Companion Desperation: Examining Relationship In 'Of Mice And Men'
Dondada Ouy
Ms. Brooke
English 11
14 March 2023
Effects of Companion Desperation: Examining Relationships in Of Mice and Men Humans are social animals by nature. We yearn for companionship and to be regarded as a member of the larger population. Our fear of being outcasted can lead us to make decisions that may seem drastic or out of the ordinary of what we might want to, or know we should do. The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is an excellent example of this because of the many situations the characters are placed in where they make decisions thinking about how the outcome might affect relationships. Some prime examples of this are Curly’s wife, George, and the life of a migrant worker in general, but all having a different cause
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As our main protagonists are introduced to their living quarters, they ask why the old worker left, where we are given the quote, “then all of a sudden some day we'll go get our pay an' scram outa here" (Steinback 62). This gives us some context on the lifestyle of migrant workers, they travel far to work and get paid, then leave to another place for work, never being able to settle down and build a proper life with relationships. This has led the workers in the story to develop a hive-like mindset, and lose their individuality. Crooks even admits he’s lonely and shows his envy to Lennie when trying to explain to him how lucky he is to have George by saying, “A guy …show more content…
Lennie constantly makes trouble for George and brings him distress. After one specific episode where George has to constantly reexplain to Lennie what they are doing, George says the line, “God, you’re a lot of trouble, I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl” (Steinback 9). He admits that Lennie is a burden to him, only being kept around because of pity or need of companionship. This leaves George chained down to someone who does nothing but sabotages his future. Lennie also does nothing to demonstrate George can depend on him, shown by the line given to us immediately after George’s line, “For a moment Lennie lay quiet, and then he said hopefully, ‘We gonna work on a ranch, George’” (Steinback 9). Constantly having someone rely on you while not receiving any stability back is immensely draining. This has led George to take on a more serious, and aggressive nature, not being able to let himself be carefree and loose. His desire for Lennie has also led him to feel as if he needed to kill Lennie himself, gaining the burden of murdering a close
To What Extent Is Lennie Responsible For Curleys Death
647 Words | 3 PagesCrooks’ loneliness is more noticeable because he states to Lennie, “ A guy needs somebody-- to be near him” (74). Crooks is African American, and is discriminated by the other men on this farmland. He doesn't have any friends, so all he can do is his job and then come back to read or sit by himself, alone, watching the men in the bunkhouse play cards and have fun. George’s loneliness is hidden but still present. George would love to leave Lennie and have his own life without having to babysit his friend.
How Are George And Lennie Alike
803 Words | 4 PagesIn a way, George was like a parent or a big brother to Lennie. He scolded Lennie and yelled at him, but, all in all, George was just looking out for him. Readers see how George is like a guardian to Lennie in the first chapter when George says, “Lennie!... For god’ sakes don’t drink so much... Lennie.
How Did George And Lennie Compliment Each Other
655 Words | 3 PagesGeorge made this statement which gives insight into how lonely he would have be without Lennie by his side. Lennie and George spent a lot of time together, sharing meals, working, and traveling. They became very close almost like family. George became very protective of Lennie and didn’t want any harm to come to him. He knew that without Lennie, he would be all alone with nothing to look forward
How Does Steinbeck Present Lennie's Intentions In Of Mice And Men
1001 Words | 5 PagesThis also shows the overpowering control George has over Lennie’s conscience, and the consequence that Lennie can’t remember his own actions, only the stories George repeats. He is never truly angry with Lennie for his petty mistakes, he is simply thinking of the limitations of their dreams because of Lennie’s unpredictable actions. It seems George can only control Lennie by threatening him with the thing he cares about most which is the farm, “But you ain’t gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won’t let you tend the rabbits” he threatens, trying to make Lennie remember the importance of his actions (36). George is constantly complaining that he could have a better life and even have a farm without Lennie to look after, but he also wants a companion. Lennie is often simple minded and easily influenced, but intuitive enough to manipulate George’s loneliness, “If you don’t want me George I can go up in that cave over there and leave,” George quickly denies this saying “No, look I was just foolin’ Lennie, ‘cause I want you to stay with me” (20).
How Does George Kill Lennie's Death
906 Words | 4 PagesGeorge knows that if Lennie lives a life, it'll cause them both trouble. Like in the instance where he killed a man's wife, in which the author writes “And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” (Steinbeck 91) Lennie murdered a woman, so he needs to be shot for his actions. So then George kills Lennie, the author writes in regard to this “Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, lay without quivering.”
How Does Steinbeck Use Of Foreshadowing In Of Mice And Men
1170 Words | 5 PagesGeorge, obviously the leader of the group, is always watching over Lennie making sure that everything he says and does will hopefully put them in a better position to get them to their dream. Though Lennie is not the brightest person, he doesn't fully understand why George wants so much out of him, resulting in George getting mad at him very easily... George states, “He’s so god damn dumb. Like what happened in weed.”
The Measure Of Friendship In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
1066 Words | 5 PagesSo, for the most part, George talks for him and always makes up excuses as to why things happen. George does his best to keep him “in check”, but it proves to be harder than it appears. Throughout the book, George was a loyal friend to Lennie because he saved Lennie from
Lennie Cruel
652 Words | 3 Pages“When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts. I never get no peace” (Steinbeck 12). George does not lie and tells Lennie how good of a life he could of have. This quote shows that he is always thinking about how much money or how much easier his life would be without Lennie always holding him back. Ever since Lennie was a boy George has been taking care of him, and he never stops getting into trouble.
Obstacles In Of Mice And Men
719 Words | 3 PagesBeing friends with Lennie has led to sacrificing things in George’s life. In the first chapter, we get this message clearly when In a forest George goes off on Lennie when he keeps complaining about wanting Ketchup on his beans when they do not have ketchup George goes on to tell Lennie all the things he could do if he didn’t have to take care of Lennie and to finish it off he says “I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get“ (Steinbeck 11). George chooses to stay with Lennie despite losing things that would make his life more comfortable. He also chooses to kill Lennie at the end of the book because he doesn’t want the Mob looking for Lennie to kill him and his last moments to be filled with fear.
Examples Of Euthanasia In Of Mice And Men
655 Words | 3 PagesThey will say that George is constantly annoyed with having to deal with Lennie and that he kills him to relieve himself of his presence. In reality, George is only temporarily frustrated with Lennie, finding him inconvenient at times, but he does not dislike Lennie. He only gets upset with him from time to time, just as anyone would. Another example people bring up for the case of George murdering Lennie, is that he was a burden, stopping him from finding work, keeping a job, and getting him into trouble. George does not actually see Lennie as a burden but is looking out for him after he promised Lennie’s Aunt Clara that he’d watch out for him.
Lennie's Wife Quotes
164 Words | 1 PagesLennie cares about George. Lennie always wanted to be with George because, he needed a companion, but he may have trusted him a bit too much. “I turn to Lennie and say jump in and he jumps, couldn’t swim a stroke. He damn near drowned. "(Steinbeck, 40)
The Influence Of Dreams In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
729 Words | 3 PagesAccording to the text “All the time he coulda had such a good time if it wasn’t for you. he woulda took his pay and raised hell in the whore house, and he coulda set in a pool room an’ played snooker, but he gotta take care of you” (Page#101, Steinbeck). This basically proves and enforces the reality that Lennie influences almost every part of Georges life. This also shows that George could have had a good life, even a better life if his dream of being able to take care of Lennie did not become a burden upon himself and influenced his life so greatly. Everything that George did or tried to do was always influenced by Lennie’s wellbeing.
Examples Of George's Motives For Killing Lennie
416 Words | 2 PagesYou do bad things and I got to get you out”(11). This meaning that if Lennie wasn’t in George’s life then George could have kept a job and be able to only care for himself. Plus, Lennie did cause so much
Friendship In Of Mice And Men
715 Words | 3 PagesIn John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s is revealed through a simple story of ranch workers who hope to improve their lives. Migrant workers, George and Lennie, have a friendship that is based on trust and protection. The other workers lack the companionship and bond that these two men have. In the novel, the absence and presence of friendship is the motivation for the characters’ actions.
George Do The Right Thing
652 Words | 3 PagesIt is clear that George did not have the right to end Lennie 's life in such a selfish way. George always talks to Lennie about how fabulous they are when they are together at their own ranch and from day to day I end up with their life in a very cruel way. In conclusion, it can be said that George 's reasons for ending George 's life were enough to do so since Lennie was a very dependent person and could not stand alone. George tried to help him at all times as far as he could, but still Lennie was still in serious trouble, that 's precisely the reason why George wanted to prevent Lennie suffering in the future because he realized that he could not live alone.
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