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Mice symbolism in of mice and men
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Real friends always look out for the best interest of each other. In the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie are always looking out for each other, just like brothers would. George and Lennie had been friends for a long time and were committed to being friends, forever. Throughout the story George takes it upon himself to look after Lennie and in some ways Lennie looks after George too. Towards the end George realizes that they can’t be together forever, this is very hard on George. George and Lennie took care of one another, throughout their time together, but George realizes, when taking care of someone you must make difficult decisions. George and Lennie planned to be together forever, since they had known each …show more content…
When we first meet their characters in the beginning of the story, they share their future ideas with one another. George first says “We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us” and Lennie goes on to say “Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.” Later on in the story Lennie and George get to know the other workers on the ranch and find that they are all dealing with loneliness. Crooks is one of the many characters who doesn’t have the luxury of companionship. “I said s’pose George went into town tonight and you never heard from him no more” Crooks says to Lennie. “George wouldn’t do nothing like that. I been with George a long time. He’ll come back tonight” Lennie replies. Lennie has faith in George, because of their strong bond, others on the farm …show more content…
Lennie kills Curley’s wife and he realizes that what he’s done is wrong. Lennie runs and hides in the spot that George had told him to. Curley is infuriated and is prepared to kill Lennie. George says “I’ll come. But listen, Curley. The poor bastard’s nuts. Don’t shoot ‘im. He di’n’t know what he was doin’ (pg. 98).” Curley goes on to say “I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im. (pg. 98)” George runs ahead of them while they’re looking for Lennie, in hopes that he would find him before they did. George comes to the realization that by truly taking care of Lennie he must make a difficult decision, in this case he had to kill Lennie. George finds Lennie and proceeds to describe their future together. “You… an’ me. Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em. (pg. 106)” Lennie then asks George if he’s mad about what happened to Curley’s wife, “No Lennie I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want you to know (pg. 106)” George responds. George makes sure Lennie meets his fate in a peaceful and happy way. He reassures Lennie that he isn’t a burden on him and that they will get their acre of land, one
A friend is someone you can share dreams with and will give you assistance when you need it. That's what you call a true friendship. In the novel of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, he wrote a lot about the friendship of George and Lennie’s. George and Lennie, who come most proximate to achieving this ideal of brotherhood. The author shows the relationship of George and Lennie. George takes care of Lennie who has a childlike mind. George is constantly giving Lennie instructions, for instance like not to talk when they went to the ranch, and George said not to say anything when they go to the ranch and also telling him not to touch dead animals. George and Lennie are a good example of friendship because George took care of Lennie when his Aunt Clara died, George protects Lennie from people that try to hurt him,and George kills Lennie.
There are moments in which they are driven out of an emotional need to show immortalization to George or show deference to him. In the altercation between Lennie and Crooks, the controversy of companionship is raised. Crooks lives a life alone and he possesses a sense of enviousness towards the friendship that Lennie have a hand in with George. When Crooks wanted to make his point, he talks to Lennie about how his (Lennie's) world would fundamentally change if George left and went out on his own: Crooks advances this in discussing with Lennie the assumption such an action, suggesting that George might simply fall victim to getting hurt. However, Lennie paraphrases this vision as a threat of harm against George: At this moment, Lennie threatens Crooks through body language and voice inflection because of his motivation to chaperon George. The motivation of bulwarking George initiates his actions of becoming aggressive, something that Crooks immediately realizes in backing down from his initial stance. Lennie's motivations to champion George inspire his actions in wishing to do harm to anyone or anything that would cause danger to George.
In fact, near the ending of the story, he unintentionally snapped Curley’s wife’s neck trying to quiet her (91). Failing to recognize his own strength, Lennie accidentally took her life, proving that he was perilous. By shooting Lennie, George prevented Lennie from accidentally injuring or killing anyone ever again. His verdict was correct in view of the fact that he sacrificed his friend’s life with the intention to protect the lives of others. Furthermore, George’s decision protected Lennie. As a punishment for his deeds, The workers wanted Lennie executed. George realized this and told candy, “Curley’s gon’ta wanta get ‘i'm lynched. Curley’ll get ‘im killed,” (94). In consequence of killing Curley’s wife, Lennie unknowingly put himself in harm's way. Curley’s motive for wanting to kill Lennie was spite and revenge. So, instead of allowing Lennie to be murdered alone and afraid, George took matters into his own hands and made sure his friend died knowing he was cared for and full of hope. Through it's ironic, George’s choice protected Lennie from the malice of others, thus keeping him unafraid and unharmed. However, others may believe
It is very apparent that each of the four characters in the two friendships feed off of each other. In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are very different, yet they need one other. George is a very independent, loyal, and caring person who takes care of Lennie because Lennie is unable to take care of himself. Although George makes it seem like he would be better off without Lennie, George makes it clear that without him he would be better off. This is evident because of this conversation h regularly had with Lennie” I could go get a job an’
... talking about killing Lennie and doing all of these horrible acts of hate to him, but George made a comment to try to help him. “I’ll come. But listen, Curley. The poor bastard’s nuts. Don’t shoot ‘im. He di’nt know what he was doing” (98). This shows how strongly George feels for his friend, Lennie.
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 Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the importance of friendship is constantly being illustrated. George Milton and Lennie Small, the two main characters of this story move to Soledad, California in search of a job. Throughout the story, their friendship encounters many trials and tribulations that seem to only contribute to the strength of their relationship. In reality, underlying sorrow and anger has forced George to make a challenging decision, killing his best friend. Lennie demonstrates naivety and dependance in his relationship with George, which shows that unstable friendships push people to make difficult decision.
Steinbeck tries to establish a perfect image of friendship by introducing us to George and Lennie. They are an extraordinary team, with Lennie being of monstrous size with a simple mind, and George being a smart and typical worker. Many times throughout the novel, Lennie threatens to go live in a cave to leave George alone so he won't have to take care of him anymore. However, George always explains to Lennie that he wants him by his side at all times because he knows they need each other: "No! I was just foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me. . ."(13). This expresses that in order for them to have a successful friendship, they must first share their lives together to make every puzzle piece fit together. After the two men arrive at the bunk house, they meet the workers who all seem like they have no one that is willing to spend their life with as lovingly as George and Lennie. Slim, one of the mos...
There is an old saying that says, “Great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, impossible to forget.” In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie take care, support, and sacrifice for one another. George and Lennie’s relationship shows us the true meaning of friendship throughout this story.
Just as looking after each other is important, another component of a healthy relationship is being able to make each other better people. With no surprise, George and Lennie are able to do this for each other constantly. The first way that George and Lennie make each other better people is because they have common goals between each other. George and Lennie explain to readers how their goal is to own a farm with each other. Their farm will take up an acre of land, and it will have a shack on that land that they can live in. They will own chickens, pigs, cows, and rabbits that Lennie will be able to tend. (Steinbeck 105-106)
The article states, “We may not define it as Aristotle did- friendship among the already virtuous.” (May,1). In the excerpt it states, “‘No,-look! I was just fooling Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me. Trouble with mice is you always kill ‘em.’ He paused, ‘Tell you what I’ll do, Lennie. First chance I get I’ll give you a pup.’...‘If you don’t want me, you only jus’ 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 careness within the bond they have. True friendships are rare, and showing that they have this in the novella, Of Mice and Men, completes it. Therefore, this friendship not only carries the weight of the excerpt, but the novella’s conflict as a whole.
While George is away, Lennie does something very bad, he kills Curley’s wife along with his dog; both on accident. This event causes Lennie to run away and Curley to go after him in anger to kill him. “‘All right, you guys," he said. "The nigger's got a shotgun. You take it, Carlson. When you see 'um, don't give 'im no chance. Shoot for his guts. That'll double 'im over’”(48). In the quote, it shows that Curley has no compassion or empathy. He does not show empathy towards neither his wife or Lennie and his actions. Instead, he says he is going to kill him in a painful, long way. This whole quote says so much about Curley’s character, it shows he has a poor character and bad morals; unlike George. Curley’s characterization reveals a lot about his character and how he is ruthless and doesn’t care for others not even his deceased wife. George later kills Lennie out of compassion because he is better off killed peacefully than by what is to come, Curley and his painful death. “Lennie begged, "Le's do it now. Le's get that place now." "Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta." And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he
Do you know what the meaning of friendship is? In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, you learn about George and Lennie taking care of each other. They also support one another in striving after their shared dream. George and Lennie make sacrifices for one another and are responsible for one another. George and Lennie’s relationship shows us the true meaning of friendship.
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.
Although it seemed like George and Lennie’s relationship was not very equitable, thorough examination of their interactions, conversations and time spent together reveal 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 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