Codependent Relationships In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In ‘Of Mice and Men’, written by John Steinbeck, friendship is portrayed as one of the main themes in this novella and a very important part of people’s lives. Steinbeck also portrays friendship by highlighting the importance of friendship and showing how its presence and absence can trigger many positive and negative emotions. Its presence creates hope, feeling of companionship and a sense of responsibility. In spite of friendship’s presence creating positive feelings, its absence does the complete opposite. It generates a feeling of loneliness and isolation. Friendship has many different impacts on many characters in different ways depending on its presence or absence. Although friendship’s presence and absence are complete opposites, they

It’s hard to imagine going through life without a single friend. Having at least one companion in life is essential to one 's mental well being. Simply having someone to talk to, knowing that there is at least one person in this crazy world that cares. Companions can be quite simple and can also be very complex. The characters in Steinbeck 's novel, Of Mice and Men, portray varying degrees of companionship.

According to “Merriam Webster”, the definition of love is having a deep affection for someone, and that is hard to find. The definition of infatuation is having a little passion or admiration for someone, and people experience that everyday. In Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck, the main characters are George and Lennie, and they are always on the run. In the beginning, Lennie messed up and touched a girls dress, and the girl screamed rape. George and Lennie had to Leave town to escape prosecution. They end up on a farm where they meet new people, and Lennie continues to mess up. In the end George had to kill Lennie, so that he would not be torchered. In Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, the main characters are Romeo and Juliet and they are star crossed lovers from feuding families. They have to hide their relationship, because there love would not be aloud by their families. They ended up both committing suicide, to be together for eternity. The relationship between George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men is stronger than the relationship between Romeo and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet because they have a true connection, not just infatuation.

In John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, the reader feels more sympathy towards George, rather than Lennie or Curley's Wife. Steinbeck depicts an authentic representation of the Great Depression's challenging times and how they impact people like George. The hardships he experienced surpassed those of Lennie and Curley's wife. George had Lennie, a responsibility which caused him unnecessary trouble. He ended Lennie's life and thus lived with it on his conscience.

George knows just how easy his life could be without Lennie, since Lennie is constantly making mistakes and can't tell right from wrong. Often George and Lennie find themselves running from lynch mobs, or looking for new work because due to lennie's actions. Lennie has all intent of being good, but he has the mind of a child what is often getting Them in trouble. Having the mind of a child makes George a role model for lennie, but George finds it hard to control lennie. George's life has been made much harder because of Lennie and it seems like he is bound to be unhappy while he stays with

The book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is about two friends that are always working together. One of the three main characters, Lennie, is mentally handicapped, who has a muscular body, strong and tall. His other friend, George, is intelligent but unlike Lennie, he has a small body and he is smart. They move around and work together. Lennie and George try to find new jobs because they have been fired from their previous job that causes them to move to another city. They begin to work in a farm; they help feed animals and other farm works. This book is mostly based on dreams about the characters, so that it can help them keep living. The characters Lennie, George and Candy use the dream as a source of power to gain comfort when they feel uneasy.

Of Mice and Men was published in 1937 during a time of bi-racism between the caucasians and the african americans, and the apathetic Great Depression, which may have served as inspiration. In the novel two opposites attract, a gargantuan but mentally challenged man by the name of Lennie, and a small, nimble, and intelligent man named George. Suffering from a mental illness Lennie gets into trouble when he 's alone, but George always saves him, George knows Lennie doesn 't do anything, “out of meanness” as he says. Undoubtedly the reader assimilates that Lennie kills a young lady, said to have done so accidentally. Furthermore without any control George was forced to kill Lennie. However he first tells Lennie about their dream, about tending rabbits, living off the land from the crops, and shoots him. Friendship and Loneliness is shown here where George is Lennie’s best friend, and everyone else stays away leaving Lennie alone. Other times in the novel the reader witnesses many other characters face this same factor of isolation. Some examples are,

In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie share an unbreakable bond. The bond they share is based off of many obligations; such as guilt, love, and the fear of being alone. Despite their many obligations, they both possess many qualities that help to benefit each other. Their bond is justified throughout the novel by elaborating on their everyday life on the ranch and by conversation that occurs amongst George and Lennie.

The Great Depression brought hardships to families across America. People battled these hardships in many ways, but John Steinbeck’s weapon of choice was something that would live on forever: his words. Throughout his career Steinbeck wrote over 31 books. His classic novel, Of Mice and Men, portrays a heart wrenching story of two men that are beaten into the ground of the Great Depression. While Steinbeck shows that dreams and planning can create hope and aspiration, friendship is shown to be the deciding factor between a content life and the search for more, that can ultimately lead to less.

We all may have had the feeling of loneliness and isolation, wanting companionship feeling abandonment. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, there are men living on a ranch having their own reasons for loneliness or being isolated. The three characters Crooks, George, and Lennie crusade dealing with own ways of loneliness and isolation. Crooks has no one that likes him because he’s black, Lennie struggles mentally and George struggles with always having to care for him. They all can’t decide whether it is that they want to be alone or not. Steinbeck displays through the dialogue and characterizations that these characters experience isolation because of both social barriers and personal choice.

John Steinbeck depicts isolation very well in his book “Of Mice and Men”. He portrays the need for companionship as well. John Steinbeck shows isolation and the need for companionship through setting, relationships, and characterization in his book, “Of Mice and Men”.

This essay will be answering the question “Is Lennie capable of building mature relationships with other characters in the Book Of Mice and Men by George Steinbeck?” The book Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck is set during the Great Depression in the United States. The main characters are George and Lennie who are complete opposites. Of Mice and Men has two main characters George and Lennie who are completely opposite in all ways. Of Mice and Men talks about many different themes including Depression, Loneliness and Racism. As the novel progresses, It shows that Lennie is unable to grow mature relationships with others and doesn’t understand why.

Steinbeck says that with companionship, people act more loving. One of Steinbeck's greatest books Of Mice and Men focuses on companionship. Steinbeck shows how companionship remains in our lives. The theme of the book portrays on how spending life alone affects you. But it also shows the benefits of it. As a result this is demonstrated by the characters George, Candy and Lennie.

Gradually as, Tom lives his life he see how his parents’ approval came with a cost. When Tom finally had it with himself for killing his sister by accident, he thought of committing suicide, but the thought of,” ….Liza’s disapproval. She could make anyone suffer if she disapproved” (Steinbeck 408). Just the thought of his mother reminds him of the days how his mother can disapprove of him causing him great pain. The same pain that it took him to get an approval from her is the pain that he has to face with the consequences of his actions. Then the sense of his father causes him to react and say,”...“My father, I’m sorry. I can’t help it. You overestimated me”(Steinbeck 409).Samuels approval allowed Tom to live his life normally by himself

In the novel of “Of Mice and Men” power and friendship is the very bases of the story. There are many people with power in the book but I specifically was interested in Curley’s power. Curley is the son of the Ranch’s boss and he is very spoiled. He does not listen to rules and usually gets away with any trouble he makes or gets into. Therefore, he is powerful for the very reason that he is “untouchable.” He does not use the power for kindness but uses it to show who is best and in a bullying matter.