Friendship is a bond between two people that usually is not broken. The meaning of friendship is displayed in the classic novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck. Lennie, one of the main characters, has the mind of a child and a body of Superman. George, the other main character, is the smarter one and usually gets Lennie out of the trouble he’s always in. The only things these two friends have are each other.
After running afoul of the law, the two men end up in California where they get jobs on a large ranch run by Curly, the owner’s vicious son. When Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, Mae, George realized that if he kills Lennie before Curley, all of the pressure would be off of him. Their friendship is more like a parent and child relationship; Lennie is always depending on George, as a child would depend on their parent. George finds himself in a lose-lose situation, unless he kills Lennie. .”..
God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live life so easy. I could get a job, an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want.” Pg. 10. George always mentions throughout the entire story up until Lennie dies that he would be much happier and life would be much easier if Lennie was not around.
The responsibility of taking care of Lennie was becoming a burden on George, so he found it easier by just killing him. George and Lennie started their parent and child relationship when Lennie’s Aunt Clara died; they were friends before that, but the death brought them closer. “Him and me was both born in Auburn. I know ed his Aunt Clara. She took him when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just came along with me out workin’.
The Essay on Aunt Clara Lennie George Film
Of Mice and Men - comparing the book ending with the film ending The final chapter of Mice and Men begins in the brush near the Salinas River. Steinbeck describes the pool and surroundings creating a calm, lazy atmosphere. .".. the hilltops were rosy in the sun... A pleasant shade had fallen." This is similar to the beginning of the book in the way it describes the setting. Earlier in the book, ...
Got kinda used to each other after a little while.” Pg 37. George expresses how he was a friend to Lennie, but Lennie followed him so that’s why they ” re best of friends. He feels obligated to keep Lennie around. Yes, maybe sometimes it was fun for George to have Lennie around, but in reality he didn’t want to take on the responsibilities his Aunt Clara left. “I used to have a hell of a lot of fun with ‘im. Used to play jokes on ‘im ’cause he was too dumb to take care of ‘itself.
But he was too dumb even to know he had a joke played on him. I had fun… I’ve beat the hell outta him, and he coulda bust every bone in my body jus’ with his han’s, but he never lifted a finger against me.” Pg. 38.
In that quote, George is making it pretty clear that he has Lennie around to make a fool of him. The only thing he wants Lennie around for is for his own excitement. When George kills Lennie, he finally realized how flexible their friendship really was. “I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good. They don’t have no fun.
After a long time they get mean. They get wantin’ to fight all the time.” Pg. 38. Now George is finally realizing that without Lennie he ” ll become a mean old man. George tries to make it seem as if he didn’t want to kill his “best friend”, someone he said he could not live without. It was George’s decision to take on the responsibilities of Lennie and he did.
If he did not want to, he did not have to. He wanted the responsibilities at first, but after he found out how difficult they were he decided he couldn’t handle them, which lead to Lennie’s death.
