Of Mice and Men: Yearning Friendship

‘Of Mice and Men’ is a novel about two men and their struggle to reach their dreams of owning their own ranch. George Milton and Lennie Small are best friends, and in despite of their differences they still manage to work together, travel together and tackle anything that gets in their way. Steinbeck uses nearly all of the characters in this novel to stress the importance of having a friend.

Friendship is something that everyone needs at any time. Friendship keeps us closely interacted with our friends, it keeps you popular, keeps you away from loneliness.

Throughout the book, “Of Mice and Men”,George and Lennie have faced many difficulties and problems. But they never quite gave up on each other. In the book, “Of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck stated many things to prove the main idea. Throughout the book, John Steinbeck shows the difficulties that George and Lennie have to deal with. He states on how they are different, their problems and what keeps their relationship stable. Friendships may be difficult and put you out from the rest, but it has it’s values.

Solidifying the theme of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the protagonist George expresses his significant loneliness despite a strong kinship with his friend Lennie, “’I ain’t got no people… I seen the guys that go around the ranches alone. That ain’t no good’” (41). Published in 1937, amidst the horrific turmoil of the Great Depression, Steinbeck’s novella struck a sensitive chord with readers. Set in the heart of California’s Central Valley, this story follows two men, George and Lennie, as they run from old shadows to a new farm for work. Clinging to the distant dream of owning their own piece of land, the men imagine life outside their present difficulties. Illustrating that life is varied by emotional complexities beyond black and white, George’s longing for companionship and family seep through in conversations with his new co-worker Slim. Despite Lennie’s sheer physical strength, his mental abilities are limited to that of a naïve, innocent, and very young boy; the result is a relationship akin to an uncle and nephew. Lennie, with primal-like behaviors and a gold-fish memory, struggles to adhere to George’s words of wisdom. In the end, tragedy strikes them both as George is forced to kill Lennie due to an accident with the son of the landowner’s wife – a woman who looks for trouble at the onset. Consequently, George’s state of loneliness is bequeathed to a new level as he begins to imagine life without Lennie in tow.

Picking up the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck holds a different feel then putting it down. Leaving the reader pondering the true theme of the story. A tale among two friends is the mindset most would assume before reading the book but digging deeper you start to realize the dark truth. The story starts with both Lenny who’s large and unaware of his own true strength and George who’s skinny and quick witted. The tale takes both characters and presents them with challenges. Lennie has a mild mental disability which often leads both of them into a lot of trouble. While George must take care of Lennie and always get him out of trouble. Two characters who travel together would be envisioned to be best pals but what awaits them is a rude awakening, George says “Lennie just come along with me out workin '. Got kinda used to each other after a little while” (Steinbeck 3.12).

As Thomas Aquinas states, “There is nothing on this earth more prized than true friendship.” Friends cheer each other up when they are sad and support them when they are happy. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, two migrant workers, George and Lennie, arrive as newcomers on the ranch. Throughout the story, different problems are thrown their way, and their friendship is tested with each one. George shows how true friendship requires sacrifice because friends sacrifice personal freedom, they protect each other, and they sacrifice emotional energy.

In the story, Of Mice and Men, friendship plays a major role in the way the story is told. George and Lennie is just a little part of the story. The reason George and Lennie are the main reason for this is because, George and Lennie take care of each other like no one else does. George and Lennie’s friendship is there because Lennie can’t take care of himself so George wanted to help Lennie do better in life. Another reason is that all the characters in “Of Mice and Men” is that they never had another person on their side through their life.

After Lennie accidentally breaks Curley’s hand, George encounters a problem as he frets, “‘Slim, will we get canned now? We need the stake. Will Curley’s old man can us now?’” (Steinbeck 64). George worries that the boss will kick them out for hurting Curley. Slim’s reaction of this by threatening Curley,” “…But you jus’ tell an’ try to get this guy canned and we’ll tell ever’body, a’ then will you get the laugh’” (Steinbeck 64) emphasizes the importance of dependency in friendship. When George faces trouble, Slim rescues George from getting kicked out by assuring Curley not to tell the boss about the incident Lennie created. Steinbeck through this interaction infers that a dependent friend like Slim, who George can get support from, is truly a valuable friend. George was able to cope with the difficulty because he had a friend, Slim, whom he could expect help. Without Slim, George eventually would have been kicked out from the ranch and would struggle to find a new job again. The author displays how cherishable dependency is among friendships as people can rely on each other during difficult times as in this situation. People can have friends that they can expect help from at any time, and won’t have to manage all the troubles by themselves. As one famous quote says, “Two heads are better than one.” A help lent by a friend is beneficial, and the author infers how

Do you ever fight with your longtime best friend over something huge, and end up losing them in the aftermath? George and Lennie have been traveling with each other for a long time, but as they are on the verge of their dream Lennie goes and messes it up, which causes George to have to do something he never wanted to do. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, it has a common theme of friendship. Friendship is what carries people throughout their lives, and without it life could be very hard. George’s friendship was the only reason why Lennie had survived all this time as seen through the conflict .

Coming from the known philosopher, Aristotle, “With true friendship, friends love each other for their own sake, and they wish good things for each other”(Knobel). In Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, there are numerous points of view and arguments over George and Lennie's friendship. The novella focuses on two farm workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, who struggle to keep their jobs and eventually move to a new ranch. With the dream of owning their own land one day, they plan on working there for a few months in hopes of Lennie not getting into trouble again. Lennie does not know his own strength and often gets himself into difficult situations without completely understanding what he did wrong. It is undoubtedly the reason George ends up fatally shooting Lennie in the end before Curley does. Although friendship involves looking out for one another, Steinbeck demonstrates that sometimes the most difficult decisions can be an act of love.

Candy also has his one friend in the world, his dog, whom he can not even talk to him. However, when his dog dies, he has to look elsewhere for friendship. He hopes that these friends can be George and Lennie. He asks George if he can join them in their quest to own a piece of land and live off it. Candy also needs to share his thoughts with them. Candy is obviously lonely, because people then did not travel together, and those that did grew up together.

In the book Candy says, “Well--hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him.” He said proudly, “You wouldn't think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen”(44). In this quote, Candy talks highly of his old friend. People say that he smells and that he has become too old to do anything. Candy explains that the dog isand has been his companion for many years. He doesn't care that people think he smells because the dog feels more important to him. They have been through many things together over the years, Another example is, “ Candy threw his legs off his bunk. He scratched the white trubble whiskers on his cheek nervously. “I’m so used to him,” he said softly. “ I had him from a pup”(45). Carlson tries to convince Candy to put the old dog out of his misery. Candy tries to find any way that he can stall Carlson shooting his long time pal. In the quote, Candy feels distressed and nervous about the thought of killing his long time friend. He explains that he is used to his presence. Candy is an old man with little friends, but his old dog has been his longtime companion for many

"Of Mice and Men" is a book about two men and their struggle to achieve their dream of owning a small ranch through their companionship. The two men are completely different, one being a retarded fellow (Lennie), and the other, a typical ranch hand(George) who travels with him. On the path to achieving their dream, they run into obstacles, but stick together, stressing the importance of true friendship. Steinbeck wrote this book to tell us how important it is to have a friend to share your life with.

‘Of mice and men’ is a tale of loneliness and hardship felt by the people living in America during the 1930 's. Written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937, it tells the heartbreaking story of two ranch workers during the depression; George Milton and Lennie Small. At the time America was very poor, with a shortage of jobs so people had to travel in search of new jobs. As many people were constantly moving, lasting friendships or relationships were hard to come across. People became scared to have friendships, scared of each other making them lonely and isolated. Most of the characters lived by ‘every man for himself’; only having to care for themselves, not having to worry about others and therefore

In the book Of Mice and Men, many of the men and a woman face difficulties during their everyday lives and do so together, forming a bond which is quite surprising. One example of these new found connections is when Lennie and George meet Candy, “You know where’s a place like that?… S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in”(59). George and Lennie are both new to the ranch and are taking a big risk to allow a stranger to come with them and work on the place they are buying. However, in taking that risk, the two men start to befriend Candy. Another clear case of an unforeseen union is between Lennie and Crooks- Lennie wanders into Crook’s room looking for his puppy only to have Crooks tell him to leave, but Crooks becomes accustomed to Lennie being there and they talk for a while, coming closer to one another(69). Even though Crooks tries to rid himself of Lennie, he realizes that Lennie does not mean any harm and makes an excellent choice in starting a conversation with him. By engaging in a colloquy, Crooks allows Lennie to inform him on his and George’s dream, forming a larger connection. A most surprising combination of