Of Mice and Men Essay

The book Of Mice and Men focuses on the friendship of two migrant workers in California at a time when most of the work was done by people and not by machines. George was a small man who acted worldly and wise. Lennie was a huge man that had the mind of a child. Together George and Lennie would bounce from job to job with no money in their pockets and only the dream of someday owning a place of their own to keep them going. The two men were not able to stay in one place too long because Lennie would get into trouble and George would have to get the two of them out of the bad situation and find a new place to work until the next bad thing would happen. Why would George continue to complicate his life by dragging Lennie around? Why wouldn’t George just set off on his own and make his life a whole lot easier? It was obvious when I read through the book that Lennie could not have survived in the world without somebody like George watching out for him. As the story unfolded I had to ask myself, â€Å"Did George need Lennie as much as Lennie needed George? † Two men traveling together the way George and Lennie did was not very common during this time. Slim said to George on page 39, â€Å"Hardly none of the guys ever travel together. I hardly never seen two guys travel together. You know how hands are, they just come in and get their bunk and work a month, and then they quit and go out alone. Never seem to give a damn about nobody. † Why did George and Lennie travel together then? It is easy to answer that question when looking at it from Lennies point of view. Lennie needed somebody to protect him. Lennie had the mind of a small child and would not have been able to find work, feed himself or stay out of trouble if not for somebody like George. The reason why George traveled with Lennie on the other hand is a little bit more complicated. One reason may have been George made a promise to the person who took care of Lennie before George that he would. Does this mean that George is such a stand up person that he would not go back on his word? Maybe but I don’t think it is the main reason he put up with Lennie and all the trouble that came with him. Another reason George may have kept Lennie around was that Lennie was such a great worker that it made George’s life much easier always working alongside of him. A third reason why George may have continued to travel with Lennie was that George liked the fact that he was in charge of Lennie, similar to how a father was in charge of what his son does. George had so little in his life that maybe having Lennie around to tell what to do all the time made him feel needed or important. Jus’ tell Lennie what to do an’ he’ll do it if it don’t take no figuring. He can’t think of nothing to do himself, but he sure can take orders† George tells Slim on page 39. A fourth reason George kept Lennie around is maybe Lennie made George feel smart. George seemed like the kind of person that liked to feel he was smart. The last reason I can think of and probably the biggest reason was that George needed the company. I don’t think that George could even imagine living how he lived and not having anybody to share anything with, including his ideas and his dreams. Ultimately, I think all of these reasons played some role in why George kept Lenny around but fear of being alone was probably the biggest reason. Something good is gained by both parties in every successful relationship and the relationship that George and Lenny have was no exception. Lenny of course received protection and a person to take care of him. Those are two things he could not have survived without. I think what George gained most from the relationship was becoming a better person. On page 41, George says to Slim, â€Å"I ain’t got no people. I seen guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good. They get wantin’ to fight all the time. † George meant he didn’t have any family at all. George was afraid if he lost Lennie, he would never have somebody close to him again, he would be all alone and turn mean. That is what George got most out of the relationship, the friendship he believed made him a better person. I think George proved just how much he cared about Lennie at the end of the story when he shot Lennie in the back of the head by the creek. George made the ultimate sacrifice in killing Lennie and putting himself in the position that he feared the most which is being along. George knew if anybody else found Lennie, especially Curley, they would have made Lennie suffer to pay for killing Curley’s wife. It was interesting what happened earlier with Old Candy and his dog being put to sleep. Old Candy seemed just as upset about not shooting the dog himself as losing the dog. â€Å"I should have done it myself†, Old Candy said near the end of the book. Maybe George learned from that. George believed the right thing was for somebody who cared about Lennie to end his life no matter how much it hurt. Of Mice and Men is a book about relationships with the relationship between two very different people, George and Lennie, at the forefront. Early on it seemed very obvious that Lennie got the most benefit from their friendship. As the story unfolds, it’s not so obvious. In the end, I believe that George benefitted as much or even more than Lennie from their strange friendship. George believed that Lennie made him a better person.