Of Mice And Men Loyalty Analysis

How Much Will You Pay For Loyalty?

If there is one thing a human strives for in life, it is loyalty. We as humans want someone to be there no matter what. We want that bestfriend or boyfriend/girlfriend who is there no matter what. Heck, it could even be a brother or sister. When reading the book, Of Mice and Men, Lennie just wants a brother, for George it’s anyone who can return that favor, but what will it take for us to realize that sometimes the cost of loyalty can overcome the value of the loyalty. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows loyalty comes with a cost
Loyalty comes with power, but not without cost. When the reader first meets Slim in the barn, early in the book, the author states,p “His authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject.”(Steinbeck 33) When his loyalty was

tested it was always proven to be strong. No one in their right mind would dare cross Slim, they practically bow down to him. When we hear from crooks the first time, He is offering to do stuff for Mr. Slim, even though Slim clearly states that he can do it by himself. Now, when Crooks loyalty from his fellow workers is tested, it is proven to fail. When Curley’s wife enters Crooks room and finds him and lennie sitting there conversating, in chapter 4, with no shame she calls Crooks a “ni**er.”(Steinbeck 83) Even though he has never done ANYTHING but bow down to her because well, that is how much loyalty Crooks has. Lennie or Candy didn’t even stand up for him, but here again, look at how much power Slim has vs. Crooks. Loyalty in this case outweighs the cost because it sure isn’t costing Slim anything to be respected and powerful. Crooks, He gets treated like crap and gets no loyalty which I mean proves my point of, No power. No loyalty.
On to the topic of George, People showed George loyalty and in return he paid his loyalty.

Lennie depends on George for his loyalty for his brothership. When Crooks and Lennie first meet, Lennie expresses that, “George wouldn’t do nothing like that.. He will be back tonight,” (Steinbeck 71) after Crooks scares Lennie by saying “ s’pose George don’t come back.” Lennie has been loyal to George. When George told Lennie not to speak. Lennie did not. Crooks will never know what it means to have that trust between someone, because unfortunately he will never be treated with enough respect to have that trust. George showed back up. He came home because he is loyal to Lennie. When Lennie killed, the ol’ hag, Curley’s wife Candy rescued George and covered for him. Candy agreed to go in and claim he found the dead body instead of George, so that it didn’t look like George was and accessory to murder. Candy hasn’t done much for George so in all honesty George has no right asking for this kind of cover. In the future im sure he will pay the cost and have to do some loyalty act for Candy. That is how it works. George receives loyalty but not without the price of paying it

back.
When it comes to relationships, the cost is simple. Are you willing to sacrifice your own happiness for someone else’s? To be loyal to someone is to make that someone feel loved. As obviously stated in Steinbeck’s novel, Curley’s wife is not loyal to Curley. As advised by Whitt, when first introducing Curley’s wife, he points out, “ I bet she even gives the stable buck the eye. I don’t know what the hell she wants.”(Steinbeck 51) If Curley’s wife was loyal and faithful, she would not even have “eyes” for another guy. Flirting is cheating. Will Curley ever realize this? Does Curley’s wife understand that she could lose Curley at the expense of her flirting? We all strive to feel loved. Curley’s wife just wants that dependability. The cost of dependability VS. loyalty does not equivilate though. If you are loyal, you will sacrifice your needs for someone else’s.
Steinbeck shows that loyalty comes with a price. Curley’s wife will eventually lose Curley, Crooks will slowly, hopefully gain power, loyalty, and more respect . George and Lennie will forever be loyal. In my lifetime, I will have friends come and go. I will forever be faced with the price of loyalty, but in the end i will have a family, back home, who love and will always be loyal to me.