In 1937 Mice and Men became produced on a stage in New York. Steinbeck later then accepted an best play award for writing and producing Mice and Men. In the book, George does everything he can to protect Lennie and keep him out of trouble. George clearly sees Lennie as a little brother to care for and to protect. Lennie is a very big guy but has a problem with being able to mentally understand what happens around him. George befriends Lennie in weed while Lennie still lives with his aunt Clara. When Lennie was hallucinating about his aunt Clara she tells Lennie that “you never give a thought to George. He been doin’ nice things for you alla time. When he got a piece a pie you always got the half or more’n half. An’ if they was any ketchup, why he’d give it all to you”(101). George never had to be with Lennie. He could’ve been having a good time without him but stays with Lennie. George gives him everything he has and more. After leaving weed, Lennie and George stay by a lake. Lennie tells George “cause I can jus’ as well go away, George, an’ live in a cave”. George replies “You can jus’ as well go to hell . . . shut up now”(16). Lennie outright offers that he …show more content…
will leave so that way George can go do his own thing and be happy without him. George never even considered taking Lennie up on his offer, he just told him to shut up. This in itself explains that George doesn’t see Lennie as a person he has to take care of, but as his brother. Leaving their home was all on what Lennie did in weed.
George left to protect him, and ends up telling slim “We sit in a irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day. Got on’l our heads sticking out from the side if the ditch. An’ that night we scrammed outta there”(42). No one in there right mind would try to run away from the law for a friend, especially hiding in a ditch till night when they have to run. If the law ever were to find out that George helped Lennie escape from “raping” that girl, then he will be hung to. Anybody in there right mind would turn their friend in and try to plead that Lennie didn’t know what he was doing, and that he is mentally handicapped and turn him in. But for someone you think as your brother, you would run away from them and do everything you can to protect
them. George protected Lennie with everything he could. He hid in a ditch with him, helped get him a job, and even kept Lennie happy by saying when they get land he can tend to the rabbits. In the end when it came down to either Curley killing Lennie or George doing it himself, George did it. George chose to put Lennie out of suffering that Curley would have put upon him and killed Lennie without pain. George also chose to only kill Lennie when he was at his happiest thinking of the rabbits till that was his last thought. Even though Lennie and George are not blood related, Lennie is George’s little brother in more ways than one.
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...
As George becomes aware of the situation he begins to ponder what will happen if Lennie gets away. George understands that Lennie would not be capable of providing for himself out in the wild. As George contemplates allowing Lennie to be free of all the men, he “[is] a long time in answering” (94). George is one of the few men who understands Lennie’s mental limitations, he knows Lennie would not remember how to survive and “the poor bastard’d starve” (94). He
George and Lennie were lifelong friends and had varying personalities even from the start. Lennie thought about how his Aunt Clara said he should have been more like George. At the time when the story took place, the two men were travelling together, and had been for some time, working and then moving on to search for the next job they could find. They were like many other men in search for work, except it was rare for men to travel together. George felt a need to take care of Lennie because he was somewhat slow. George was an average man of the time. He was a good size, nice, but firm, and he had aspirations to be more than just a nomadic laborer. Lennie, on the other hand, had always been a little different. He was big, goofy, clumsy, but sweet. They were also both good workers. George was concerned with working and getting his money before they got into trouble and had to leave camp. Lennie was the one who normally started the trouble. He was a hard worker and lived to appease George, but he got distracted easily which angered George. George told about how they would own a house and a farm together and work for themselves. Lennie loved to hear the story and think about the possibilities, even though nobody knew if any of it was a possibility. George and Lennie's differences in part led to George's inclination to kill Lennie. Despite their dissimilarity, the two men needed each other probably more than they realized.
Lennie's stupidity and carelessness constantly causes him to unintentionally harm people and animals. When he gets into sticky situations, George is there to help him get out of them. Ever since Lennie's Aunt Clara died, George has felt that he has a sense of duty
After Lennie held on the dress George continues with the rest of the story and he states “we were hiding in a drainage ditch” (Steinbeck 42). then the author concludes by tone that George was tired of running and had to start thinking about how he wanted his life to be or keep running. My claim is the best because George could do so many more things with his life if he wasn't always with Lennie or if he could have just let him go but since Lennie was a friend it was harder because he had spent so much time with helping him and traveling with
Throughout the story George recites a description of how easy his life could be if he didn't have to keep up with Lennie. "God a'mighty," he could "get a job, an' work, an' no trouble (pg. 11)." At the end of the month, he could take his 50 bucks and go into town and buy whatever he wanted. George says these things like he's only teasing, but in actuality he's dead serious. George started building his alibi when he first arrived at the farm. He wanted to seem like he deeply cared for Lennie, and that Lennie was an overall good person. George then strengthened his alibi, and gave a glimpse of his true motives when he talked to George about why he stopped making fun of Lennie. George said that he told Lennie to "jump in," and that Lennie did it and "he damn near drowned (pg.
Consistently throughout the story George and Lennie were there for each other; in fact towards the very beginning Lennie and George discussed how they were better off than most guys because they had each other (14). When George killed Lennie a part of him died too, George knew murdering Lennie would hurt him mentally and emotionally. However he did it because he wanted what was best for his friend no matter the cost. His actions were altruistic and that made his decision the more favorable one. Another instance when George was selfless was when he gave up his dream. Throughout the story George and Lennie dreamed of and worked towards owning their own piece of land together. However, after discovering Curley’s wife dead, George returned to reality and informed Candy that they would, “never do her” (94). After losing his friend George understood the impossibility of achieving the American Dream. Beforehand George knew he would not want to live out his dream without Lennie, so by protecting Lennie and giving up on his own dream he put Lennie above himself. Conversely, someone may believe that George's actions were selfish and that he benefits himself by killing Lennie. After George comes after Lennie, the dim-witted man asks if George was going to yell at him. Reluctantly George told him “If I was alone, I could live so easy,” (103). Although George said
“Ya did the right thing, shootin’ ‘im back there. God knows Curley wouldda done somthin’ worse.” Slim said trying to break the silence that fell upon them. George didn’t reply, he sat there looking down at the hand that had shot Lennie. It was obvious that George felt only guilt and nothing more.
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 also knew that Lennie had dug a hole for himself and could never get out. He knew they were looking for Lennie and wouldn’t stop until they killed him. He decided to do it himself in the kindest way he could. It’s like when Candy said about his dog, “I should of shot that dog myself.'; meaning it would have been kinder to the dog. Lennie was lying down, facing away from George and didn’t know he was going to be shot. He didn’t know what was going to happen, just like Candy’s dog.
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.
“I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like you running off by yourself, even if she was dead.” (page 13). After Lennie and George fight over the dead mouse, Lennie tells him that George would be better off if Lennie went to the mountains to live in a cave. George doesn’t let him. He tells him that he wants him to stay because not only did George somewhat promise Lennie’s dead Aunt Clara that he would take care of him, but he also learned how to live and adjust with the fact that Lennie has kind of a childish mind.
George understands that he can’t hide Lennie from the world forever and that the natural order of things is that the strong pick off the weak, and he will eventually have to let Lennie go. This motivates him to seize reality, meaning he had to kill Lennie, which itself was a sign of tremendous growth in himself. Killing Lennie had many effects on George; one of them being that he became one of the men he’d tell Lennie stories about. George believed that he and Lennie were not like the other migrant workers – travelling alone and spending all their earning on a whim. When George would te...
That was your own Aunt Clara.” “Lennie looked puzzled. “Like I done in Weed?” “Oh so ya forgot that too, did ya? Well I ain’t gonna remind ya, fear ya do it again." From these two separate selections we can conclude that Lennie has difficulty remembering and/or recalling past and present events.With all the scolding from George I think that’s why Lennie is timid because when George would take his mice pet, he wouldn’t be confident to stand up for himself. “You know God damn well what I want that mouse.” Lennie reluctantly reached into his pocket. His voice break a little. I don’t know why I can’t keep it. It ain’t nobody’s mouse. I didn’t steal it I found it lyin’ right beside the road.” I mostly gathered information of George when he's bickering with Lennie. “Whatever we ain’t got, that's what you want. God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want.” You can infer that George is short-tempered since this isn’t the only argument he has had with
George explains to Slim that he, "Used to play jokes on [Lennie] cause he was too