Explore the Relationships Between George and Lennie in of Mice and Men

How does Steinbeck present Lennie and George’s friendship in Of Mice and
Men?

“Of Mice and Men” was written by John Steinbeck in 1937 to illustrate the pain and miseries of migrant workers during the Great Depression in America and to illustrate that the American Dream lacked possibility. In “Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck presents Lennie’s and George’s relationship in a variety of different ways. Steinbeck depicts the George and Lennie’s companionship through body language, speech, description of the place as well as contrasting other characters’ attitudes towards their relationship. The word relationship is described in the Oxford Dictionary “as the way in which two or more people or groups regard and behave towards each other”. This essay will explore how Steinbeck presents Lennie and George’s companionship throughout “Of Mice and Men”.

Firstly, in “Of Mice and Men”, friendship is presented through body language between Lennie and George. Steinbeck conveys this feature through Lennie’s constant deferential behaviour towards George. This becomes increasingly visible through Steinbeck portraying Lennie as being simple minded and infantile and by Steinbeck conveying Lennie “like a kid”. By Steinbeck writing “his face grew tight with thought” he underlines that Lennie is incapable of surviving on his own, and constantly needs to seek George’s approval. We also realise in the opening chapter of the novella that Lennie idolises George. This is revealed through Steinbeck writing that “Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly.” Steinbeck included this to illustrate that Lennie cannot control himself, and has no moral judgement. Things are good or bad to Lennie depending on what George thinks of them. In addition, Steinbeck wants the audience to realise that Lennie and George essentially become foils for each other. This is because both Lennie and George are mutually dependant characters in the novella, where they need each to in order to survive in society during the Great Depression. On the one hand Lennie needs George because of his great survival skills and knowledge to endue; whereas George needs Lennie for companionship, strength as well as his hard working nature due to the difficulty of finding a job for migrant workers during the Great Depression. It was especially hard to find jobs during the Great Depression due to the Dust bowl; a drought in the 1930’s which affected agricultural land and migrant, farming jobs.

In addition, Steinbeck reveals aspects of George and Lennie’s friendship through their speech. In “Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck conveys George as the dominant character through his use of imperatives he uses throughout the novel. This becomes noticeable when George demands Lennie to give him the mouse by saying “gives it here now” this illustrates George’s commanding, unequal and domineering nature towards Lennie. Another example of the use of speech to portray the characters’ companionship is Steinbeck’s choice of adverbs to describe George’s actions when speaking to Lennie. Steinbeck uses adverbs to describe George to assert his dominance by using adverbs like “sharply” and “disgustingly” to get the reader to see that George is an assertive, controlling and manipulative person and the more powerful person in the friendship, almost taking advantage of Lennie’s submissiveness.

In contrast, Steinbeck portrays Lennie’s simplistic nature through speech by describing how Lennie speaks to George by using adverbs such as” triumphantly” and “timidly.” This indicates how Lennie seeks George’s approval when he speaks and enables the reader to visualise his childlike behaviour. This also becomes evident by Steinbeck writing “he giggled happily” when Lennie does what George tells him to do. This gets the reader to realise that George and Lennie have a complex friendship because George also fulfils a parental role as well as a friend. By Steinbeck also including “Me and him go ever place together” he illustrates that Lennie is totally dependant on George aswell.

Steinbeck’s presentation of their relationship also fulfils a symbolic role in “Of Mice and Men”. Steinbeck represents George and Lennie’s companionship in contrast to the solitude of the other characters on the ranch. Through the characters playing “solitaire” and living in “Soledad”, which means loneliness, he underlines the isolation many ranch workers had suffered during the Great Depression. This is because many workers had to leave their families and travel interpedently to find work. The isolation becomes increasingly noticeable through Crooks who suffers segregation in the novel primarily because he is black. However, George and Lennie’s friendship juxtaposes the seclusion through Steinbeck’s famous refrain “I got you and you got me” reminding the reader that they have something the other characters lack – each other. Therefore the reader can see how Steinbeck used these characters to contrast how life was like during the Great Depression in America and to emphasise the loneliness and isolation of the other characters in the Novella.

Moreover, Steinbeck conveys George and Lennie’s friendship through evocative imagery, such as through the characters’ fantasy of living “off the fatta the lan” – a vivid dream that ties George and Lennie together. Furthermore, this also represents the American dream; the idea that anybody can achieve independence through hard work and determination. Together, both George and Lennie relate to their utopian paradise where they can work for themselves and own their own land. Yet, George and Lennie’s dream of freedom and independence is crushed at the end of the novel by George’s decision to kill Lennie suggesting that during the Great Depression the American Dream was in fact just a fantasy. Nevertheless, by George describing their dreams of having a better life, Steinbeck communicates to the reader that their friendship is based on shared hope.

A particularly revealing scene is George and Lennie’s final moments together. Right at the end of the novel, George shows tenderness towards Lennie. Before shooting him, George reminds Lennie that he will get to “tend the rabbits.” Steinbeck includes this generous act of deceit to illustrate their dream and make Lennie be in his happiest place before George shoots him. The death of Lennie is also wholly pessimistic. This is because Lennie dies in the hands of the person he loves and trusts while thinking of what makes him happiest. Aswell as this, By Steinbeck writing “hand shook violently” before he “pulled the trigger” illustrates his reluctance to kill Lennie. Furthermore, the language George uses when discussing Lennie’s death is instructive. This is because George cannot bring himself to use to word killed; but resorts to euphemistically saying “I just done it” instead conveying his sorrow for killing his best friend.

Whereas, at the end of the novel Steinbeck presents their friendship as a tender one, we learn that previously George used to bully Lennie. In chapter 3 for example, when George talks to Slim he reveals that he “used to play jokes on him [Lennie].” This indicates that George overtime has become a better friend to Lennie, as he “does nothing like that no more.” The reader therefore understands the closeness of Lennie and George seen at the end of the novel has developed over time.

By way of a conclusion this essay will finally explore a contrasting and counter-intuitive interpretation of Steinbeck’s portrayal of their friendship. Whereas at first glance they appear inseparable, as the novel unfolds we detect the fragility to their relationship. George becomes “morose” when he thinks of a “swell time he could have had without Lennie”. Furthermore, George leaves Lennie behind when they go to “Old Suzie’s.” Finally, George’s decision to shoot Lennie is somewhat ambiguous, leaving the reader wondering: did he kill Lennie to protect him from the other workers or just to protect himself from being associated with him?

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