The Role Of Companionship In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Whether it be a man and a woman or a dog and his owner everyone needs someone to love. In the book Of Mice and Men by John steinbeck a popular topic that occurs is companionship. Companionship is vital in everyone's life. Without someone to bring fill you up, you are never whole.

One of the strongest bonds in this book is between lennie and george. When george says to lennie “I ain't mad. I never been mad, an’ i ain't now.”(p.106) It shows how george really cares for lennie saying that no matter how bad lennie messes up or gets in trouble george will always be there for him, as well as won't be angry with him for his decision. Again when george says "Him and me was both born in Auburn. I knowed his Aunt Clara. She took him when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin'. Got kinda used to each other after a little while." Meaning that when lennie's aunt died all they had was each other and being together all this time has made them build a special bond that

cannot be broken not matter the outcome. Because of that there connection stays strong through it all.

Another strong connection in Of Mice and Men is Candy and his dog.

When candy says to the boys “I been around him so much I never notice how he stinks” (p.44) it shows that candy's dog means the world to candy, how they spend so much time together that candy doesn't see anything wrong with his dog. He doesn't seem to mind the smell, or how he drags on slowly. One of the most touching moments is when candy finds out that they had killed his old dog and says "You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else.” (p.60) When candy says this people feel his pain, how if they had lost someone they had loved they would be heartbroken. Candy had built such a strong connection to his dog, and they took it all away from him in a flash. If Candy would have been the one to do it or the dog would still be alive maybe Candy would feel a whole lot better about this situation, because without the do. Candy is not

whole.

A bad example of a deep connection is Curley, and his wife who shall not be named. Curley and his wife got married one night because curley's wife wanted to prove her mother wrong. When they got married she thought it would be the greatest time of her life. Turns out that they didn't love each other at all. When curley begins to flirt with lennie, she goes on about how she dont care about curley and how the only reason she got married to Curley is because she wanted to be somewhere she could make something of herself, maybe get into the movies.(p.88) while she rants to lennie you can tell that there connection isn't right and is for all the wrong reasons. They don't want to be together they just use one another to get what they want. When that's not good enough Curley's wife will go down and flirt with the boys as soon as curley's leaves.

In conclusion everyone and every living thing needs a companion to live and thrive in this world. Whether it be a man and his dog. Two people that absolutely love each other. Maybe it's a bird and a cat. Whatever it may be no one can be whole if they alone, you always have to have something to fill you up.