Lennie's Loneliness Quotes

Chapter 1
Cruelty & Isolation
Q: “’God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble… An’ whatta I got,’ George went on furiously. ‘I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get... You crazy son-of-a-bitch… I wisht I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an’ let you have fun.’” (Steinbeck 10).

C: This is an aha-moment for George as he is realizing what he could do without Lennie. Lennie kept annoying George by taking dead mice and forgetting where they were going. Then when he asked George for ketchup, George grew very frustrated with him. He went on to talk about how he could live so much better without Lennie and how Lennie was always something that was holding George back from the potential he had. This is showing cruelty because during this time, it seems that

The Boss is very confused by George & Lennie’s relationship and it does not occur to him that George and Lennie are close friends. This shows how in those times it was normal for everybody to be isolated from each other and for everybody to only care about themselves.

Kindness & Importance of Friendship
Q: “’We travel together,’ said George coldly. ‘Oh, so it’s that way.’ George was tense and motionless. ‘Yea, it’s that way.’” (Steinbeck 24)

C: The quote shows that George was willing to defend Lennie from anyone. When Curley tried to talk to Lennie and George answered for him, Curley seemed almost angry about this. He started talking to George in a harsh way and while George could’ve easily just backed off and let Lennie talk to this tough person, he stood up for Lennie and talked back to Curley. This will be significant to the story because now Curley knows that Lennie and George will stand up for each other and he will not challenge either one of them. This quote shows how strong their friendship