In the novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie are best of friends and they stand by each other in the worst of times. George controls their friendship, while Lennie is a strong man but has a brain of a child. George and Lennie have big dreams for the future, which is to own an acre of land and a home they call their own. They find a job and meet new people and make new friends. When they are at their new job, the book shows relationships that are horrible. One of the relationships is between a man and his dog, and another one is between a man and his wife. Since during this time period is the Great Depression, it’s affecting relationships in society. It’s hard to start a new relationship during the Great Depression because there are a great number of stresses …show more content…
because people are focused on survival and not relationships. Some people think that George and Lennie’s relationship is a good one, but really their relationship is not a healthy one. The problem between George and Lennie is they need money to own their own acre of land, so they find a job in Weed, but Lennie gets himself in trouble and they have to leave that job. George yells at Lennie, “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail” (7). Lennie ruins all their chances of getting a job that they can keep, and George informs Lennie that if Lennie is not there he would have a wonderful life. Before George and Lennie became friends, George used to hurt and play pranks on Lennie. George told one of his co-workers proudly, “I’ve beat the hell outta him, and he coulda bust every bone in my body jus’ with han’s, but he never lifted a finger against me” (40). George enjoyed injuring Lennie and Lennie would not lay a finger on him because Lennie is a caring person. George and Lennie’s friendship is not a healthy one, a healthy friendship is when both friends need and help each other. And George just yells at Lennie and hurts him, and Lennie ruins any chance they can get on a job so they can get the future they wish for. Another relationship in the story is not between man and man, but rather the relationship is a man with his dog. The friendship of the man and the dog is a pitiable relationship because the dog is his only friend. When George sees the dog for the first time, he says, “That’s a hell of an old dog” (24), and the man whose name is Candy, answers, “Yeah, I had ‘im ever since he was a pup” (24). Candy is so attached to his dog that he does not want to abandon the dog, even though the dog is old and cannot do much. But since Candy had the dog since he was little, he grew a relationship with the dog that he does not want to give up. When it is time to kill the dog, Candy wants another night with his dog before Carlson, another co-worker shoots the dog. Candy pleads with Carlson, “Maybe tomorra. Le’s wait till tomorra” (47), and when he finally understands that the dog shall be killed he says, “Awright-take ‘im…He did not look down at the dog at all” (47). Candy wants one more day with his dog because the dog is his best and only friend. And when Carlson takes the dog away, Candy cannot even look at the dog because it is too painful to watch his best friend about to be killed. This is the only good relationship in society, but it is one of the saddest. This shows, during the Great Depression it is difficult to have a healthy and good relationship. Candy’s relationship with his dog was a sad relationship, but there is another bad relationship between a man by the name of Curley and his wife.
Curley and his wife have a bad marriage because they are never together and always try to find where each other are. While Curley’s wife is searching where Curley could be, she says to George, “I’m lookin’ for Curley” (31), and then a little while later Curley demands, “You seen a girl around here?” (37). Curley and his wife are never together and that shows they don’t want to be together. Also, Curley is very jealous of his wife because he thinks she might be with another man. Curley barges in the room where all the men are, and he asks where Slim is because he thinks his wife is with him. When Curley leaves to find Slim, George asks, “Thinks Slim’s with his wife, don’t he?” (54) and his friend answers him, “Looks like it…’Course Slim ain’t” (54). Curley is paranoid all the time that his wife might cheat on him, so when his wife has disappears and Slim, he gets suspicious. This relationship is neither a healthy friendship nor marriage. During this time, in society not only are there terrible friendships, but also terrible
marriages.
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,
Was George to harsh or too fast with his decision to kill Lennie? Ever since Lennie was born he has needed help “living” and it started with his aunt Clara. When his aunt Clara died Lennie needed someone to help him with his everyday life and someone that could be there and tell him what to do. Lennie starts to travel with a good family friend George. In the book “Of Mice and Men” there is many cases where Lennie just “holds on” to George. George realizes in the end of the book Lennie has done too much harm and needs to essentially go away. George then shoots Lennie in the back of the head because Lennie couldn't live on his own if he were to run away from Curly and the rest of the gang of workers coming after him. George did the right thing because Lennie was unstable and George knows lennie didn't mean to harm anything. He doesn't know his own strength and George really wasn't qualified to help Lennie learn that he is powerful beyond measure.
another and create a safe sense of comfort . This bond that has been formed by this dream
Curley’s Wife was probably one of the loneliest characters of all. She never talked to anyone and she never really liked Curley all too much. “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” (p.86) Curley’s Wife seems to get a lot of the other guys in trouble. Curley always suspects that she’s fooling around with the other men, “Any you guys seen my wife?” (p.53) Curley’s Wife always gives an excuse to confront the guys saying, “Any you guys seen Curley?” Then she tries to hang around and make conversation. The guy’s see her as a tramp and a troublemaker but all she wants is someone to talk too.
A coon dog and a tick, an oak tree with moss on the north side, a termite and its internal bacteria, and a shark with tiny fish that eat the extra meat chunks in between the teeth all have one thing in common: symbiosis. Defined as the interdependence of organisms, symbiosis is the basis of the relationship between George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. One type of symbiosis helps both parties while another type involves one organism being hurt by the exchange. The dog is hurt by the tick while the termites and the bacteria benefit from each other’s presence. These types of symbiosis can occur in humans and are evident in “Of Mice and Men.” Both types of symbiosis exist between George and Lennie in the novel.
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck discusses Lennie, George, and Crooks. In this book Steinbeck wants the reader to understand how life was portrayed in American society back in the day. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand how people were treated differently because of their race and by their mental state. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand how the mindset of Lennie, George, and Crooks affects the story. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand why Lennie was always mistreated and why George was there to take care of him. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand why George answers for Lennie and why he tells Lennie what to do because Lennie could not do anything on his own without getting into trouble or messing something up. Steinbeck wanted to show the reader how African Americans were treated back then by putting Crooks into the mix. Steinbeck wants the reader to understand that Crooks was left out of activities and other things in the book because of his race and because of his crooked back.
"In other periods of depression, it has always been possible to see some things which were solid and upon which you could base hope, but as I look about, I now see nothing to give ground to hope—nothing of man.” (Calvin Coolidge) The Great Depression was a period with high inflation and unemployment, where millions of families lost their savings and their livelihoods. During this time many men moved out west to become ranch hands, one of the few jobs available. Many of these ranch hands were fueled by a false dream, to one day own a piece of land, and start a family. Of Mice and Men is a story set in this historical era and tells the story of two unlikely companions, George and Lennie, who work from job to job to survive only to meet an unfortunate end. Using Symbolism as represented in nature, material objects, and character traits, Steinbeck explores the theme that despite the best efforts of man, sometimes the cruelty and overwhelming power of fate is too strong.
There are a variety of relationship of people can have with other people. In John Steinbeck's novels, relationships between characters can be difficult, but are always important. The central relationship in Of Mice and Men is between Lennie and George.
George Milton is a short man with a dark of a face with restless eyes
Curley’s wife is what we in modern day might call a “tease”, but there is more to her than just looks. The ranch workers do say thinks like, “well, I think Curley’s married… a tart,” (28). Curley’s wife, who never is given a name, is criticized before she has spoken one word. She is considered “promiscuous” right off the bat. Although, she is not, the workers on the ranch tend to think that she is attempting to flirt with them. They claim that “She got the eye… I seen her give Slim the eye.” Curley’s wife only acts this way because she trying to fix the void between her and Curley with someone else. Part of the distance between Curley’s wife and Curley is that his wife does not care for him the way he cares for her. She claims that she “wasn’t gonna stay no place where [she] couldn’t get nowhere or make something of [her]self, so [she] married Curley,” (88). When she says this, she implies that she settled for Curley when she could have been a huge star. She walks around the ranch telling people “’I’m to find Curley, Slim.’ ‘Well you ain’t tryin’ very hard. I seen him goin’ in your house’...
The background into a character is one of the most important necessities for understanding a book. John Steinbeck uses certain repetitive imagery whenever describing a character to give readers an insight on their mannerisms and peculiarities. Among the images Steinbeck uses, the dog and the bear are the most important. John Steinbeck develops the persona and character of Lennie, a big, strong farmhand that is small minded,by the animal imagery that he uses to describe him and through this Steinbeck conveys his overall message about farmhands of the time.
“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
With the setting as the Great Depression in the 1930s, George and Lennie of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men have overcome the adversity of being unemployed as they pursue work through Murray and Ready.In addition, they are bindle stiffs and are among other dispossessed males who must ride railroad cars and migrate from job to job. However, they are not alone like most of the other workers; due to the fact they have the friendship and trust of one another. In the beginning to the end George and Lennie share the hope of having a little farm of their own on which they can live on "the fat of the land" someday. (Citation) With this dream, they conquer the terrible alienation that men without homes encounter. Thus, George and Lennie overcome the adversities of poverty, alienation, and despair while staying true to their friendship.
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.