Explore the Way Steinbeck

John Steinbeck is the author of the novel 'Of Mice & Men', a short novella set in the 1930's, the decade of the Great Depression & the Wall Street Crash. During this period of time work was scarce, & men would have been forced to venture out to ranches to earn enough money to live. Having experienced this himself, Steinbeck had the knowledge of working on ranches to make the story as realistic as possible. The story shadows the two principle characters Lennie Small & George Milton as they travel from ranch to ranch. In the novella, Steinbeck reveals the depth of Lennie & Georges relationship, & how there bond is stronger than it first seems, & this is what I intend to explore.

One of the most distinct focuses of Lennie & Georges relationship is their dream. This dream binds them together, the hope that one day they will "have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch & chickens". It is clearly evident how much joy Lennie gets from hearing about the two friends dream, & Lennie, having such a childlike nature, is comforted by the vision. George is also subtly comforted by the idea of one day not having to rely on anybody else to get by in life. This ideal future of theirs strengthens the bond between them. It gives them a sense of security in their old age, so they won't end up neglected, in a dead end job much like the character Candy in the book.

This need for companionship reinforces Lennie & George's relationship & indicates that the two need each other for company. Their relationship is very symbiotic, in the way that Lennie simply couldn't live without George as his role model, carer & friend. Even though George is more discreet about it in some ways he feels the same. Steinbeck drops hints throughout the novella on Lennies role in George's life, for example when George says he 'aint gonna let em' hurt Lennie' it is clear how strong their relationship is. Also, when Lennie killed Curley's wife, a nameless women who caused a lot of trouble among the men of the ranch, George didn't leave Lennie. It becomes apparent in the book that Lennie is mentally challenged & without George he wouldn't last long at all. Lennie looks up to George, as a father figure, this is evident when he copies George, 'Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly'. George tries hard throughout the book to play a father like figure in Lennies life & keep him out of trouble, but it soon becomes clear that this isn't as it may seem.

Regardless of the fact that Lennie causes endless amounts of trouble for George as they travel around, George is still loyal to Lennie. The two were forced to leave their previous ranch because of an incident that happened between Lennie & a girl in a red dress & instead of leaving Lennie like most men would in his situation, George stuck by him. Without each