True Friendship In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

"Of Mice and Men" is a book about two men and their struggle to achieve their dream of owning a small ranch through their companionship. The two men are completely different, one being a retarded fellow (Lennie), and the other, a typical ranch hand(George) who travels with him. On the path to achieving their dream, they run into obstacles, but stick together, stressing the importance of true friendship. Steinbeck wrote this book to tell us how important it is to have a friend to share your life with.

Solidifying the theme of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the protagonist George expresses his significant loneliness despite a strong kinship with his friend Lennie, “’I ain’t got no people… I seen the guys that go around the ranches alone. That ain’t no good’” (41). Published in 1937, amidst the horrific turmoil of the Great Depression, Steinbeck’s novella struck a sensitive chord with readers. Set in the heart of California’s Central Valley, this story follows two men, George and Lennie, as they run from old shadows to a new farm for work. Clinging to the distant dream of owning their own piece of land, the men imagine life outside their present difficulties. Illustrating that life is varied by emotional complexities beyond black and white, George’s longing for companionship and family seep through in conversations with his new co-worker Slim. Despite Lennie’s sheer physical strength, his mental abilities are limited to that of a naïve, innocent, and very young boy; the result is a relationship akin to an uncle and nephew. Lennie, with primal-like behaviors and a gold-fish memory, struggles to adhere to George’s words of wisdom. In the end, tragedy strikes them both as George is forced to kill Lennie due to an accident with the son of the landowner’s wife – a woman who looks for trouble at the onset. Consequently, George’s state of loneliness is bequeathed to a new level as he begins to imagine life without Lennie in tow.

On multiple occasions, the need for companionship using George's relationship with Lennie is portrayed throughout the novel by John Steinbeck. This is first done by showing how George cannot stand the thought of him and Lennie being separated. Lennie says, "'Cause I can jus' as well go away George an' live in a cave." "You can jus' as well go to hell," George responded. (Steinbeck 16) This suggests that George depends on Lennie too, but emotionally rather than mentally. Additionally, the author shows that no matter what Lennie does, George still loves him. George says, "No, Lennie. I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know." (Steinbeck 106) This passage implies that though Lennie may have been a nuisance,

When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin”. (Steinbeck pg.40) George spends a lot of time looking after Lennie because he is a bit vacuous, he has the mentality of a child. Many times George gets frustrated with Lennie because he tends to cause trouble. George explains this when he says:

Steinbeck portrays the need for companionship during the story through Lennie and George’s characters. They have been acquainted with each other since they were adolescents. George communicates to Slim that when Aunt Clara died, he took over responsibility and they’ve been together ever since. This tells us how George and Lennie grew to become so attached to one another and how they encountered. These characters always seem to exonerate and realize the importance for one another. Lennie repeats “But not us! An’ why because…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.” (Steinbeck 14). This quote shows that this happens frequently, considering Lennie memorized it, but still they don’t leave each other.

One way that Steinbeck shows this the book is: “We’re gonna have a little house and a couple acres an’ a cow and some pigs” (14). This is just a constant reminder that kept pushing them forward and working towards their dream. “An’ I can tend the rabbits” (14). By Lennie saying this, it reminds George and Lennie himself that their dream isn’t far out of reach. George and Lennie decide to talk to candy about sharing the dream between themselves. “If me and Lennie work a month an’ don’t spend nothing we’ll have a hundred bucks” (60). Talking about their dream keeps reminding them that they are one step closer to

In the novel, “Of Mice and Men,” John Steinbeck emphasizes how solitude is sustained through inhumane boundaries made by one another among the characters of the novel. Analyzing further into its context, Steinbeck claims the barbarity of isolation with only the friability of self-hope. Evoking the characteristics of the George and Lennie’s friendship , and intending to compare it to the real world, Steinbeck exposes the necessity for friendship in a striving path toward a possible benefitting future. The theme of solitude within the striving path to fulfilling a dream, demonstrates that friendship is vital as it is evident through the characters of George, Lennie, Crooks and Curley’s wife. Evident as it is that the personality of George makes a dramatic contrast with Lennie’s actions, both of their

George and Lennie care about Lennie because they are Long Lasting, they always had each other’s back and always

This is not the only time George has shown his true feelings about Lennie. At the very end of the book, George kills Lennie because he knows that it's the best option, and that he was the one who needed to do it. This is just one example, but the power of George and Lennie's friendship recurred multiple times throughout the

- pg 72 This shows how much George believes that he and Lennie could stand one day. He is willing to continue the dream George told. Though Lennie's character is the complete opposite to George, he at least cared for him and has support on his side. Either way, George has a companion that supports them to their

George often times became frustrated with having to take care of Lennie and lashed out often. He would lash out towards Lennie, but never meant any harm. “If this reminds you of a kid imitating his dad, then you're on the right track… He can't remember anything; he fixates on things like owning rabbits; and he's painfully eager to make George happy.” (Shmoop) George acted as a role model and guardian for Lennie. He took care of him on a daily bases along with teaching him life lessons. As George made the bold decision to kill Lennie he also killed his American Dream. A dream that the two close friends had worked on their entire lives together to achieve vanished before their

Sarah Dessen once said, “Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend.” Friendship is one of life’s greatest gifts, but it can be hard to come by. Making friends is not always the easiest task. Some people are too shy to talk to others, they simply don’t bond well with others, or maybe they distrust others. Distrust is the what keeps characters in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck from making friends.

Friendship and happiness were both difficult to find during the Great Depression, but a lucky few had both. Of Mice and Men tells the story of two friends, George and Lennie, who find themselves on a ranch in pursuit of their dreams. Unfortunately for them, circumstances beyond their control cost Lennie and George their dream and much more. John Steinbeck wrote about how the main characters all demonstrate happiness when they have friendship.

The nature of their friendship is like no other but the depth of their care and love they have for each other is as obvious for me too see, it is the things they say ,what they do and why they do it, They travel from place to place trying to find work and make a living, they both share the same goal and by travailing, finding work and camping out in a different places is what they do to try to achieve their goal. They remind themselves every so often before they sleep why they keep travailing and why they keep on keeping on. It is that they have this shared goal that shows their bond and gives us an idea of what they been through or what has happen to the both of them to stick together to grow ambition, this bond and their goal. It is said in the text that if Lennie is told by George that is he was in any trouble, to hide in a bush and wait for him there, this shows the concern and how much George cars for lennie, as well as shows how strong their friendship is, enough so that even in danger, George has his concerns. in the text it is said that Lennie has made many mistakes before and even after so much, they still travel together.

Throughout the novella, the compassion that George has for Lennie is evident. They may not be blood relatives, but they’re the best of friends. George only had 3 options when Lennie brutally murdered Curley's wife: leave Lennie for dead, turn him over to an asylum, or kill Lennie himself. Instead, he always decided to care for his mentally disabled friend—despite the burdens he may have brought him. “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.” (Steinbeck 14). He routinely moved farms to cover up Lennie’s mistakes, and yet he never left Lennie’s side. If he wanted to kill Lennie out of hostility