George Milton and Lennie Small have stuck together for a long time, ever since Lennie's caretaker his Aunt Clara passed away. Lennie is a very troubled person. George and Lennie want to get a house together and live off the land. Although George told Lennie to not get in trouble so they can stay at the ranch to make a good enough stake to get a house and some land. Lennie is always begging George to tell him about the rabbits that he gets to tend. He wants to be friends with everyone, although does not understand things very well. In the novel Of Mice And Men written by John Steinbeck Lennie is a very confused character. He is trying to make friends throughout the novel but does not understand that the things he does ends up a bad thing. Some …show more content…
characters do not understand that he does not know what he is doing until it is done. Wanting no trouble Lennie tells George “I don’t want no trouble… Don’t let him sock me George.” (29) Lennie looks to George as if he was his guardian especially from people like Curley. George looks after Lennie as much as he can to protect him and keep him from doing stuff that he does not understand is bad. Trying to make friends, “Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends” (68) Crooks who is the only black man on the ranch is a very grumpy person. The other ranch hands beat him up for fun during the holidays. They are very mean to Crooks so it makes Crooks a mean person. Lennie went to Crooks room in the barn when all the other men when to town. He tried to make friends since everyone that he usually talks to went to town. Lennie wants to get along with everyone, even if they are a laughing stock during the holidays. He does not care he just wants someone to talk about the rabbits with. Lennie who is not mentally stable wants to make friends.
George and Lennie do not want any trouble at the new ranch that they have recently just started at. George is always telling Lennie to stay away from Curley; a fighter character who wants nothing but trouble with everyone. Curley started messing with Lennie and punching him in the bunkhouse. George is telling Lennie to fight back to try to prove what Lennie is capable of in hopes of getting Curley to lay off of Lennie. “I didn’t wanta…I didn’t wanta hurt him.” (64) Lennie says that he did not want to hurt Curley. He also says “You tol’ me to, George.” (64) Lennie does not want to hurt anyone but at the same time he wants to stay loyal to George and obey what he says so he can tend the rabbits. George knows even if Lennie did something wrong he would still let him tend the rabbits and would not be mad, although Lennie thinks that he cannot get in any trouble or else George will not let him tend the rabbits and will be very mad at him. George knows that all Lennie wants to do is tend rabbits and be a loyal friend to George by not getting in …show more content…
trouble. George is always defending Lennie and speaking for him because he knows that Lennie is not in the right state of mind to be making decisions for himself.
Especially when Lennie and George were first talking to the boss of the new ranch that they are at. George said “I told his old lady I’d take care of him. He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He’s awright. Just ain’t bright.” (22) George told their new boss this because he knows what he will think of Lennie once he starts talking. Lennie is not sure of what he does until it is done. For example, after Curley’s wife told Lennie to feel her soft hair knowing that he had just killed his pup that was given to him by Slim. Also, they had just got done talking about how they like the feeling of silky soft material. After Curley’s wife had told Lennie to feel her hair because it was silky soft Lennie did not want to let go. Curley’s wife began to scream and freak out so Lennie held her mouth shut thinking that George would be mad at him and not let him tend the rabbits. Soon after holder her from yelling Curley’s wife had died. “George gonna say I done a bad thing. He ain’t gonna let me tend the rabbits.” (91) Lennie later also says “I don’t want ta hurt you… but George’ll be mad if you yell.” Lennie knew how mad George would be and wanted to stay loyal to him so he stopped her from yelling. Lennie had no idea what was going to happen after she had finally stopped yelling. He had no idea that he was going to
tell her. Lennie did not mean to kill Curley’s wife he had no idea that she was going to die he was just making sure the George would not get mad at him and that he could tend the rabbits. Curley’s wife should have known not to let Lennie touch her hair since she knows his background. Lennie was staying loyal to George and did not know what he was truly doing to Curley's wife until it was too late. Lennie is a very confused person who just wants to be friends with people. In the end of the novel Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck George is faced with the decision to stay loyal with Lennie and kill him or let the other ranch men get him for killing Curley’s Wife. Of course George stayed loyal to Lennie and had him face the opposite direction of him and dream about him tending the rabbits and living off the land on their dream land. After a while of talking with Lennie George took a gun and pointed it to Lennie’s head. He had shot Lennie but out of pure kindness and compassion. Lennie would have got tortured until he was dead and George knew that he could not let that happen. If Lennie were to know he would have told George to kill him and to not let the other ranch men get Lennie for they did not understand what Lennie’s state of mind really is. The other ranch men do not get that Lennie does not understand what he does until it is over with they do not understand that he is not in the right mindset when he is doing things. All Lennie wanted in life was friends and to tend his rabbits with George. Lennie was trying to stay loyal to George throughout the book. Steinbeck is trying to say to stay loyal to your friends no matter what, through thick and thin. Would you do this for your friends just to stay friends?
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.
Lennie relies on others to think for him. He won’t act or react unless he’s told to. When he’s getting punched in the face by Curley, Lennie doesn’t even flinch until George tells him to:
Lennie dreams of living on a wide open ranch with George where he tends to the fluffy little rabbits he loves so much. Nevertheless, Lennie sadly never reaches his ultimate goal as his flaw finally becomes his fatal flaw. Lennie kills Curley 's wife by shaking her so hard that her neck breaks. He does not kill her on purpose but Lennie does not know his own strength. He is only shaking her like that because he wants her to stop yelling.
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’
In the novel, Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck used George and Lennie's relationship and the theme of hope to point out the loneliness in the novel. The novel starts off and is set in Soledad which means lonely. At the beginning they get a job working on a farm together. Lennie is a little retarded and has great physical strength that isn't too controllable. As they work from ranch to ranch, Lennie relies on George for guidance and help. Rather than wasting their earnings, they try to save it in the hope of buying a place of their own. While working at one ranch they meet a worker named Candy who tries to help them financially. Before their dream can be fulfilled, Lennie kills the wife of the boss's son. As the novel concludes George must kill Lennie for his own benefit. Later Lennie goes into town and abandons his dream by spending his money.
... talking about killing Lennie and doing all of these horrible acts of hate to him, but George made a comment to try to help him. “I’ll come. But listen, Curley. The poor bastard’s nuts. Don’t shoot ‘im. He di’nt know what he was doing” (98). This shows how strongly George feels for his friend, Lennie.
The major themes identified by commentators in Of Mice and Men are friendship and isolation, hope and futility(Votteler 334). Through George and Lennie's friendship, the hope to achieve their dream is kept alive. "George, little and clever, feels that Lennie has been given into his keeping"(Moore 341). "Simpleminded and gentle, Lennie possesses great physical strength and becomes unwittingly destructive when startled"(Votteler 334). Although Lennie is very strong, he is also very timid and has trouble remembering things, but under George's control, Lennie is calm and docile since he just does what George tells him to(Moore 341).
George and Lennie are both main characters in Of Mice and Men. They both have journeys that they go on throughout the book. George was a quick-witted man who cared for Lennie. George took on the job of caring for Lennie when his aunt died. He frequently spoke about how his life would be better if he did not have to care for Lennie. Although he spoke of this often he was devoted to Lennie and to delivering them the farm
Relationships are an important essence of life. Humans need relationships because we are dependent on each other to survive. Babies need their mothers to feed and nurse them, and friends need each other to support, comfort, sympathize, and understand them. The friendship between George and Lennie outlined the core of Of Mice and Men, and although it’s sometimes idealized and exaggerated throughout the novel, there is no question of its sincerity. Lennie thinks of George as his only friend, his guardian, someone who he can trust and depend on, someone who had accepted him for who he is despite his childlike tendencies. Every time he did something wrong, his only thoughts would be of George’s disapproval. “I done a real bad thing. I shouldn’t have did that. George’ll be mad. An’… he said…. An’ hide in the brush till he come. He’s gonna be mad.” (pg. 92) On the other hand, George thinks of Lennie as a constant source of frustration, and as he frequently mention in the novel, “God, you’re a lot of trouble. I could get along so easy and nice if I didn’t have you on my t...
Loneliness and Companionship are one of the many themes that are conveyed in the novel Of Mice and Men, By John Steinbeck. Many of the characters admit to suffering from loneliness within the texts. George sets the tone for these confessions early in the novel when he reminds Lennie that the life of living on a ranch is among the loneliest of lives. However Lennie, who is mentally disabled holds the idea that living on a farm very high. "Tending the rabbits" is what Lennie calls it. Often when Lennie is seaking encouragement he askes George to tell him how its going to be. Men like George who migrate from farm to farm rarely have anyone to look to for companionship and protection. George obviously cares a lot for lennie, but is too stubborn to admit to it. The feeling of being shipped from place to place leaves George feeling alone and abandoned.
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 Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the importance of friendship is constantly being illustrated. George Milton and Lennie Small, the two main characters of this story move to Soledad, California in search of a job. Throughout the story, their friendship encounters many trials and tribulations that seem to only contribute to the strength of their relationship. In reality, underlying sorrow and anger has forced George to make a challenging decision, killing his best friend. Lennie demonstrates naivety and dependance in his relationship with George, which shows that unstable friendships push people to make difficult decision.
The world that George and Lennie live in had a huge influence on George’s decision. Everyone on the ranch was tough , and everyone kept to themselves and did not get into anyone else's business; It was a harsh and slightly ruthless world that was ruled by men. George has killed Lennie out of mercy because he had feared and believed that there would be no other way. He did not want to kill Lennie, but he knew that it would be worse if Curley had killed him, so he killed Lennie as painlessly as possible. George always thought of Lennie
Although he is obedient to George, Lennie finds great comfort and security from petting soft items. Though Lennie does not mean to do things that would result in bad outcomes, when he does get in a bad situation he lacks a conscience to see his actions as guilt, only in consequences. "George is going to give me hell" (100) or "George won't let me tend the rabbits” (85). Like a dog follows its master, Lennie is devoted to George. Quickly jumping to George’s defense, when Crooks said he’d leave and never come back, Lennie believes George would never do anything to hurt him. Lennie has a childlike wonder that can be seen when he first sees the pool of water and slurps down huge gulps of water like a horse (3). One of the few things that Lennie continually remembers is the story about their future farm, how it will be a safe place where he can tend to and pet rabbits. Although George knows it will never happen Lennie holds onto the idea with childlike enthusiasm. Since he is always forgetting things Lennie is continually apologising to George, he is sensitive and looks toward George for everything, the last thing he wants is to make George
Earlier in the book, Lennie is saying how he doesn’t want trouble from anyone. “If I get in any trouble, you ain’t gonna let me tend the rabbits” (30). Lennie is telling how he wants responsibilities and taking care of animals is a responsibility. For instance, Lennie and George want the American Dream and to own their own ranch, so then Lennie would have the privilege to take care of the rabbits that they would own in their dream ranch, but believes George will not want to be there if any trouble occurs, and that can make someone feel worthless. In particular, after George says hurtful things to Lennie, he says how he should just leave. “If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time” (6). Lennie is feeling that he is no use to George, and he thinks that George will be better off without him around because George always talks about how he could have a better life. For the most part, Lennie, like many others, sees himself through his