Of Mice and Men
The novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck is a story about two very different characters who have an emotional bond. George Milton is a physically small man whose travelling companion is Lennie Small, a man who is extremely large and physically strong. Lennie is mentally retarded and his simplemindedness often gets him into trouble. This trouble is often the result of Lennie’s liking for things that are soft. He has a distrust of people except for George. Also, he is not always sure about what is right and what is wrong; he relies on George to make the distinction for him. In spite of the fact that he tries to avoid people, he has tremendous faith in George and can remember almost everything that George tells him. It seems as though Lennie is so childlike, that he would not be able to function without George. In contrast, George is described as a restless man. He takes over the care of Lennie when Lennie’s Aunt Clara died. The two men are wanderers, moving from one job to another. Throughout the story George complains constantly about having to deal with Lennie. He often seems impatient and harsh; but, George understands loneliness and he needs the companionship of Lennie as much as Lennie needs George. He often desc . . .
He tells Lennie early in the novel, “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn” (14). This is shown in the fact that Old Candy, only has his dog; Crooks, the stable hand, tells of his need to belong with someone. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world…With us it ain’t like that. At the end of the novel, the only person he trusted and the only person who looked after him tricked Lennie into his death. ” Throughout this novel Steinbeck shows us the commitment of these men to each other. I believe this is the circular structure of the book. In the first chapter when Lennie is angry with George for touching the girl in the red dress and having to leave town in a hurry, Lennie tells him, “If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. He does not judge Lennie by society’s standards, but understands him and accepts him on a personal level. He continually hides with Lennie whenever there is trouble. In the end George must kill the same man that was so much a part of his life and who he worked so hard to protect. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody…a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (72).
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