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How Steinbeck Presents the Relationship Between George and Lennie in Particular at the Beginning and the End

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How Steinbeck presents the relationship between George and Lennie in particular at the beginning and the end

The relationship between Lennie and George is very close throughout the book. 'Of Mice and Men ' is set in the 1930s depression years in America. This means that their relationship was under a lot of strain. It was unusual in those times to be able to sustain friendships because life was all about living for the moment after America 's great depression. They are in a place called the Salinas River near Soledad.

John Steinbeck begins the novel 'Of Mice and Men ' with a picturesque description of the location where the reader is first introduced to the characters of George Milton and Lennie Small. The opening section of the …show more content…

Lennie and George’s dream is presented by Steinbeck in order to convey their relationship:
“George. Tell me. Please, George. Like you done before”

This dream cannot exist without friendship. This is most demonstrable in the relationship between George and Lennie. Without the other, neither character would be able to maintain the dream. Lennie is constantly asking George to “tell about how it’s gonna be”. The constant repetition of the way things will be is what keeps the dream alive in Lennie. However, George needs Lennie just as much as Lennie needs him, which is apparent at the end of the novel. When George kills Lennie, he also kills the friendship, which results in the death of the dream within himself. Friendship is an underlying factor in the dreams of others as well.

From anger and remorse to a close friendship, Steinbeck portrays many different aspects to Lennie and George’s relationship. It is the main theme in this novel and stands out as a clear point the author is trying to make. Their dream gives the reader an image of peacefulness between the two, they “got each other” and living “offa the fatta the lan”,’ is their aim. They know that they wouldn’t be able to achieve this without each other, Lennie needs George to plan the dream and George needs Lennie to keep it alive. In the end, the obstacles that Lennie has created are so terrible

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