innocent intentions, the people around him simply do not spend the time to understand them. As soon as they move into the new farm, the boss and Curley display suspicion and even open hostility toward Lennie. They make their judgments about him before even trying to have a chance know him better. Even Crooks, also abandoned by society, regards him with contempt and disdain when Lennie first tries to enter his room. Lennie has no intention of hurting the other people, yet the people around him always feel uncomfortable around h...
...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.
George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.
In 1939, John Steinbeck created the novel Of Mice and Men, which tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small. Lennie is an enormous man with a metal disability that keeps him from realizing the weakness of the people and things around him. George is Lennie’s best friend who has to take care of Lennie because of a promise he made to Lennie’s dead Aunt Clara. Destruction is prevalent in this novel, as well as the death that follows in its wake.
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
The famed nurses study from Harvard found “Not having a close friend is as detrimental to your health as smoking.” Lennie and George’s friendship is necessary to keep the better for each other. Throughout the story, Lennie and George need each other and look out for one another no matter what. Lennie and George’s friendship and journey throughout the story symbolizes the struggles to achieve the American dream. Steinbeck, in the story Of Mice and Men, combines characterization and symbolism to prove friends do whats best for eachother.