John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

1096 Words3 Pages

Introduction
This is a novella written by John Steinbeck in 1937, about two men that lived during the depression. They were migrant workers, who wanted to buy a farm. ()

Friendship

Ever since Lennie’s Aunt Clara died, George had to look after him because Lennie cannot look after himself (Steinbeck). Lennie accidentally scared a girl and he and George had to leave Weed, and they had to go get new jobs (Attell). George gets angry at Lennie for accidentally getting them in trouble and says he should leave and how easier his life would be without Lennie (Hart). He then tells Lennie that he did not mean what he said and would not leave him (Hart).
Lennie offers to go away to someplace else if that was what George wanted, but George lets Lennie stay with him (Steinbeck). Lennie says he will go live somewhere else and take care of himself, but George does not want that (Steinbeck). When cooking the beans, Lennie says George can have all the beans he wants and that he was only joking about wanting ketchup to go on the beans (Steinbeck). George says how people like him and Lennie are lonely, by Lennie says that he and George are not lonely because they have each other to look after (Attell).
Before George and Lennie get interviewed for their new job, George tells Lennie to stay quiet so he would not accidentally mess up and not get the jobs (Steinbeck 3). Lennie remembers for the first part, but then forgets and George has to explain why he answers for Lennie, saying that he is Lennie’s cousin who takes care of him since his aunt died, and the reason why Lennie is like the way he is is because he got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid (Steinbeck 11). Later after the interview, Lennie asks if what George said was true. Ge...

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..." Ethics, Literature, and Theory: An Introductory Reader. Ed. Stephen K. George. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2005. 315-327. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 160. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 21 May 2014.
"Dreams into Nightmares." John Steinbeck's Fiction Revisited. Warren G. French. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994. 69-74. Twayne's United States Authors Series 638. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 21 May 2014.
Reith, Duncan. "Futile dreams and stagnation: politics in Of Mice and Men: the American novelist John Steinbeck has sometimes been criticised as a sentimentalist. Duncan Reith uncovers the bleak political pessimism behind his novel of ranch life during the Great Depression, Of Mice and Men." The English Review 15.2 (2004): 6+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 21 May 2014.

Of Mice and Men QQTT
717 Words | 2 Pages
George and Lennie were lifelong friends and had varying personalities even from the start. Lennie thought about how his Aunt Clara said he should have been more like George. At the time when the story took place, the two men were travelling together, and had been for some time, working and then moving on to search for the next job they could find. They were like many other men in search for work, except it was rare for men to travel together. George felt a need to take care of Lennie because he was somewhat slow. George was an average man of the time. He was a good size, nice, but firm, and he had aspirations to be more than just a nomadic laborer. Lennie, on the other hand, had always been a little different. He was big, goofy, clumsy, but sweet. They were also both good workers. George was concerned with working and getting his money before they got into trouble and had to leave camp. Lennie was the one who normally started the trouble. He was a hard worker and lived to appease George, but he got distracted easily which angered George. George told about how they would own a house and a farm together and work for themselves. Lennie loved to hear the story and think about the possibilities, even though nobody knew if any of it was a possibility. George and Lennie's differences in part led to George's inclination to kill Lennie. Despite their dissimilarity, the two men needed each other probably more than they realized.
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Decisions In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
913 Words | 2 Pages
As George becomes aware of the situation he begins to ponder what will happen if Lennie gets away. George understands that Lennie would not be capable of providing for himself out in the wild. As George contemplates allowing Lennie to be free of all the men, he “[is] a long time in answering” (94). George is one of the few men who understands Lennie’s mental limitations, he knows Lennie would not remember how to survive and “the poor bastard’d starve” (94). He
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The Blindness on John Stienbeck´s Of Mice and Men
545 Words | 2 Pages
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel about loneliness and the American Dream. This book takes place during the Great Depression. It was very difficult for people to survive during this time period. A lot of people hardly survived let alone had the necessities they needed to keep relationships healthy. Of Mice of Men has a common theme of disappointment. All the characters struggle with their unaccomplished dreams. The migrant workers, stable buck, swamper, and the other men on the ranch had an unsettled disappointment of where they were at in their lives. George and Lennie, two newcomers to the ranch, aren’t like the other guys. They have each other and they are the not loneliest people in the world. Lennie has a dream though he wants to own a farm with plenty of crops and animals one day. The only problem is his blind curiosity of people and things around him. George wasn’t justified for killing Lennie because Lennie was innocent and never got the chance to find out what he did wrong.
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Themes in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men
1108 Words | 3 Pages
John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.
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Lennie Relationship
898 Words | 2 Pages
Within the beginning of the story, the dynamic of George and Lennie’s relationship is introduced, one that is uncommon and presents a fatherly vibe. The readers are thrown into the novel at the height of the great depression, an economic catastrophe that shook the world. Within these dark time, an unlikely friendship is in full blossom and we are meet by Lennie and George setting up camp for the night by a riverbed. After the duo’s personalities are expressed, they begin to set up the idea of a commonly shared dream which exists according to Lennie “Because... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie is seen as a quite simple minded and extremely dim-witted character from just the first
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Brotherhood In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
821 Words | 2 Pages
Steinbeck starts his book off with the aura of brotherhood between George and Lennie. George is always watching out for Lennie because he is unable to look out for himself, “because I got you to look after me, and you got
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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
1369 Words | 3 Pages
Steinbeck inclines to unravel the plight of two migrant workers with a dream to purchase their own land in the future, where they plan to rear rabbits and keep livestock. As reality dawns on the two men, their lifestyle proves not to be as easy as they think. George states, “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some oth...
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Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
780 Words | 2 Pages
Steinbeck shows that people will trust others because of their personal prejudices. Because of his mental disability, Lennie often acts in inappropriate ways that cause both him and George to lose their jobs. George complains to Lennie that “I got you! You can’t keep a job and lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shoving’ all over the country all the time. An’ the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (Steinbeck 11). Just like in Weed, a town that they have once worked at, Lennie and George has to hide from the townspeople because Lennie grabbed a woman’s dress in panic. Although Lennie acts with innocent intentions, the people around him simply do not spend the time to understand them. As soon as they move into the new farm, the boss and Curley display suspicion and even open hostility toward Lennie. They make their judgments about him before even trying to have a chance know him better. Even Crooks, also abandoned by society, regards him with contempt and disdain when Lennie first tries to enter his room. Lennie has no intention of hurting the other people, yet the people around him always feel uncomfortable around h...
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Conflict In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
748 Words | 2 Pages
George’s struggles with himself become apparent at the beginning of the novel. Steinbeck clearly lets the reader know that George has conflicting feelings about Lennie. He believed, “ ...if he was alone he could live so easy. He could go get a job an ' work, an ' no trouble” (11). George is basically telling Lennie that sometimes, he wishes he could live
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George and Lennie in the First Three Chapters of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
1397 Words | 3 Pages
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...
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Steinbeck’s quest for friendship, dreams, and personality in Of Mice and Men
659 Words | 2 Pages
Steinbeck believed that friendship was important. Lennie knows that George will always have his back, although Lennie cannot really protect George he feels like he can (Steinbeck 14). Even though George says, he does not want Lennie with him, he does not want to leave him by himself (Steinbeck 13). When Lennie and George first get to the ranch, the boss starts to ask them questions. George answers all of them even if they were asking Lennie. He knows that if Lennie talks, he might say what happened in Weed (Steinbeck 22). The boss, at the new farm, thinks that George only wants to take Lennie money. But George tells him that he only wants to take care of Lennie. The boss tells George that he had never seen two men traveling together like him and Lennie (22).
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John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
678 Words | 2 Pages
Man needs companionship and has difficulty maintaining it because no humans think the exact same or have the exact same beliefs. To maintain a companion you must have things in common, you must be able to disagree with a sort of respectful understanding, and finally you must care legitimately about that person. These three requirements to preserve a companionship are at times arduous to keep true. Some people do not have the time, concern, or the ability to sustain a veritable friendship with a companion or companions.
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Of Mice And Men Friendship Quotes
680 Words | 2 Pages
Steinbeck stated, “When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin’,” (40). The quote is saying that Lennie used to live with his aunt before she died. George took care of him since they knew each other at the time. Another one of Steinbeck’s quotes is, “But I wouldn’t eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it” (12). Lennie is saying that if they had ketchup, he would give it all to George. He is sacrificing it because before he said that, he was talking about him always eating beans with ketchup on them. A line in the story says, “First chance I get I’ll get you a pup” (13). George is willing to spend his own money just to get Lennie a pup. He needs the money for his dream, but he will spend the money he makes to make Lennie happy. These are only a few of the ways that George and Lennie make sacrifices and be responsible for one another.
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The Character of Lennie in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
388 Words | 1 Pages
First of all, Lennie is greatly forgetful. In the beginning of the novel, Lennie kept asking George where they were going (Steinbeck 4). One character, Crooks, takes advantage of his forgetfulness. Because Lennie would forget anything Crooks told him, he was relieved he could talk to somebody without worrying about him telling anybody else. He often forgot what George told him not to do, like talk or even look at Curley's wife.
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Of Mice And Men - The Importance Of George
1823 Words | 4 Pages
George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.
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John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men QQTT

Decisions In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The Blindness on John Stienbeck´s Of Mice and Men

Themes in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

Lennie Relationship

Brotherhood In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

Conflict In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

George and Lennie in the First Three Chapters of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

Steinbeck’s quest for friendship, dreams, and personality in Of Mice and Men