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The novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck takes place in Salinas Valley, California. The story starts off with the two main characters, George and Lennie travelling through the woods : on their way to the ranch where they will work. The author of the book, John Steinbeck, builds characters and demonstrates the unique dynamics between George and Lennie by their type of relationship, the ways in which they influence each other, and the role responsibility plays in their relationship. Lennie And George have a special type of relationship, where George is like a father figure to him. Without George, Lennie would be completely lost and would constantly be up to no good. An example of their father son relationship would be when Lennie wanders into Crooks place. Crooks starts to challenge the relationship of Lennie and George, questioning if he will come back for him and Lennie says, "I been with George a long time. He'll come back tonight-" This shows the confidence Lennie has in George. Although, moments later he questions if George really will …show more content…
come back. Lennie relies on George as a father figure who takes care of him. He would be crushed if George didn't return. The father son relationship between George and Lennie is one way the author builds character, but the way the two influence each other is another.
Lennie influences George in a way that he does not even realize. Just as Lennie needs mice and pups and rabbits to take care of, George needs Lennie to tend. George uses Lennie as an excuse for his poor life. At the beginning of the book, Lennie had just gotten into trouble, causing him and George to flee the area. George gets mad and he angrily states, ¨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 of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want… I could eat at any place I want, hotel or any place..." (11). This is only an expression of wishful thinking. With or without Lennie, George would still live a low life, and still continue to work at
ranches. Lastly, responsibility plays a huge role in this father son relationship. This is because whenever Lennie messes up or does something wrong, George has to feel partly responsible for not being able to control Lennie's strength. As a result, they end up fleeing from place to place together. In the book lennie had just done a bad thing and begins to hallucinate and the author describes, "She stood in front of Lennie and put her hands on her hips, and she frowned disapprovingly at him. And when she spoke, it was in Lennie’s voice. "I tol’ you an tol’ you," she said. "I tol you, ‘Min’ George because he’s such a nice fella an’ good to you.’ But you don’t never take no care. You do bad things." (6.10) Lennie's hallucination reflects his true fears and weaknesses. Aunt Clara talks about how Lennie could never run away because he's way too dependant on George, and he fears that george might outgrow him and leave him. Lennie has to depend on George for mostly everything. Without him, he would not be able to function. When somebody depends on you, like Lennie does to George, you definitely have to feel very responsible for them. John Steinbeck, the author of the Novella, builds characters and demonstrates the unique dynamics between Lennie and George, by creating a father son relationship between the two, describing the influence the two have on each other, and by demonstrating the role responsibility plays in their relationship.
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,
George says that none of his other friends are quite like Lennie. They did not have a true relationship with him. George also says that Lennie is an annoyance most of the time, but he got used to it and eventually could not get rid of him. This shows that George is lonely, due to the loss of Lennie. It is proven that Lennie causes George to realize his need for others in his life.
In this book George is constantly taking care of Lennie and is always reassuring him that they will have their own land and be able to tend the rabbits. George doesn’t actually believe in this dream which shows how he is willing to say anything to make Lennie happy. Also, George is constantly bringing up how easy his life would be without Lennie, he said "God almighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could get a job a work, an no trouble (12). This quote shows how George is aware that Lennie is holding him back from making more money but how he choices to stay with him because they have a genuine friendship. George takes his parental figure role seriously and would never leave him.
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.
John Steinbeck's agricultural upbringing in the California area vibrantly shines through in the settings and story lines of the majority of his works. Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, takes place in the Salinas Valley of California. The drama is centered around two itinerant farm workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, with a dream of someday owning a place of their own. Lennie Small is a simple-minded, slow moving, shapeless hulk with pale eyes whose enormous physical strength often causes him to get into trouble. George Milton on the other hand is small in stature, clever, dark of face and eyes, and acts as Lennie's guardian and calming force.
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
Lennie has a tendency to forget things even if he was just told them. Without George, Lennie would not have any idea what to do, where to go, or what to say. George is like Lennie’s brain; he does most of the thinking and just repeatedly tells Lennie what to say/do. Without George Lennie would never have
George knew keeping Lennie alive He never understood things the way “normal” people do. He is like a giant baby, not able to make any decisions himself and pure at heart. George is wise and witty is fully capable himself, yet he sticks around Lennie regardless. “… if I was alone I could live so easy.
“Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck is a novel about the hardships of life and the importance of having other people around. The story is of two men trying to survive with one another in a world full of loneliness; their relationship is quite rare and strange. Lennie, a large bear, has a mental disability which causes him to be in a childlike state. George, a much smaller and more competent man takes care of both of them. Although they work for others on ranches, their dream is to get by on their own and live off the land. However, Lennie’s state causes conflict as they travel from job to job. Steinbeck uses clever ways in his novel to develop his theme and characters as the story progresses; both of these elements also help create a large
George is a person who externally carries around with a lot of anger and isn’t holding back to tell Lennie how much he would be better off without him etc. With that said, George is a good kid, and takes very good care of Lennie. Even though Lennie is dumb and life would be a lot easier without him, George still travels from town to town to keep Lennie save. Together, George and Lennie are chasing the pursuit of happiness. George repeatedly tells the story to Lennie - with them, having their own farm in the future. Lennie have this unconditionally faith in George and everything he tells - which also plays a major role at the ending of the story, where you experience Lennie and George at their secret place. George once again tells Lennie about their bright future together well knowing that he is about to take his best friends life. This of course also tells that George really cares. That he is willing to take his best friends life to give him the best ending
What is friendship? Friendship is caring for someone and enjoying being around them. In the book Of Mice And Men, George and lennie are are friends that travel with each other. George is a true friend to Lennie, because he cares for him, he is a leader, he is like a brother to him, also he looks out for him.
Many people are identified by the friendships they form. George and Lennie are best friends. They have a brotherly and father son relationship. They are displaced migrant workers who always stick together no matter what. In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, many friendships are formed between the people on the ranch in California. Lennie and George always stayed together, no matter what happened. George never got mad at Lennie when he did something wrong. Because Lennie was not the brightest George would always bail him out when he got in trouble. They found a job at a farm in California. The other workers were welcoming of George but not Lennie. While they are at the ranch they meet Slim, a mule driver. People go to Slim for advice.
In the book Of Mice and Men George takes care of Lennie affects his life by making things a lot more stressful. He constantly has to look after Lennie, and make sure that he doesn’t say/do something that will get him into any trouble. With all the added stress of taking care of Lennie makes him snap at Lennie many times throughout the book, for example, when he yells at him for asking about ketchup when they were eating dinner. George’s life would also be a lot more lonely without George though, because even though he is stressful to take care of Lennie, he constantly keeps George company.
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.