Lennie Companionship

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, which is set in California in the 1920s. It features George and Lennie as poor farm workers who travel from ranch to ranch looking for jobs. Steinbeck portrays that Lennie had a rather positive and negative effect on George, and demonstrates that companionship can be complicated. George and Lennie face tough times that could have potentially damaged their friendship. In the text, Lennie wanted to feel a girls dress and he scared her off and ripped her dress. George and Lennie ended up being hunted by men with horses and dogs because of that mishap. Eventually both of them got away. This proves that Lennie had a negative effect on George from this incident. He made them lose their current jobs

In the novel, George and Lennie were sitting near a fire and George was explaining their American dream and rabbits to an ecstatic Lennie. George also explained that men like them are very lonely without any true friends. They were different though, because Lennie had George to take care of him and George had Lennie as well. This exemplifies that Lennie provides George friendship that he wouldn’t find with anyone else, while affecting him positively. Men in the 1920s usually traveled alone from farm to farm and had no one by their side. George and Lennie were an exception, since they spent all their time together and had each other to rely on. They also shared the same American Dream, which they would buy a ranch and live “off the fata of the land”. They were yearning for a place to call home and be their own bosses. Lennie was not perfect and made things difficult, like what happened in Weed (The dress incident), but he was always by George’s side no matter what happened. He understood when George was mad at him, and tried not to make him angrier, he also obeyed George’s every command and respected him dearly. It was very hard to find someone that respected you and looked up to you as much as Lennie did to George, because of how everyone traveled alone. George would not receive that companionship with anyone else; he would end up being alone like the other men, if he did not have

Lennie was at the barn petting a dead dog, which he killed himself, when Curly’s wife came in. She then talked to Lennie about soft things and mentioned that her hair was smooth. She then allowed Lennie to touch her hair. He touched her hair rougher than she expected, so she screamed. Lennie panicked and accidentally snapped her neck while she struggled, killing her immediately. This instantly proves that their dream was shattered because George finally saw that Lennie committed an inexcusable act, and he had to do what was right. Curly and the other men wanted to kill Lennie, but George believed he had to do it instead. Lennie affected George negatively by having him see it as his responsibly and his job to complete the awful act. Their American Dream was crushed because Lennie was the sole person who encouraged them to work for the dream. He kept the dream alive when no one believed it would come true. Lennie allowed George to get a glimpse of the future they were supposed to have together. He even interested the other men, like Crooks and Candy to take part in the dream. With Lennie being gone, the dream was not worth it anymore. There was no one to insist on the dream, and work so hard to accomplish it. Without motivation, how could the dream possibly happen? George did not want to complete it alone, since Lennie being gone, the purpose of the dream left as well. He was