In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, two Depression-era ranch workers named George Milton and Lennie Smalls find themselves traveling around the country, looking for work. After Lennie’s Aunt Clara passes away, George is left to watch out for Lennie, who constantly finds himself in the middle of conflicts. He does everything he can to keep Lennie away from trouble, even if their close friendship raises suspicion at work. In the end, Lennie once again creates trouble for himself, only this time it’s worse and it’s up to George to protect him from facing consequences. The responsibility that George has for Lennie is overwhelming. George and Lennie’s relationship shows how George was forced to make a difficult decision in order to protect Lennie, which suggests that being responsible for a person can cause one to make strenuous decisions for their well-being.
Have you ever met someone whom you felt absolutely safe with, and felt that you can rely on them? Your friendship with that person may seem incomparable to others and can mean a lot. A true friendship can help you feel meaningful to others. In Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck, the friendship between George and Lennie shows how much George loves Lennie as a brother by giving him protection, and how Lennie has given George his entire love and companionship.
Lennie is in many ways helpless and does not know how to care for himself. George helps him by giving him short commands and telling him to repeat things to himself to remember things. George has no responsibility to take care of Lennie, yet George is willing to do anything for Lennie. ‘“When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin’. Got kinda used to each other after a little while.”’ (40) George takes care of Lennie because Lennie is his friend; George does not have to, but he wants to. George has no family, so having a friend with him gives him purpose in his troublesome life. George is supportive of and helpful to Lennie as a friend should
The words selfish and selfless are two completely different words with two completely different meanings, yet they get confused quite often. In “Of Mice and Men,” some readers may envision the character George as selfish or harsh towards Lennie, however, Steinbeck portrays George as selfless. George and Lennie find themselves in penurious situations very often. This is burdensome for George considering Lennie’s mental disability, and it should be expected that George will become infuriated with him at times. It is evident that George’s actions and words towards Lennie are selfless or caring represented by Lennie’s mental disability, his troublesome behavior, the life George could have without him, and why George kills him.
At the end of “Of Mice and Men” George is faced with grim decision of shooting his best friend and family member Lennie to ease both of their future pains. George has known Lennie for mostly all of his life and he knew that when Lennie was dead their dream of having a house would be over. George then makes up his mind and shoots Lennie making him think if it was the right decision or it was wrong. In this case the decision was right because of many reasons with one being that Lennie would never be able to survive in the world that they live in. Lennie had low brains and high strength, allowing him to get far with George helping him. But, Lennie never knowing when he did something wrong only put him on a clock before he would end up dying for something he didn’t understand. “They run us outta weed,”(Steinbeck 7) this quote shows that already at the beginning of the book Lennie has
Dear ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you to do one thing, imagine. Imagine you were in a foreign country with no money, friends, or possessions. Imagine you cannot speak the language and the culture is completely different than your natural environment. Imagine you have no control over your strength and you share your emotions in a dissimilar way. Imagine you are always dependent on someone else; you shadow their every step and word. You are now in the giant shoes of Lennie Smalls; he has a retardation (autism) that makes him unique and stand out of the run-of-the-mill crowd. On the day the horrific homicide took place, George Milton, the suspect, stole not only a Ruger gun but also an innocent
Friendship is something everyone needs to survive. Without friends, there is no one to look to in times of need; no one to support you . In the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, it is clear that George and Lennie are best friends who always stay together, even though their relationship is strained. But sometimes, friends must do what is best for the other. Due to this, it is clear that George was justified in killing Lennie at the end of the novel.
In 1937, John Steinbeck wrote a book called Of Mice and Men. The book was about two friends, Lennie Small and George Milton. George and Lennie traveled with each other to different places in California. Lennie relies on George for almost everything, and George slowly get sick of it. George is a small man, with strong features, and strong hands. George watches over, and takes care of Lennie. Lennie is a very large man with no features. George has taken on the role of taking care of Lennie, since they have been traveling. Lennie pushes and pushes George throughout the book, and like anyone else, George snapped.
George has to face the reality that he and Lennie may never get a place together. Lennie keeps getting himself into trouble, which is not helping their situation. George knows that Lennie is not “normal”. Most people similar to Lennie in the 1930’s were in asylums, however George would never let this happen. Lennie gets into trouble and George has to decide what he should do with Lennie, but first he has to face reality. Slim has just questioned George with a serious question. George has to debate whether or not he should tell Slim where Lennie went. If George tells him Lennie could die, on the other hand, if he does not tell him they will be on the run again. George has someone’s life in his hands and he has to do what he thinks is best. George has made a decision that could change his whole life. He decided what should happen to Lennie and who should be the one to do it.
What comes to mind when the word loyalty is mentioned? A dog, a pet, friends or family is what most people think of when the word is mentioned. However, many would not associate the word loyalty with loneliness. When John Steinbeck thought of loyalty he wrote of deep friendships and a dog and its owner’s love. Loyalty can be associated with loneliness because by the end of a friendship or family member, someone is always gone before the other, due to old age or a medical issue that has come up. In Of Mice and Men Steinbeck portrays the meaning of loyalty and loneliness by creating the feeling of love and loss between two friends, Lennie and George and an elderly man and his loyal senior dog. Loneliness and loyalty are shown through the relationships in
George and Lennie 's relationship is closer than most friendships now a days. George is like Lennie 's big brother and cares for him like their family. For example, when Lennie got in trouble in Weed, George did not leave him and helped him escape. Another example of George acting like a big brother to Lennie is, he holds on to Lennie 's work card so he does not lose it. George also really cares for Lennie and does not want him to leave. For example, when Lennie talks about leaving and living in a cave, George tells him that he has to stay with him to survive. George does not like to hurt Lennie 's feeling, even though he does yell at him a lot. For example, when George is saying he would be better off without Lennie, but when he sees Lennie
When asked what someone wants in a friend, a typical response would be loyalty. Best friends can not have a long term relationship without loyalty to one another, so people look for loyalty in a friend. However, loyalty comes with a cost. There are consequences of being loyal to others, like selflessness, devotion to the friendship, and more. Throughout Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, loyalty to others causes significant consequences because it can either result in harming oneself from selflessness, or abrupt betrayal.
“‘Well I ain’t never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is’” (Steinbeck 22). George was given the job of Lennie’s caretaker from Lennie’s aunt Clara. George and Lennie have worked many jobs together. After being run out of Weed, George and Lennie travel together to a farm in the Salinas Valley. George tries to protect Lennie from his own strength as well as the people around them who do not understand him. In a sense, George is Lennie’s protector. “‘I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me’” (Steinbeck 13).
This novel talks about the life in America during those times back in 1937 how many people struggled to live. Many people during those days lost their jobs. There was no welfare state or unemployment benefit. Disabled or old people had to depend on their families or charity and keep working for as long as they could. Everyone was so competitive in order to get a job. Men became ruthless while fighting for the limited jobs and resources. It talks about how a cruel world and work makes men cruel.
Ch 1: What is the relationship between George and Lennie? How is this relationship implied? Use textual evidence to support your answer.