In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, places two of the main characters George Milton and Lennie Smalls in an era of hard work and loose feelings. The two associates are out job hunting while they finally come across some “nice fellas” and easier times. While finally getting a job and getting adjusted to things, the come across a tall, slim guy named, ironically, Slim. Slim lingers in the shadow of his awe-inspiring portrayal though out the novel. He is the non-judgmental, adjudication when problems lifts among workers and wins the trust of George giving advice, comfort and words of wisdom. Slim has many roles in the novel. For example through Slim we find out propaganda from George and influenced our hypothesis in events, which take place in the novel. Through Slim, Steinbeck uses him to show the conflicts in society at that time. Slim is the consummate friend and brings the best out of people. Also some people, when compared to Slim's God-like distinctiveness, appear to be more vicious and envious. Slim also keeps note to the reader of Lennie's strength but his feebleness of maintaining it in. In Of Mice and Men, Slim is compared as a modern day Prince.
Slim is seen as royalty. Everyone always goes to him for answers or the right away because he is seen as a God-Like figure. For example, Candy, an old rugged man and still worker on the Weed farm somehow needed an okay from Slim to put his dog out of his misery. “Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find ...
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...do everything in his power to help you and be there for you. Sort of like Prince William again. As the years go by, he finally states, “People say it's not ambitious, but it is actually quite ambitious wanting to help people.”(William.2010) Right after George kills Lennie, Slim supports yet confronts George from his actions. Slim tells George that he is not wrong for killing Lennie himself because for one, Curley and his group were going to hang him or even torture him, and two, he would have, personally, liked no “stranger” to kill him off rather than his best friend, “cousin” or partner in crime.
The evidence is overwhelming: Slim is very much so like the Prince William is today. Steinbeck created him as a representation on how certain people should act comparing and contrasting in the situations they have been through and in throughout their lifetime.
First, Steinbeck uses the character of Slim to describe that helping others makes that individual feel gratitude towards the individual who helped
George and Lennie were a great example of friendship in this story. George took care of Lennie after his Aunt Clara died which he didn’t have to, but he choose to do it. Along the way George and Lennie were creating a true friendship which almost made them look like brothers. George killed Lennie because he accidentally killed Curley's wife. George did not want Lennie to know curley was coming for him so he killed Lennie. He killed Lennie because Lennie would’ve gone through a lot if Curley caught him. Would you do that if you were in George’s
Consistently throughout the story George and Lennie were there for each other; in fact towards the very beginning Lennie and George discussed how they were better off than most guys because they had each other (14). When George killed Lennie a part of him died too, George knew murdering Lennie would hurt him mentally and emotionally. However he did it because he wanted what was best for his friend no matter the cost. His actions were altruistic and that made his decision the more favorable one. Another instance when George was selfless was when he gave up his dream. Throughout the story George and Lennie dreamed of and worked towards owning their own piece of land together. However, after discovering Curley’s wife dead, George returned to reality and informed Candy that they would, “never do her” (94). After losing his friend George understood the impossibility of achieving the American Dream. Beforehand George knew he would not want to live out his dream without Lennie, so by protecting Lennie and giving up on his own dream he put Lennie above himself. Conversely, someone may believe that George's actions were selfish and that he benefits himself by killing Lennie. After George comes after Lennie, the dim-witted man asks if George was going to yell at him. Reluctantly George told him “If I was alone, I could live so easy,” (103). Although George said
“Ya did the right thing, shootin’ ‘im back there. God knows Curley wouldda done somthin’ worse.” Slim said trying to break the silence that fell upon them. George didn’t reply, he sat there looking down at the hand that had shot Lennie. It was obvious that George felt only guilt and nothing more.
The book, Of Mice and Men is not just about the death of Lennie, as one might think, it’s also about power. Throughout the book, one can observe each character’s attempts to gain influence over the ranch crew, or at least to be accepted into a society. However, only one man can be on top, and that man became Slim, the ageless jerkline skinner. Unlike Curley, he lead with an understanding mind instead of abusing the power gained by achieving the American Dream.
His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer.” (Steinbeck, 33-34) Slim is the noblest of the ranch as the only character who seems to be at peace with his circumstances and his life. The other characters view slim as wise and respectable man and often go to him for guidance, as the only person who has achieved what he wants in life.
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
One chapter in Of Mice and Men showed George talking to Slim about how him and Lennie were not actually cousins. During the time that the novella is set in, it was very hard for people to trust each other. Slim was loyal to others because he wanted others to be loyal to him, which they were. Pete was not loyal to Sucker and made it very difficult for them to create a bond. Nearing the end of the story he commented on how he missed the short period of time where they had bonded. He realized that he should have kept that in mind when he was mistreating someone
George and Lennie have a final conversation, they talk about their dream, the acres they were going to own, the rabbits, all of it. George has Lennie look towards the stream away from the brush, and as he does, George slowly raises a gun to the back of Lennie’s head. Hesitantly, he pulls the trigger, and Lennie dies instantly. The other men soon arrive after hearing the gun shot, and Slim leads George towards the highway, and keeps telling him that George had to pull the trigger.
These two drastically different characters rely so much on one another that it becomes difficult to function alone in a “normal” society. Their friendship is pushed to the breaking point when Lennie’s actions lead to the death of a another human. George must then decide what is best for Lennie. He proceeds to take Lennie’s life himself rather than condemn him to an uncertain fate if handed over to the authorities or, worse yet, to Curley (Steinbeck 103-116). This recurring theme of friendship lasts throughout the entirety of the book through George and Lennie’s undeniable bond, how they face society's narrow minded view of their relationship, and through their
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
He doesn’t want Lennie to die horribly that’s why George killed Lennie by shooting him back of his head. Curley was so mad at Lennie that he could have killed him in a horrible way. And Curley was also looking for a way to take a revenge for Lennie crushing his hand, so George doesn’t want Lennie to get killed in cruel way so he just gave him easy death. “Slim nodded. "We might," he said. "If we could keep Curley in, we might, But Curley's gonna want to shoot 'im. Curley's still mad about his hand. An' s'pose they lock him up an' strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain't no good, George." (Steinbeck 97). Slim sighed."Well, I guess we got to get him…" (Steinbeck 93).
This could be for many reasons, but the most probable might be that Steinbeck wants us to delve deeper in the story, and make our own inferences. Because of this concept, the character might be a bit “fuzzy”, meaning that because he is not described directly, there can be many interpretations to just one common character. This indirect characterization of Slim is on page 46, where it reads, “A young laboring man came in. His sloping shoulders were bent forward and he walked heavily on his heels, as though he carried an invisible grain bag” (Steinbeck 46). We know that Slim is a young man, however from the quote above, some might be led to think that he his a bit elderly because of the “weight he carries”, infering that he has a laborious life. Nonetheless, from the information we know and the quote above, it is probably safe to assume that in the short life Slim has had so far, he has worked during most of it, but is a kind
Slim befriends Lennie and George, and makes them feel welcome. Lennie and George are quite the opposite to the rest of the characters, as they don't have a family, and they finish off physically fighting for work, because they need it so badly. In the second chapter all the other characters sound like commoners
One critic recognizes Steinbeck’s approach to the futile dream of achieving the happy medium by comparing George and Lennie’s relationship to the psychological components of the appetite and reason (Goldhurst 57). Hadella reinforces this idea, suggesting that as the appetite, Lennie acts without reason, thus explaining the violent outbursts and feats he performs throughout the novella (152) whereas George acts as Lennie’s guide and ensures the safety for the two of them. Through Lennie’s death, the author illustrates that the relationship between appetite and reason are not of equal standings and that, in the end, one eventually domineers over the other. The death of Lennie as the portrayal of man’s relations could also be seen as a continuation of the curse as Owens suggests (“Bloom’s Guides” 84). Companionship is essentially unattainable within the setting of the novella Of Mice and Men suggestively due to man’s desolate fate based on the story of Cain and Abel. Due to the impossible obtainment of a compromise between companionship and independence, fate conclusively takes its toll on Lennie, doubling as the