Of Mice and Men Essay As Thomas Aquinas states, “There is nothing on this earth more prized than true friendship.” Friends cheer each other up when they are sad and support them when they are happy. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, two migrant workers, George and Lennie, arrive as newcomers on the ranch. Throughout the story, different problems are thrown their way, and their friendship is tested with each one. George shows how true friendship requires sacrifice because friends sacrifice personal freedom, they protect each other, and they sacrifice emotional energy. True friendship requires sacrifice because people sacrifice freedom for their friends. George constantly complains to Lennie about how he could live his own free life if he didn’t have …show more content…
Lennie is unaware of his own strength, and accidentally kills Curley’s wife, which causes George to weigh Lennie’s options. He decides that killing Lennie would be the best option, and, after delivering the killing bullet, Carlson asks George how he does it. George stiffly sits on the bank, and his “voice was almost a whisper. He looked steadily at this right hand that had held the gun” (107). The fact that George acts very calm and quiet indicates that he is in deep shock. The trauma from killing Lennie really deals a blow to George’s energy. George himself would be happy if his friend did not have to die, but he is completely aware of how it is the option that is best for Lennie. Shooting Lennie causes George to experience deep sorrow, anxiety, and anguish. He feels emotionally drained and tired, which he could avoid by just leaving Lennie alive, but he sacrifices his own emotional health to benefit Lennie. If Lennie was not George’s good friend, George would not invest so much of his own happiness. Friends not only have to deal with their own problems, but also have to sacrifice more energy by managing their friends’ as
Friend look out for one another. Lennie and George are always saying that they have to stick up for one another. Lennie and George are talking about their dreams are Lennie kills Curley's wife. “ Because I got you an’- An’ I got you” (104). Even through the hard times they still have each others backs. They still love each other. Trust hold relationships together and having each others backs makes that relationship
Good friendships make life easier. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is about two men, George and Lennie, who go on various journeys in order to get a job. Although George would consider Lennie to be his closest friend, he ultimately ends up shooting and killing Lennie. George did this, not out of hatred, but rather out of protection. A good friend will always want what is best for one another. Steinbeck uses his protagonists’ friendship in order to show that true friendship can help make any of life’s hardships less difficult.
The true meaning of friendship can make a person think or do things for someone they never thought they would do. In the story, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows many good qualities in men who have so little such as their dreams, caring for each other, and their sacrifices. George and Lennie’s relationship shows us the true meaning of friendship.
Many conflicts start to pull George and Lennie apart throughout the whole book. George gets tired of dealing with all the bad thing Lennie does, therefore he ends up killing his best friend as much as he did not want to. When Lennie killed Curley’s wife George knew it was over so George decided to put a end to his missery before someone else killed him. George is forced to shoot Lennie in the back of the head because of the incident that occured. The men do not understand why a best friend would kill another best friend so they all leave in confusion. The only person who understands is Slim. Slim knows what George goes through and understands why he did it. Friendship has to end somewhere no matter how deep the friendship is.
In the book, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, there are two migrant workers that form an unlikely pair and travel together. George is small and is brilliant and Lennie is big but has the mind of a child. Because Lennie is not intelligent, he requires George to take care of him. At the end of the story, Lennie gets into big trouble and will face a death penalty until George makes the hard decision to shoot Lennie and end his life. This raises the question that asks if George and Lennie are true friends. They are true friends because they both help each other and push each other to be better while also looking out for each other in Salinas where they work as ranch workers . This is because George understands Lennie and protects Lennie. While George does help Lennie, Lennie also provides George with companionship and a goal to work towards.
Imagine being discriminated against because of your ethnicity; or being the only woman on a ranch, stuck in a loveless marriage, when all you really want is someone to talk to. What about having to kill that friend, and bury all chances of breaking free from the life of the average migrant worker? How would you feel? These scenarios in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men illustrate the need and desire for companionship in life. There's Crooks, the negro stable buck; Curley's wife, whose marriage to Curley hasn't exactly been lively; and George and Lennie, whose friendship is strong enough to get them to a better life and out of the negetive cycle that the average migrant worker became trapped in during the Great Depression.
In life, people regularly encounter new friends in various places at different times. However, they are usually unaware of who their real friends are. What is the conceptual meaning of a friend? A person who you talk to occasionally? A person who supports you from the back? What is the correct description of a real friend? In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, the story depicts a story of ranch workers during Great Depression in 1939 as they struggle to survive the cruel world undergoing an economic crisis. Throughout the book, the characters, George, Lennie, Slim, and others develop certain levels of friendships and bonds among them, which the author utilizes them to explore the diverse values of friendships. The interactions between
Is the love of your friend unconditional? Would you care for them if they were mentally retarded? What if they had unpredictable behavior that could be lethal to others? This was the daily life and burden of George in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. George and Lennie are great friends that are two migrant workers in California during the 1920s. George is physically a small man that takes care Lennie. Lennie is unaware of his largeness and strength that has a gentle heart and likes to pet soft things. The story begins when the two men are dropped off by a bus two miles away from the destination of the farm they are going to work at. George and Lennie stop by a river to get a drink of water before they walk to the farm. When George takes a sip of water, he notices that Lennie is hiding something in his pocket. So George asks Lennie what it is, Lennie pulls out a dead mouse. Lennie says that it feels soft and he likes to pet it. George, out of fear, takes the dead mouse and throws it into the river. George tells Lennie that he could get really sick from the mouse.
Do you ever fight with your longtime best friend over something huge, and end up losing them in the aftermath? George and Lennie have been traveling with each other for a long time, but as they are on the verge of their dream Lennie goes and messes it up, which causes George to have to do something he never wanted to do. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, it has a common theme of friendship. Friendship is what carries people throughout their lives, and without it life could be very hard. George’s friendship was the only reason why Lennie had survived all this time as seen through the conflict .
While reading and evaluating Of Mice and Men (1937) by the famed novelist John Steinbeck, the several relationships in the story reveal both true, authentic friendship, as well as the opposite, sad, desperate degrees of loneliness and plummeting isolation. Similar to the people that we come across in our lives, a handful of the characters in Of Mice and Men portray false faces of contentment, yet in actuality, they are alone and caught feeling stuck and empty on the inside. On the other hand, there are numerous representations of sincere friendships that seem as if they could last a lifetime. There are also episodes of different characters being vulnerable and straightforward with each other in a frantic attempt to have someone
As Audrey Hepburn said “True friends are families which you can select”. George chose to take care of Lennie and chose to help him out, know matter how stupid of a thing Lennie did. George did stick with Lennie through all the bad things he did and has helped him so much. Except, at the end of the book Lennie killed Curley's wife so George shot him in the back of the head. George was not justified in killing him because Lennie killed her by accident, Lennie could of just served jail time, and George could’ve hid Lennie at the barn they were going to buy.
Coming from the known philosopher, Aristotle, “With true friendship, friends love each other for their own sake, and they wish good things for each other”(Knobel). In Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, there are numerous points of view and arguments over George and Lennie's friendship. The novella focuses on two farm workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, who struggle to keep their jobs and eventually move to a new ranch. With the dream of owning their own land one day, they plan on working there for a few months in hopes of Lennie not getting into trouble again. Lennie does not know his own strength and often gets himself into difficult situations without completely understanding what he did wrong. It is undoubtedly the reason George ends up fatally shooting Lennie in the end before Curley does. Although friendship involves looking out for one another, Steinbeck demonstrates that sometimes the most difficult decisions can be an act of love.
This is important because it shows that George wants to be alone but does not truly want to be lonely. Lennie is George’s responsibility. George views Lennie as a brother, friend, and partner in crime. Without Lennie, George is lonely but he knows that he saves Lennie from his own personal misery in the end. George knows he needs Lennie just as much as Lennie needs him. He needs his friendship and is lonely after he takes that friendship away from himself.
Traveling around California are two best friends, George Milton and Lennie Smalls. Their relationship demonstrates the various characteristics that are shown in a community. In the novella “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, there are numerous examples that establish what it means to be part of a community; which proves it exemplifies the important traits shown in a community the best out of other books read. Throughout the novella, there are countless examples that demonstrate what it means to be part of a community; this includes friendships, the American dream, and teamwork.
Friendship is a characteristic in which one will remain loyal to the other companion. George remains with Lennie after his actions cause catastrophe. Lennie’s size stirs conflict between what he touches. The mental disability to come in contact with soft objects results into the consequence of death for the victim or exile for Lennie. “”Even when his misguided actions lead to the commission of crime, however, Lennie is treated with great compassion by George whose views represent those of the novelist” (Beachman 3024). The faith in which George has for Lennie keeps the two companions together. After Lennie causes devastation to other people, George has the duty to flee the country without getting caught. Therefore, George achieves Aunt Clara job for keeping George safe with