Of Mice And Men George And Lennie's Relationship

Walter Winchell, an American newspaper and radio commentator, was once quoted saying, “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” George and Lennie from the novel, Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, embody Walter Winchell’s definition of a real friend by always walking in for each other when it seems like everyone else walks out. The relationship of these two friends is one that is better than the relationship that Romeo and Juliet have in the novel, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Of Mice and Men is a novel about two traveling workers, George and Lennie, during the Great Depression who arrive and begin working on a farm in California. The unlikely bond between George, a small but intelligent

person, and Lennie, a large and mentally deficient person, especially in a time when most people were alone is a testament to the strength of their friendship. Romeo and Juliet, is a play describing the story of two star-crossed lovers who go against their long standing family feuds and marry. As fate has it though, this story was set to be a tragedy as both lovers, Romeo and Juliet, die for their love for one another. Although Romeo and Juliet have a fairly strong relationship of their own, George and Lennie have a stronger relationship because they compromise with each other, support one another, and they are able to fight through tough times.
One reason George and Lennie have a stronger relationship is because of their ability to compromise with each other, this separates their relationship with each other over Romeo and Juliet’s.

The most evident case of compromise between George and Lennie is their arrangement of the future they see themselves having. Throughout Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie speak of their dreams and aspirations by George saying, “‘Someday—we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and—.’ ‘An' live off the fatta the lan',’ Lennie shouted. ‘An' have rabbits’” (Steinbeck 15). This future they hope for is a compromise for the both of them. Lennie’s only need was to have the rabbits, and while George does not necessarily want the rabbits, he still agrees to have them. George’s goal of the future was to own the land and not answer to anyone. Lennie does not feel as strongly about not having a boss, but agrees to it as a compromise. Another example of their ability to compromise is with them traveling and working together. While George consistently complains about traveling with Lennie, he stays with him from place to place. George justifies his verbal attacks on Lennie by saying that Lennie makes life harder on George in return. George is able to get the two of them jobs and try to keep them out of trouble, whereas Lennie’s amazing work makes up for George’s weak stature. This compromise makes them the perfect fit for each other. The final example of compromise in Of Mice and Men is George’s compromise of allowing Lennie pet soft things. The novel begins with Lennie petting a dead mouse and George making him stop, but compromising by saying that he can have the next mouse he finds. This continues later in the story when George allows Lennie to get a puppy to make him happy, even though he thinks that it is not the best things for him. While Romeo and Juliet are able to compromise with each other, their

relationship together is not sustained nearly long enough or important enough to reach the same standard that George and Lennie meet. Whenever they have a disagreement and need a compromise, they have to go to Friar Lawrence in order to figure it out. The short length of Romeo and Juliet’s time together is not long enough to prove that they would remain loyal to the few compromises they agreed to.
Another way that George and Lennie have a stronger relationship is because they support each other, more so than Romeo and Juliet do. George and Lennie’s friendship is based on their support for each other, they stay together for years on years in a time when a relationship like theirs was unheard of. When traveling George mentioned to Lennie, “because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why (Steinbeck 25). George supports Lennie by protecting him, for example, when George saved Lennie in Weed. Lennie was accused of raping a woman when he grabbed her dress, George kept him safe by helping him run away from Weed and get a new job. Without George’s support, Lennie likely would have been arrested and put into a subpar mental hospital. George also supports Lennie against other people’s opinions. He defends their relationship because of the misguided preconceptions people have about the two of them. When Slim, another worker at the ranch, asks about their relationship and George responds, “‘We travel together,’ said George. ‘Oh, so it’s that way?’ ‘Yea, it’s that way.’” George is always there to support and defend his relationship with Lennie. Likewise, Lennie supports George by doing much of the physical labor and by giving him needed friendship. Without Lennie, George would not be able to do much the of work as well as be very lonely, like many of the other workers during the Great Depression. When Candy, an old ranch worker, suggests the possibility that George might leave him, Lennie immediately and full heartedly denies that it could even ever happen. George and Lennie’s support for one another sets their relationship apart from the relationship of Romeo and Juliet. They do not have enough support for each other in order to announce their relationship. While both Romeo and Juliet speak of their support for each other, they do not have the time to prove this or to fully develop their support for one another.
Furthermore, George and Lennie have a stronger relationship because they are able to fight through difficult times, unlike Romeo and Juliet. Any lasting relationship needs to be able get past difficult times. George and Lennie first show this ability in Weed. Instead of just giving up after Lennie got accused of raping a woman, they fought against that adversity by escaping and finding work elsewhere. Another instance when George and Lennie got through a problem was when they never gave up on their dream during the Great Depression, when nothing seemed to go their way. They continued to find jobs to work towards their goal of owning their own ranch. Near the middle of the novel, George tells Lennie, “‘Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch’” (Steinbeck 13). George and Lennie could have ceased saving their money and spend in on less important things, like most other people did at that time. Finally, another difficulty that George and Lennie face is Lennie’s disability. At that time, people like Lennie would be cast away and be treated poorly. Instead of letting this happen, George promised to take care of Lennie. George tries to make sure that Lennie never gets into trouble and is never hurt by other people. This can be difficult for George to manage. Lennie tries to make that up by trying not to get in trouble and by doing what Lennie tells him to do. Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is not strong enough to get past any difficult times. Upon hearing about his banishment, Romeo tells the Friar, “‘Ha banishment! Be merciful say death; / For exile hath more terror in his look, / Much more than death: do not say banishment’” (Shakespeare 3.3.12-14). Instead of trying to figure out a solution to the challenge of being exiled, Romeo would rather be executed. Romeo and Juliet do not have a good enough relationship to get past this problem and they have to go to Friar Lawrence to even find a possible solution. George and Lennie’s ability to get past most problems means that they can have a much stronger and longer lasting relationship, whereas Romeo and Juliet’s inability to do so hints that their relationship is not strong enough to last as long as George and Lennie’s.
George and Lennie both have the ability to compromise with each other, support one another, and they can get past tough times together, proving that they have a stronger relationship than Romeo and Juliet, even though their relationship is somewhat strong. George and Lennie compromised over their idea of the future. Also, they supported each other in different ways, George helps Lennie by taking care of him and keeping him out of trouble while Lennie supports George by being a friend in a time when few friends existed. Time and time again, George and Lennie were able to figure out a problem and get past it. Romeo and Juliet either did not have posses these qualities or did not have enough time to fully develop these abilities, showing that their relationship is weaker. One should hope to have a relationship as strong as George and Lennie’s, someone who walks in when the everyone else walks out.