Relationship Between Milton And Lennie Small

Of Mice and Men Essay
Andrew Shon
Period 7

In Of Mice and Men, George Milton and Lennie Small had an extraordinary companionship because they looked out for each other, worked together and did many other tasks together that created an inseparable bond. Although the duo had the best relationship unlike anyone else in the novel, they also had their problems and obstacles. Mainly George was the one who oversaw Lennie and maintained the friendship despite Lennie’s mild case of mental retardation, which made it difficult for Lennie to care for himself. Wherever the two men were, Lennie always got into trouble. In result, it made it hard for George to find professions because it was the Great Depression era. Towards the end of the novel,…show more content…
If he were to be kept alive, Lennie would have eventually died of sadness and pain. Not only would it be painful for Lennie, but it would be as well for George because they shared a close relationship. Because Lennie has mild mental retardation, his mind functioned like a child’s mind. Lennie performed actions that could have potentially jeopardized the both of them, although his actions were not intentional. George did not shoot Lennie because of hatred, but because of love and desire for Lennie to be happy. A quote that expressed George’s love for Lennie is, “I ain’t gonna let them hurt Lennie” (95). Even though Lennie complete deeds that infuriated and agitated George, he never let the deeds make him a horrible person to Lennie out of happiness. A quote that represents this is, “No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know.” (106). Men with child-like minds should not be allowed to go through suffering. At that mental age, they would not have been able to handle reality. One may say that it is sinful to end a life in general, however what George did was a truly good action by sending Lennie to a better place instead of receiving torture from Curley, a very abusive and cruel man to Lennie. A good example that is similar to this is when Candy had to make the decision to end the life of his dog. Many workers disliked Candy’s dog because it was elderly and smelled horrendous, therefore wanted it dead. Like George, Candy only wanted his dog dead to prevent it from enduring the suffering that they both face from oppressors. “You seen what they did to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. What they can me here I wisht somebody shoot me. But they won’t do nothing like that. I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs” (60). This quote displayed that even though Candy let the murder of his