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More handpicked essays just for you.
What was Steinbeck trying to expose culturally and socially by writing Of Mice and Men
Steinbeck's narrative of mice and men
Compare the characters of George and Lennie
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Claire Copenhaver ‘Of Mice and Men’ shows us a great deal about the importance of friendship and the ability to stick together and achieve your dreams. John Steinbeck compares both men who are fortunate enough to have friends and those who aren’t, and prove to his readers how much more you can achieve with two people rather than one and how much ones company is appreciated, yet often taken for granted. In the book ‘Of Mice and Men’, we quickly learn about the close but different friendship George and Lennie experience and the dream they are able to share together and stride towards. George is often complaining about the strain and inconvenience Lennie puts on his life. “God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy”, George says to Lennie, although really, George appreciates Lennie’s company and this is evident when George tells Slim, “I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good. They don’t have no fun”. This statement proves George’s friendship to Lennie is important to him and he …show more content…
He keeps to himself a lot and hides away in his little room near the horses. “I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t welcome in my room,” he says to Lennie who wants to come in and talk to him as he obviously looked lonely. Crooks lets him in after a while as Lennie doesn’t mind the fact that he is black. Crooks has no white friends because he is discriminated against and doesn’t trust them. “S’pose George went into town tonight and you never heard of him no more,” he says to Lennie. Lennie is sure George wouldn’t do that because he has so much trust in him and he knows he is a better person than that whereas Crooks can’t trust anyone because he hasn’t had a real friendship with a white person since he was a child. This is telling us that friendships are important and help us build our
As the story continues on and the pair arrive at their job, the character chart begins to branch as we are introduced to Slim, another worker on the farm. After learning of the two’s past together, he openly expresses, “Ain’t many guys travel around together... I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other” (Steinbeck 35). There is a unique value to George and Lennie’s relationship which the world lacks. Rather than combining their might, people would rather watch their own back with one set of eyes than having a second set to keep watch. There is mistrust between people and the idea of backstabbing and swindling is very present due to the economic decline and the loss of wealth for all social classes. Due to Lennie’s mental decline, however and the fact that if it were not for George, Lennie would not be alive, there is a strong bond apparent. To be separated from one another would mean becoming the rest of the world, sad and lonely. Neither of the two would like to bring sorrow to one another or let each other go through
One thing George does that good friends do is that no matter what George always defended Lennie. While Lennie and George were in Weed Lennie was touching a girl's dress and was accused of raping her. George took Lennie and ran away far enough ,so Lennie wouldn’t be beaten or killed. George also tells Lennie to defend himself against Curley while Curley was beating Lennie. If George wouldn’t of said anything Lennie would have never defended himself. George is always on Lennie’s side, like when George told Lennie he didn’t do anything wrong when he beat up Curley. George is constantly saying that Lennie is a hella of a worker ,so Lennie can get a job as well in the ranch. George is always trying to make Lennie feel better.
Relationships are an important essence of life. Humans need relationships because we are dependent on each other to survive. Babies need their mothers to feed and nurse them, and friends need each other to support, comfort, sympathize, and understand them. The friendship between George and Lennie outlined the core of Of Mice and Men, and although it’s sometimes idealized and exaggerated throughout the novel, there is no question of its sincerity. Lennie thinks of George as his only friend, his guardian, someone who he can trust and depend on, someone who had accepted him for who he is despite his childlike tendencies. Every time he did something wrong, his only thoughts would be of George’s disapproval. “I done a real bad thing. I shouldn’t have did that. George’ll be mad. An’… he said…. An’ hide in the brush till he come. He’s gonna be mad.” (pg. 92) On the other hand, George thinks of Lennie as a constant source of frustration, and as he frequently mention in the novel, “God, you’re a lot of trouble. I could get along so easy and nice if I didn’t have you on my t...
In the great work, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck makes clear that George is faced with many struggles. Steinbeck writes of a character that has many internal and external conflicts. Yet, through those conflicts, the reader learns the purpose of the novel; what the true meaning of friendship
Curly and Lennie, two men that traveled together everywhere they went. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck describes friendship, dreams, and personality to describe Lennie and Curly adventures.
‘If you don’t want me, you just’ got to say so, and I’ll go off in those hills right there.’” (Stenbeck, 1). This shows true friendship, because the reader can pick out how they are both being virtuous towards each other. Lennie is upset, and wants to leave, so George wants to show how much he cares to keep him around since he enjoys him. They truly care, and do not expect anything from each other, just the care within the bond they have.
Towards the beginning of the story, George reminds Lennie how people like them are very lonely, how they have each other and won’t become lonesome and hopeless like the others. He expresses how they are together and that this simple fact will keep them alive and guarantee themselves a future. “‘With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.
Another example regarding George and Lennie's friendship is when Lennie exclaims, “George wouldn’t do nothing like that. I been with George a long time. He’ll come back tonight-” (71). This shows Lennie’s undivided loyalty to George and his hope that he always comes back no matter what. This is much different compared to the other ranchmen’s lives.
He is proving how extreme isolation can cause one to crave human interaction. Although Crooks acts like he is reluctantly inviting Lennie in, he was truly excitedly welcoming Lennie, who stopped to talk in Crooks’ own house where no one else ever goes. Today, racism is still around, even though it is not as prevalent as it was when this book was written. For example, there is still unjust crimes toward African Americans, which have sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.
If George wouldn’t have met Lennie, he would be a drunk in a whorehouse dying of cirrhosis. If Lennie didn’t meet George he would of died soon after his aunt did, because he would either have got himself in a bind with no one to help him or he would of simply wondered off and died of loneliness. & nbsp ; & nbsp ; & nbsp ; & nbsp ; & nbsp ; Crooks suffers from loneliness, because he is black, not because he is an unfriendly person. Crooks, though, may seem mean, but he is just tired of being rejected and disrespected by everybody around him. Crooks has a horrible life. He will never have a companion or anybody that will respect him unless he meets another black person.
What is Friendship? What is Innocence? What is Violence? Will, Friendship is a relationship between friends, Innocence is lack of guile or corruption; purity, and Violence is behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. In the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck talk about these three themes that center around these two mens during the “Great Depression”.
Traveling from place to place, they keep each other safe, in hopes of settling on their own personal ranch; a literal place of their dreams. The events of the story prohibits them from living that dream. In Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck portrays a strong friendship between the two, but in reality we cannot call their association true friendship because of the lack of equality, the disrespect from George to Lennie directly as well without him knowing. As the story unfolds, it is clear and fair to say that Lennie and George are not equals.
"Were born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that were not alone” Orson Welles. In this novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck focuses on the loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930’s. One of the most important things in the life is to have a friend, without friends people will suffer from loneliness like in this novel, not everyone in the novel has the same connection and special friendship like George and Lennie’s. Of Mice and Men is the story about lonely men who travel from ranch to ranch not really communicating with other ranch hands. Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all were lonely and dealt with their loneliness in different ways.
The characterization of George and Lennie’s friendship shows the importance of having a friend to be staunch for you. Here, when George and Lennie argue, they resolve to do whats best for eachother. “I was only foolin’, George. I don’t want no ketchup. I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me.” Lennie later adds: “I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it.”(Steinbeck 12) Lennie, although mentally disabled, still does what he can for George and only wants him to be happy because he knows how much George does for him. He can’t help himself, but when it comes to George he’ll do anything for him, because George gives him hope. Lennie gives George the ambition to succeed because George knows he has to succeed to support both of them. Lennie is later told by Crooks what it’s like to be lonely: “A guy needs somebody―to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick.” (Steinbeck 72) Without a friend, Crooks doesn’t have the brightest light for a great future because he has nobody to depend on like Lennie and Georg...
Although it seemed like George and Lennie’s relationship was not very equitable, a thorough examination of their interactions, conversations and time spent together revealed that they indeed had a true friendship. Thus, the men were always there to back each other up; they accepted one another; and George always knew the right decisions for Lennie. In conclusion, Steinbeck shows us that a true friendship can be a bit difficult at times, but in the end, the two can come together to make the perfect team that will always have each other for support. When the time comes for you, and you find “the perfect friend”, you should think to yourself: Would this person ever be as close to me as George and Lennie were in the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck?