Of Mice and Men vs. Streetcar Named Desire

In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and the play "The Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, the relationships between the protagonists deteriorate over the course of time due to the society's viewpoint on the troubled protagonist. George's perspective of Lenny changes in a negative sense as does Stella's outlook of Blanche. What starts out as friends or sisters, slowly turns into the destruction of the relationships and the abandonment of Lenny or Blanche. Lenny and Blanche are both similar in their failed efforts to fit into their surroundings. Lenny, from Of Mice and Men, is a mentally retarded man who has the mentality of a child. Lenny is an extremely strong, powerful man who has yet to learn the extent of his potency. This attribute eliminates the possibility of him being careful around small, weak objects such as the puppy he did not mean to kill. Lenny talks to the puppy after it is dead saying he "didn't bounce [it] hard" (Steinbeck 85). The puppy could not handle his brute force and without the intention of doing so, Lenny had killed the puppy. This brute force quickly leads to his downfall as he accidentally breaks the neck of Curley's wife causing him to flee the farm and eventually die. With Lenny's childlike frame of mind, Lenny was extremely dependent on the help of others to get him through life. Lenny especially relied on George, causing trouble to both of them as they moved from town to town because of Lenny's faults. This dependency on others also contributes to his unsuccessful efforts to fit into society. When Lenny ran from the farm, he still listened to George and ran to hind in the brush. George was able to manipulate Lenny's dependency and convince Lenny to hand him the gun. George took advantage of this situation and killed his friend as his friend died with the image of "a pig an' chickens…an' down the flat [will be] a…little piece alfalfa" (Steinbeck 105).
Blanche, from "A Streetcar Named Desire", although she was not mentally retarded like Lenny, she still could not successfully fit into society. Blanche's sophisticated nature did not correspond with the style of living Stella and Stanley were used to. Coming from a wealthy, proper community, Blanche was not used to Stella and Stanley's choice of living, calling it horrible and asking Stella why she "had to live in [those] conditions" (Williams 11). Blanche's rude tone from the beginning immediately conveys a negative atmosphere for the rest of the story, an enormous contrast between the overwhelming joy of first seeing each other. Blanche also comments one how Stella is "as plump as a partridge" (Williams 12). Like Lenny's mental disability separates him from society, Blanche's inability to uphold a decent conversation without being negative separates her from society. Blanche also holds are great dependency upon many people. Her false decency replaces her horrific physical looks to try and make herself seem more appealing to men. She depends on male sexual admiration for her self-esteem and for her escape from poverty. She wishes to marry just about anyone, such as Mitch or Shep Huntleigh, so that she can depend on them to live a happy, successful life. Blanche, after taking much verbal abuse from Stanley, took the final blow when he raped her. The rape signified that she had no more control of her sexual desires. When she was in the relationship with Mitch, she toyed with him so that he became more attracted to him. With her rape, she had no power. All of the power was in the hands of the man, Stanley. It is evident that both Lenny and Blanche were subject to being misfits in society, which slowly led to a state of insanity and their demise. George and Stella make critical decisions in the pieces of literature determining the future of their friends' lives. George is Lenny's guardian. He is kind and sincere for he is Lenny's only companion who sticks by his side. The tone of their relationship is set from the start when George tells Lenny, "for God's sake, don't drink so much" (Steinbeck 3). George here is strict and maybe even annoyed with Lenny but he does not, under any circumstance, lose his focus of protecting Lenny. However, on the hunt to find Lenny after he killed Curley's wife, George had forgotten all of his past thinking about how the world is very loving and caring. When George shot Lenny, it was not just an act out of frustration; it was also to spare Lenny the brutal beating that was to come from Curley. George was able to paint the picture of the farm in Lenny's mind and then kill him dreaming of the future. The death of Lenny puts an end to George's perfect world and ends the book with George feeling lonely and depressed, without Lenny to push their dream on ahead.
Stella, from "A Streetcar Named Desire", also had to make an essential decision on the outcome of her sister's life. Stella, Stanley, and the rest of the characters in the novel were fed up with Blanche. However, everyone except for Stella was able to accept that and voice their opinion. Stella was the median between both parties. Throughout the play, Stella defends her husband, the man she loves, from Blanche's unkind words by repeating a lot of the time, "I'm not in anything, I want to get out of." However, she also defends her sister when Stanley buys her a one-way ticket and when he told Mitch about her past. Stella is torn between two people she loves dearly. When it finally comes down to the end, Stella chooses her husband over Blanche. The one time Blanche is telling the truth, Stella chooses to believe her husband saying, "I couldn't believe her story and go on living with Stanley!" (Williams 96). Blanche's crucial decision was to save her marriage or to stay a loving sister and she decided to save her marriage while sending her sister to a mental institution. All in all, George and Stella had to both make a crucial decision that affected the lives of others.
In Of Mice and Men and "A Streetcar Named Desire", the relationships between Lenny and George and Blanche and Stella weaken throughout the course of the book until George and Stella both make a decision, which affects and ruins the relationships. In the end, Lenny dies a peaceful death instead of a hard, agonizing death. Blanche is sent to a mental institution to be able to become a full functioning adult in society again. Although it seems like the relationships were ruined, in the bigger picture, the decisions looked out for the better interests of both Lenny and Blanche.