Steinbeck has shown throughout this story that friendship is an important factor to living a happy life, that everyone needs to have company at least once in awhile to enjoy life just a little. Steinbeck shows this through the changing emotions of the characters throughout the story. People always need to have at least one friend to make them happy in life, Steinbeck shows this throughout the novel by showing that at first Lennie wasn’t very happy always living on the run and starting new jobs all the time but once he realizes that George is always going to be with him and protect him he starts to become happy and states that he is starting to like it at the new job on the farm. Most people in the world that are lonely are often not happy …show more content…
Lennie asks George many times if he should go run away off into the mountains and leave him alone. At first in the story it seems like George is almost obligated to take care of Lennie but once Lennie offers to run away George tells him no that they have each other and they always will, this shows that George actually needs and cares about Lennie. They are all nervous about the new job at the farm but after a while working there and they realize that they have each other they start to like the new job. Once Lennie gets into some more trouble this is the last time. George cares about Lennie so much that he ends up killing him. The reason he killed him is because he didn’t want him suffering from the wrath of curley . Killing a friend would be the most important decision someone could ever make but the reason he does it in this story is because George loves Lennie as a friend and couldn’t see him get …show more content…
One very important character that shows a huge change in the story is Candy. When George and Lennie first arrive at the barn Candy is a very quiet guy. He is very shy and does not really talk to anyone but his dog, but as soon as he hears George and Lennie talking about the dream they have planned for the future he got all excited and became more outgoing and wanted to join in the conversation. Everytime after that point Candy was always happy and enjoying life knowing that he will be able to have freedom after this
George thought he was doing the right thing by killing Lennie, but he only did it in self-interest. He didn't want to face repercussions or consequences for the things Lennie had done. Even though George says continuously throughout the story that he would look out for Lennie, he still ended up betraying him. George expressed his want to distance himself from Lennies crime after him and Candy found Curley’s wife’s body in the barn on pg. 95 when he states, “O.K. give me a couple of minutes then, and you come runnin’out an’ tell like you jus’ found her.
Unfortunately, Lennie is indirectly the only person holding back the dreams of George. Going into the ranch the two of them work at, George was already cautious about the kind of behavior Lennie displayed. He emphasized to Lennie to remain in his best behavior so that everything could go as planned. Candy, an elderly man missing a hand devotes all his money to the same dream that George and Lennie have. They were all so close to moving on until Lennie ruined their dreams.
The Mice And Men The great depression was caused by a number of things including overproduction of goods by companies into an economy that already had enough problems as is. With the stock market and inequalities in wealth, the author of the mice and men was influence/was influenced by racism, the great depression and We can see that by not only the way they refer to african americans by “nigger”. Also the way the author depicted the towns it kind of made me think this is how towns in the great depression were. Mice and Men not only shows racism but you can tell in what was the great depression influenced the writers reading.
They 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.
George and Lennie consider each other family, George is like a brother to Lennie, they have a companionship that everyone wishes they had. George and Lennie travel and work together. Although George promised Lennie’s aunt Clara that he would take care of him and feels an extent of burden; Lennie’s friendship helps George stay focused on their American Dream and keeps him sane. In one instance, George says, “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail.
”(72) he can’t believe that something like that would happen to George that will leave him alone. After George had scolded him had replies ”If you don 't want me I can go off an’ find a cave. I can go away any time”(13). He requests that it would better off for George and everyone else if he is alone, even though he wants someone to talk to and be with. None of the other people really like Lennie on the farm and especially when the climax of the story happened he was dreadfully hated.
In ‘Of Mice and Men’ George and Lennie’s relationship is pivotal throughout the novella. Steinbeck uses the relationship to present many of the novella’s themes, such as friendship. George and Lennie’s relationship is especially pertinent considering the loneliness of American life during the Great Depression as presented in ‘Of Mice and Men’. At the beginning of the novella, Steinbeck does not present George and Lennie as equals. This is seen through the way they “walked single file down the path”.
Before George killed Lennie, he made Lennie feel even worse about himself and said, “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” (120). George made Lennie feel even more guilty throughout the story, and this has a lot to do with Lennie’s behavior. Lennie never really had support from George, and he was already dealing with a mental disorder. So, on top of that, Lennie could never feel any sense of belonging, which led to his poor decisions, which then led to George having to kill him, before he was killed by
George says “ If I was alone I could live so easy” (Steinbeck 103) This demonstrates that his life would be better without Lennie around. A good friendship would want their friends to stick by them, but George wants Lennie to go
In the book ¨Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck¨,George and Lennie have a very strong and brotherly relationship. George and Lennie's friendship matter to the reader because it shows that you need companionship to give you hope. Their relationship affect both character because they depend on each other equally, for example Lennie is mentally challenged and George is like his leader and guide for Lennie in the right track. George also needs Lennie because in the novel Lennie is George's dream and if you don't have a dream you have nothing. The large meaning of George and Lennie’s friendship shows the reader that you need championship to help you achieve your dreams.
The relationship between the characters George and Lennie is a strong example of friendship in this novel. George and Lennie had been friends since they were kids; Lennie has always relied on George to get him out of tough situations since he is mentally challenged. When George and Lennie had arrived at the ranch the boss was wondering why Lennie couldn’t speak for himself; and that is when George had to step in, “George said, ‘He’s my … cousin. I told his old lady I’d take care of him.
It 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.
Lennie had his friend to help him in this hard life. George, a man who is smart and fast at taking action, this friendship that they had, created a bond that nobody else had in this novel. They were like brothers who saved each other, they had dreams together that they wanted to reach. Although that most people at that time -The Great Depression- suffered majorly from and loneliness and despair, men had to leave their families -if they had any- just to get a minimum wage job; families had to live a life that was autonomous with no goal, just to feed their kids -George and Lennie were different.
What is right and what must be done are two different concepts. Often times, life requires people to do what must be done in order to save themselves, or others, from negative consequences. The characters in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men illustrate how people implement remorseful decisions with astute intentions to help ease the consequences for those they care about. Lennie is a sizable, amicable guy.
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,