Friendship In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, the definition of friendship is “the state of being friends; the relationship between friends,” emphasis on “relationship”. Although it has a positive connotation, a friendship isn’t always going to be a great one. We see this in John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men. Two long time friends, George and Lennie go through constant difficulties, struggling to obtain “ the American Dream” a reoccurring theme in many of Steinbeck's pieces. We notice that Lennie isn’t all there, there is something about him that would be detected today with our advanced technology, but wouldn’t be detected back then, so he was just seen as dumb. With the mentality of a very young child and the strength of a bull,
Always quick to judge him. George knew that and was always defending him or trying to get them to understand before they could say anything about him. When they men were meeting their new boss early on in the novella. George didn't let Lennie speak because he knew the boss might think he was incapable of working. He tackled that obstacle by describing the kind of worker he was, mentioning that he wasn't very smart. He tells the boss “Oh! I ain’t saying he’s bright. He ain't. But I say he's a God damn good worker. He can put up a four hundred pound bale,” (Pg.22) in hopes the boss would be won over by his strength. When they meet Slim, on of the workers everyone looks up to, he tells him almost the same exact thing (pg. 34). Another character, a bully with the little man’s syndrome named Curley, is always hating on bigger men. This little guy hates Lennie and tries to pick fights with him all the time. George always has Lennie’s back. Even when Lennie had done the horrendous mistake of killing Curley’s wife. He protected him all the way, and that's what good friends do. He was also always there to comfort Lennie with the story of their dream to own their own farm together and not having to worry about anyone, whenever he needed it. If Lennie asked, Lennie received. Which with the mind of a child, it was always wanted. One of the most important times he comforted Lennie was right before killing him. Yes, I know, that
“ Well George killed Lennie! You don't kill your friends!” That's right, you don't, but you and I have probably never been in the position where that was a decision we had to make. If you really think about it, about their relationship, situation, think about every aspect, you'll understand that George killed Lennie to protect him. I simply cannot stress that enough. If the other men had gotten to Lennie he would have probably been beaten and tortured, especially since the other did not know what really happened, all they know is that Curley’s wife is dead and Lennie is obviously the one who did it. They don't know how, or why, or that it was an accident, or that in a way, it was her fault. They were filled with hate and the drive to make him hurt. Curley was filled with all that since day one and still held a grudge over his broken hand. Lennie could have been lynched. He would not have had a peaceful death. George and Slim, the wise owl of the novella, having a common sense flower (yes, a common sense flower) knew that from the start. Going back towards the beginning of the story, Candy, an old worker on the ranch, had a dog who wasn't very useful anymore but he loved that dog, it was his only family. Sound familiar? The workers agreed that the dog should be let free of its misery and just be shot already. Candy