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Mice and men character traits for lennie and george
Mice and men character traits for lennie and george
Character of George and Lennie in the novel of mice and men
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George is helpless without Lennie, " Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why" (13). Them caring for each other makes their friendship stable. First, Lennie needs George to give him a dream to live for. Second, George needs Lennie because caring for Lennie makes him feel important and cared for. These two thing helps keep their friendship stable. When ever things are bad Lennie asks George to tell him the story of the future life they will have together. Lennie needs this to think about the future especially when thing are bad because he needs to have something to keep him going. Even George new that when Lennie had to be shot, it was better to make him think happy thoughts "An' live on the fatta the lan" (101).Obviously George give Lennie dream that helped him live and starve for. …show more content…
George doesn't have anyone but Lennie. So when George has to look after Lennie it gives him a special feel to it. Which is why when Lennie says he will go away, George doesn't want him to " I was jus foolin’, Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me" (12). Certainly George not having anyone is lonely so he doesn't won't Lennie to go away, because he likes caring for him. George even know that Lennie takes care of George too. George and Lennie caring about each other helps there friendship stay strong. Like Lennie needing George for, he give him a dream to live for. George needs Lennie because caring for Lennie makes him feel important and cared for. They care about each
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.
In this book George is constantly taking care of Lennie and is always reassuring him that they will have their own land and be able to tend the rabbits. George doesn’t actually believe in this dream which shows how he is willing to say anything to make Lennie happy. Also, George is constantly bringing up how easy his life would be without Lennie, he said "God almighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could get a job a work, an no trouble (12). This quote shows how George is aware that Lennie is holding him back from making more money but how he choices to stay with him because they have a genuine friendship. George takes his parental figure role seriously and would never leave him.
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’
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.
In all of these quotes George is looking after Lennie similar to how a brother would look after a younger sibling. From when he is talking to Slim about Lennie’s work ethic on page 39 to when he is trying to keep Lennie from getting into trouble with Curley and his wife on pages 32 and 29, George is always looking after Lennie in some way. Alongside the last example, Steinbeck illustrates a caring relationship between George and Lennie. “ [George] ‘They ain’t got nobody in the worl’ that gives a hoot in hell about em-’...[Lennie] ‘But not us’” (104). George and Lennie always come back to the subject of looking out for each other. This is demonstrated when Lennie is talking to Crooks about George and Crooks says, “jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then” (72)? Just the mention of George doesn't come back or being hurt makes Lennie defensive about George, “Suddenly Lennie’s eyes centered and grew quiet, and mad. He stood up and walked dangerously toward Crooks, Who hurt George” (72). Lennie is attached to George, to Lennie, he is the only person in the world that actually cares about his well being.They have been together for years, which is quite similar
We find out in the latter stages of the story that George has a weakness, specifically his dependency of Lennie. Lennie, intelligently, tries to manipulate George by stating that he will leave him and ?live in that cage?. This irritates George who is desperate to win Lennie?s friendship back: I want you to stay with me Lennie, no you stay with me?. This shows that he needs him just as much as Lennie needs him. In general the reader can see that George needs his mate, Lennie to be able to survive, regardless of how mentally retarded he is.
Lennie has a tendency to forget things even if he was just told them. Without George, Lennie would not have any idea what to do, where to go, or what to say. George is like Lennie’s brain; he does most of the thinking and just repeatedly tells Lennie what to say/do. Without George Lennie would never have
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 did a real bad thing. I shouldn’t have done that. George’ll be mad at me.
“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.
But George could not just leave him so he took Lennie in when no one else would. George is very caring toward Lennie in many ways, not just by taking him in but by other things. For example before George killed Lennie he made sure that Lennie was dreaming of a peaceful and exciting life with George. When it came down to him killing Lennie he actually wanted Lennie to be happy. In the article The Keys to Caregiving; Out of guilt, loyalty and love, the helpers often neglect to help themselves it says that,”Caregivers are often overprotective of their loved ones and refuse to allow other people to provide relief.” ( Scelfo )Which relates to the role of george taking care of Lennie. George has a way of being a caregiver, he is not labeled that, the things that george does for Lennie definitely fits the part into the role of a caregiver. George was always there for Lennie and faithful to lennie but he was also very patient with
After reading the novella I think that George is a really good friend to Lennie. The first reason that I think that he is a really good friend to lennie, because that he runs off with Lennie when Lennie gets in trouble. George have a choice of running off with Lennie and been trace by those people or he could just don’t care about Lennie and keep his job. But he choose to run off with Lennie and been trace by those people. The second reason that I think George is a good friend to Lennie is because that in the novella it shows that George care about Lennie. On the first section it shows that George tells to Lennie to get off the the green water and throw away the dead mouse that Lennie had. He did that because the mouse might get him
George wanted to be alone, away from Lennie because he could earn a lot more money without worrying about Lennie. George wants Lennie gone so he could live life without getting into so much trouble like Lennie does. When Lennie gets into trouble then they both get into trouble. George needed Lennie gone in general weather he had to kill him or
Lennie and George’s companionship meet and transcend all the needed requirements. They are a textbook example of loyal friends. They, together, are like peanut butter and jelly in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Lennie gives George someone to talk to and someone to keep him on track. George gives Lennie insight on the world and someone that will respect him even though he isn’t intelligent. They, more importantly, give each other something to live for. 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.
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...
At this point in the novel, it is clear that Lennie is a weight on George’s shoulders. George brings up from time to time a life that he could have had, if it weren’t for having to take care of Lennie. In other words, George brings up expectations. Here is a rare moment in the book where George sees that his dream is coming so close to him. Usually, George’s point of view is often viewing his own life as “a life he never had the chance to live.” This is also demonstrated in the event above, where George adds the fact that getting their own little place would mean less trouble from Lennie, and less dashing around all over the place to find their next job. It is clear George didn’t see himself living a life of wandering; he never wanted to. However, everything about what his does, all his actions, revolve around Lennie. Lennie is his reality. Lennie is what brings him out of a