The Purpose of Life
Friendship is one of the most important elements of life itself. In a way, friendship gives people a purpose, however it is difficult to understand. This idea is evident in the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. This book follows the lives of George and Lennie, who are trying to find work on a ranch so that they can live out their dream of buying their own ranch. Unfortunately, they encounter multiple hiccups on their journey, due to Lennie's mental disability. This story takes the reader through all of the ups and downs of George and Lennie's friendship, until one of them must make the ultimate sacrifice. George and Lennie show that friends not only make each other vulnerable, but they also give people a purpose in
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In the article Friendship in an Age of Economics, Todd May explains that, “If we are to have friends, then we must be willing to approach some among our relationships as offering an invitation to build something outside the scope of our own desires”. This is huge when it comes to George and Lennie. When angry, George often points out that he could be very successful without Lennie. He describes in great detail how great his life could be if he only had to worry about himself. He could spend all of his money on cat houses. Yet he’s still right by Lennie’s side, chasing a dream he has for both of them. He put his own desires to the side for a friend. That is what true friendship really consists of.
George and Lennie’s friendship is very strong, even if they have struggles every once in a while. Despite the fact that Lennie and George render each other weak, they also build each other right back up. Every time they get angry with each other, they are both quick to apologize. The bottom line is that they need each other. This is similar to real life. People must be able to get through the ups and the downs, but nobody can do it alone.
Works Cited
May, Tom. “Friendship in an Age of Economics.” New York Times 4th July 2010, https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/friendship-in-an-age-of-economics/
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Penguin Books,
There are many benefits and risks in George and Lennie's relationship. George and Lennie not at all like numerous, they needed to work amid the Great Depression. The benefits and risks in George and Lennies relationship is that George is the more cunning on that is normally continually assisting Lennie when he gets into trouble. Lennie draws out the best in George which is great in some routes on how they're both there for each other, their relationship might be truly entangled however that is the thing that keeps it up. You can tell their association is truly solid.
George is a true friend to Lennie because, even though he doesn’t show it all the time, he loves Lennie. He supports Lennie and his dreams to own a farm of rainbow bunnies, even though they don’t exist. According to the article “The Measure of Friendship” it states “it was okay to be an outcast, and what the true measure of friendship was” (Davis, Zac. " The measure of friendship.
From the day that Lennie’s Aunt Clara died and from the day George took Lennie in as a friend George was always there for him. If Lennie did not have George, Lennie would have no one to protect him and save him from all of the bad things that he has done. Despite all of the dangers and problems Lennie got George and himself into, George benefited and also learned from Lennie’s mistakes. George needs his ignorant sidekick as much as Lennie needs George.
Lennie 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)
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
Every time any character in the story gets attached or close to one another, something bad happens between the relationship and goes wrong. George is a very practical man. He gets the relationship between him and Lennie in a very practical way rather than being emotional. He can even kill another person just for his
Loyalty is one of the most important things you could ever ask for in a friendship. Without loyalty, the friendship is far from genuine. George and Lennie declare their loyalty to each other many times
In ‘Of Mice and Men’, written by John Steinbeck, friendship is portrayed as one of the main themes in this novella and a very important part of people’s lives. Steinbeck also portrays friendship by highlighting the importance of friendship and showing how its presence and absence can trigger many positive and negative emotions. Its presence creates hope, feeling of companionship and a sense of responsibility. In spite of friendship’s presence creating positive feelings, its absence does the complete opposite. It generates a feeling of loneliness and isolation.
No piece of literature should ever be ban : Of Mice and Men should not be ban from young adults and libraries. The literature classic promotes good life lessons for students to learn from such as friendship and motivation. Simply banning the book would contradict the right of free press under the first amendment of the constitutions. The book also provides a considerable amount of historical context. Even though the book contains a tremendous amount of racism , sexism , and vulgar language , in today’s media , we are exposed to a similar content.
George treated Lennie like a brother, he loved Lennie very dearly from the beginning to the
George always wanted to get rid Lennie but, his bond with Lennie made it hard for him to ever let go. “We got a future”(Steinbeck 14) this quote shows how while George is a hot head, he cares for Lennie and always wanted him to know they were family and they had something to look forward to. George and Lennie’s past shows that George used to take advantage over Lennie, “I’ve beat the hell outta him, and he could bust every bone in my body…,but he never lifted a finger against me”(Steinbeck 40). Lennie could have smashed every bone in George’s body, but never raised a finger towards George showing that their bond was stronger than family. George and Lennie cared for each more than family from the beginning and show it throughout the story with making the choice of George ending Lennie’s life absolutely agonizing, but the right
In John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men there are a lot of themes. The themes consist of friendship, loneliness, discrimination and dreams. All of these themes are important, and play immense role in the outcome at the end. The major theme is that friends stick together; unconditionally; this is demonstrated through Lennie and George's actions in Weed, in the bunk house, and in the aftermath of Curly's wife's death. One example of true friends sticking together is exemplified when George stays with Lennie after Lennie's actions in Weed.
Close friendships are something everyone has at one point in their lifetime. Friends understand and care for one another and create and sense of purpose in life. John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men takes the readers back to an era called the Great Depression in the 1930s on a California ranch. It tells the story of two men with different personalities that work and travel together hoping to achieve their dreams for the future. George and Lennie, the main characters of the novel share a genuine friendship that no one seems to understand.
In 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.
Ch 1: George complains about having to take care of Lennie, though continues to travel with him. Why might George keep Lennie around? What does this suggest about George’s character? George might keep Lennie around because workers like them are the loneliest guys in the world.