George and Lennies Relation Ship

277 Words2 Pages
The novel is set in the 1930’s in California. It is about two migrant agricultural laborers, George Milton and Lennie Small, who start work at a ranch in Northern California having left their previous jobs in a hurry, following accusations of attempted rape against Lennie. From the start of the novel Steinbeck raises questions in the minds of the reader about why these characters should be involved in such an unlikely partnership. George is “short of stature”, intelligent and projects self-confidence; Lennie on the other hand is a giant of a man, ponderous in his gait and has the mind of a young child. It is George and Lennie’s dream to save up enough “stake” money to buy their own small ranch, there by escaping from the poverty, insecurity and inevitable loneliness of the life of a migrant worker. During the course of the novel two other ranch hand hands are enticed into their dream of owning a ranch. The unusual nature of George and Lennie’s relationship raises suspicious amongst the other ranch hands, including the bosses son, Curley. He is a bully and an ex-boxer and almost immediately provokes a fight with Lennie. Curley’s hand is crushed by Lennie’s uncontrolled strength. Curley has a new young wife who craves attention from the other ranch hands. It appears that she married Curley only to escape the monitory of living with her mother. In the 5th chapter Lennie who like to stroke “nice things”, but usually ends up killing them because of his physical strength and mental immaturity, is involved in a tragedy with Curley’s wife when he is alone in the barn with
Open Document