Friendship Keeps One Bound in the Worst of Times The Danish philosopher and poet Søren Aabye Kierkegaard once said, “Adversity not only draws people together, but brings forth that beautiful inward friendship”. John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men is full of adversity; between having to run away from an angry mob pursuing them after an unfortunate incident in Weed, Lennie’s developmental problems, and their challenging lives as migrant workers, this novel definitely shines a light on how adversity helps George Milton and Lennie Smalls maintain their strong and genuine friendship. Knot Your Friend applies symbolism and characterization to elicit the idea that a strong friendship can get one through even the most challenging hardships. To symbolize a strong friendship, the border of Knot Your Friend, my literary graphic, is a rope tied into the knot of friendship at the middle of the bottom. Rope is robust even when left untied and, when tied, the …show more content…
However, unlike the other men, George and Lennie have each other and their dream of living on their very own ranch together which is what they are looking ahead to, what is keeping them hopeful. To symbolize their dream, there are rabbits drawn around George and Lennie’s …show more content…
After George tells Lennie all he could do if he did not have to look after Lennie, Lennie says he will just go off in the hills by himself to which George responds," ‘No—look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me’ " (12-13). Lennie is used to George constantly deprecating him and interprets it as George not wanting him around. To convey this in my literary graphic, Lennie is looking down, as he is feeling unwanted and like he is a burden to George. Also, George and Lennie are facing each other as a way of showing their friendship and engagement with one
George obviously cared for Lennie or else he would have left him by himself afte...
To begin with, according to Lucius Annaeus Seneca, “One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood”. Even this quote explains that true friendship is when an individual stands for another individual. In the novel Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck examine the idea of friendship between two migrant ranch worker even when there was difficulties. Through the character of Slim and George, author Steinbeck illustrates friendship and reveals that friendships stand up for each other even when is difficult time.
The main cause of George and Lennie's lonesomeness and that of all the people at the ranch was a lack of a home. The only thing that kept the two men going was their friendship with each other and the hope to soon get a place of their own. In the novel George and Lennie mention what their dream place is going to be like: "Someday we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house, and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and ---" (Steinbeck 16). Throughout the book the reference to having a place of their own is stressed. It is a deeper dream for Lennie than George because he is always asking to talk about it. It is here where the friendship between both men is starting to develop as they share the same basic dream.
The emotional symbiosis between George and Lennie helps each man. Lennie’s attachment to George is most strongly visible when Crooks suggests George is not coming back. Lennie is almost moved to hysterics and his fear does not quickly abate. George prefers to feign dislike for Lennie to Lennie’s face: “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail” (7). When pressed, George reveals his true feelings for Lennie. “I want you to stay with me Lennie” (13). They stay together because “It’s a lot easier to go around with a guy you know” (35). Both men need and value their strong emotional relationship.
As George and Lennie have been travelling around together since the death of Lennie’s Aunt Clara the two have build a dream in which they discuss how they in-vision their lives once their done working. “O.K. Someday – we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres, an’ a cow and some pigs and-” (Steinbeck 16). Both George and Lennie share a dream in which they will one day have saved up enough money to buy their own farm and live the rest of their days together so that when they work they will be working for themselves and to be able do whatever they want on their own terms. Even though George and Lennie have been working toward their dream for a long time it is still a challenge for them to achieve it with Lennie’s disabilities and him getting them run out of Weed. “God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and g...
“I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like you running off by yourself, even if she was dead.” (page 13). After Lennie and George fight over the dead mouse, Lennie tells him that George would be better off if Lennie went to the mountains to live in a cave. George doesn’t let him. He tells him that he wants him to stay because not only did George somewhat promise Lennie’s dead Aunt Clara that he would take care of him, but he also learned how to live and adjust with the fact that Lennie has kind of a childish mind.
In chapter one, George and Lennie are introduced onto the scene and you get to know them a little bit and you get to see how they are related/ their relationship. When I read this first part, I could tell that George was pretty much Lennie’s caretaker and it was his job to find Lennie a job and make sure he ate enough and stayed a live. He kind of resented having to drag Lennie around (pg 11~12: “Well we ain’t got any!” George exploded. “Whatever we ain’t got, you want. If I was alone I could live so easy… But wadda I got? I got you. You can’t keep a job and you loose me every job I get.”), because Lennie’s a bit slow and he messes up a lot. He tries really hard to be good and listen to what George tells him to do, but in the end of every situation, Lennie forgets what George told him beforehand and sometimes it creates a little trouble (pg 45~46: “Well, he seen this girl in this red dress. Dumb like he is, he likes to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do. Well, this girl just squawks and squawks. I was jus’ a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on. I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go. He was so scairt he couldn’t let go of the dress. And he’s so strong, you know… Well, that girl rabbits in an’ tells the law she’s been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in an irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day.”). But when you look at them, you can tell that George is...
Though George is a social and a smart migrant worker, he is still a very lonely guy who only has Lennie to rely on. George says, ”If i was alone, I could live so easy.” (p11) He says he would get along so well without him because he wouldn’t have to keep Lennie out of trouble all the time and he could keep a job. He also says, “Lennie, I want you to stay with me.” (p13) That states that
George and Lennie feel they are not alone they have a dream. This dream is what pushes them on. They are often talking of the land they dream of.
‘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.
George and Lennie both fit into the category of wanting to carry out their dreams and be different than everyone else by taking care and looking out for one another. Although, many of their individual pipe dreams followed a different view, but there were still some in which they shared. George was the 'base'; of his and Lennies friendship and loyalty. He was the 'root'; or 'leader'; so to speak. George would be the one who would keep things going on properly and more in order, to an extent. George had to be the 'base'; since Lennie was not strong enough. Proof of this is when he stated:
A friendship is a special relationship between peoples , It occurs between friend that care about each other. In talking about friendship , the novella from John Steinbeck “Of Mice and Men”. Two friends George and Lennie ,they are trying to find a job together to complete their dream of having a farm. But Lennie is an adult size with a child's mind, he gets in trouble a lot and as his friend, George helping him solve the problem and taking care of Lennie. Later George and Lennie finds a new job , but George lies to the boss about the problem that Lennie has.
The famed nurses study from Harvard found “Not having a close friend is as detrimental to your health as smoking.” Lennie and George’s friendship is necessary to keep the better for each other. Throughout the story, Lennie and George need each other and look out for one another no matter what. Lennie and George’s friendship and journey throughout the story symbolizes the struggles to achieve the American dream. Steinbeck, in the story Of Mice and Men, combines characterization and symbolism to prove friends do whats best for eachother.
One of the most important details in a friendship is to never leave or forsake the other. A friend is also loyal, for example in the movie Lord of the Rings, Froto and Sam Wise had a wonderful fellowship. They lived in peace and in one accord. Also in the movie, gandalf sent froto on a mission. Froto was scared and he didn’t want to go on the journey by himself.
“A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24, World English Bible Version). This verse has always been embedded in my heart since I was old enough to understand the bible. I grew up carefully picking who I hung out with because the word ‘friend’ was used so often around me that it lost its true meaning. The word ‘friend’ is been mistaken for words like associates, colleagues, partners, classmates, and peers simply because people see each other each day of the week. I had no one to call my true friend and even up until the day I moved to America, I had only called one person my friend. That friendship, however, ended just like the suffix ‘-end’ ends the word friend. True friends