George sacrifices the chance to have a better and more fulfilled life to stay with Lennie. First, when George was introducing himself and Lennie to their new boss, he said, “I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy.” This shows that George was portraying that he cares about Lennie enough to be picked up on by others. He was willing to lie about being Lennie’s cousin to get him a job. Also, when George and Lennie were talking to each other at their camp spot George said, “I could get along so easy and nice If I didn’t have you on my tail.” By saying this, it shows his willingness to give up some good in life for another person. It also shows what negative outcomes can come out of doing this. For example, he also said, “I could
“Honesty and loyalty are key. If two people can be honest with each other about everything, that's probably the biggest key to loyalty” Taylor Lautner. This relates to the novel by John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men by showing that two men that are honest with each other will have loyalty in their friendship. George was loyal to Lennie even after all of the scandalous acts, Curley wanted to make sure his wife is safe and another significant example is Candy’s dog was Candy’s best friend. These three examples show that friends should be loyal to the extent that they do not inflict unnecessary suffering like Georges tolerance for Lennie, Curley's allegiance to his wife and Candy’s devotion for his dog.
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
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.
Lennie’s mental difficulties often frustrate George, and at times he lashes out at Lennie. When Lennie complains, George explodes, “‘Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want. God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy’”(Steinbeck 11). Lennie doesn’t understand that George can’t give him everything. At times, George gets angry that he always has to support Lennie, “‘You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get’”(11). George always has to come to Lennie’s aid when he gets into trouble, “‘You do bad things and I got to get you out’”(11). These issues dishearten George, because he is forced to constantly travel to new places to stay ahead of the law. Even when he isn’t with Lennie, George still complains. When talking to Slim, he says, ‘“Lennie’s a God damn nuisance most of the time’”(41). Overall, George believes that even though Lennie is a loyal friend, he is a pain to deal
On page 92 it says, “ But Curley’s gonna want to shoot ‘im. Curley’s still mad about his hand. An’ s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain’t no good, George.” This quote shows that George did the right thing because if he didn’t Lennie could have gotten locked up or in a cage.
Within the novel it states, “Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it” (Steinbeck 15). This quote shows that Lennie is causing distraught to George, leaving him to potentially ruin their future. Also, George took in Lennie when Lennie’s Aunt left him to George, so George trusted Lennie to not cause trouble to his passion. Something distinct to an individual, a personality trait, is shown in Lennie as his behavior results in him making unwilling choices towards others. George shooting Lennie in the back of the head was a good choice, as he was causing to much harm to George, as George has to watch over him. Finally, Lennie’s death occurred as he does to much to the town and Curley, and putting Lennie out of his misery was a good choice.
Lennie cannot change his mental disability nor can Crooks change his race, but due to these inalterable characteristics, Lennie hurts others unintentionally, and Crooks is hurt by others. “Naturalism does not deal primarily with individuals in themselves, but rather with social groups, settings, or movements…”( ), which relates to the story, because Lennie’s actions not only affect him and his future, but the other characters in the book. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the concept of naturalism is portrayed through the experiences of Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks.
Some decisions you have to make in life are so difficult that we would rather not have to deal with them. George Milton had to decide the fate of his closest friend’s life. Lennie Small, a character from John Steinback’s book Of Mice and Men, is a childlike adult that George looks after. They were best friends until he accidentally killed the wife of their boss’s son. George had to decide whether or not he would kill Lennie mercifully, or let the rest of the worker's murder him. I believe George should have killed Lennie because he has hurt people, can’t control himself, and would have probably ended up in a horrible mental institution anyway.
George and Lennie, prominent characters in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, are migrant workers—men who move from place to place to do seasonal work— who end up in California and are faced with numerous problems. Set in the era of the great depression, the story of Lennie and George, two very different men who have formed a family-like union, takes place on a farm where Lennie struggles to stay out of trouble. Having committed an unintentional, harmful act, Lennie is faces severe consequences; and George must decide to make a necessary decision which changes the mood of the entire novel. By the comparison and contrast of George and Lennie, unique characters who are very different from each other, the reader can better acquaint himself
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.
Throughout the book George calls Lennie a “crazy bastard”. Although, George uses foul language toward Lennie, his actions show his compassion and caring. George even contradicts some of his own put-downs towards Lennie as seen on when he compliments Lennie’s work ethic, saying, “he is a hell of a good worker and strong as a bull” (pg 22). Another argument that George is a bad friend to Lennie is the fact that George shot Lennie. It is true that George shot Lennie, but what some do not understand is why this occurred. George and Lennie had already run from one place because of Lennie’s actions, and now they had to be on the run again. The question arose that a life of running from bad things was not a life at all. Also, George knew that if the ranchers were to catch Lennie, they would kill him as revenge for killing Curley's wife. At the very least, George would be thrown into jail and he due to his mental disability, he would not even comprehend the reason for his incarceration. George’s compassion for Lennie made him believe that there was no other choice but to shoot Lennie himself preventing Lennie from suffering the at the hands of the
Literature that stimulates the feeling of pity, sympathy and sorrow is Pathos. The two pieces of literature express pathos in different lights, showcasing a rollercoaster of emotions for the reader. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men and Christie McLaren’s article “Suitcase Lady” both expose heartache and social inequalities to deduce the feeling of commiseration.
What would be the feelings of one who had to shoot one close to them? Would it be remorse or guilt? How about the thoughts of justified killings; is there such a thing? Two people named George and Lennie are put in a situation like this. It involves a death, two actually. Lennie killed, the farm owners son, Curley’s wife by accident. The whole situation causes George to make a life changing decision; to kill Lennie or not kill him. He makes the choice of killing him. Many people believe George was justified in killing someone very close to him, his best friend, Lennie because he would have had a slow, painful death if he had not. Others believe he was not justified in killing him. Just because he was George’s best friend did not give him any reason to shoot him. Lennie is a person that is childish, a little slow, and irresponsible adult. George is his caretaker that is responsible, caring, and a wiry person.
One reason George is justified in killing Lennie is due to the fact that Lennie is dangerous in the way that he isn’t aware of his own strength. This then leads to the constant cycle of Lennie doing “bad things” with each action becoming both more serious and dangerous. When he saw a girl in a red dress, he reached out to touch it. The girl screamed and “...Lennie’s so scared that all he can think to do is jus’ hold on.” (p. 41, line 29) They had to escape out of Weed because Lennie was incapable of knowing where to draw the line regarding to what he can and cannot do. Another action that displayed the threat Lennie is was when he accidentally killed his puppy. He said to Curley’s wife, “...I made it like I was gonna smack him...an’...an’ I done it. An’ then he was dead.” (p. 87, line 14) Lennie does not understand how much strength he