Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck tells the very touching tale of two men, Lennie and George, who set off to work on a farm to reach their dream of getting their own land. Although they have different characteristics and traits, they both have a strong bond to each other. John Steinbeck proves that a good friendship is based on someone’s personality, not how they look on the outside. Lennie Smalls and George Milton are obviously physically and mentally different from how they look to how they act. For example, Lennie is described in the story as “…a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, and wide sloping shoulders; …” (Steinbeck 2). This shows that he is very strong because of his tremendous size and his wide shoulders, meaning that he is able to do a lot of heavy work. This also shows that he may be slower than an average man because of the way he looks, and this may mean that people judge him for how he looks without really knowing him. In addition, George Milton is said to be “…small and quick, dark of the face . . . small, strong hands, slender arms, and thin and bony nose” (Steinbeck 2). This also shows that he is smaller and weaker than Lennie, which may mean that he isn’t a hard worker. This also shows that George is smarter than Lennie and seems to be the main care taker of Lennie, who doesn’t listen very well and isn’t as bright. Although Lennie and George have different minds and strengths, it doesn’t mean they can’t be friends because while George may feel that he doesn’t need Lennie, he knows he needs Lennie as much as Lennie needs him.
These two main characters both have similar ambitions to work hard, to fulfill their dream of working on another farm to make money to eventually buy a piece of land of their own to farm and live. For example, George tells Lennie, “Someday were gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs an’ live off the fatta the
Cited: Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin, 1993.