Lennie needs George, but it is equally true that George needs Lennie as well. George was also a harsh, mean and derogatory to Lennie, however, it is also very evident that George never left Lennie despite his life would have mean much easier without him. Lennie is George's hardship, but George loves him regardless. Since the death of Lennie's Aunt Clara, George took it upon himself to take responsibility of him and his special needs by finding him jobs, feeding him, and making sure he is safe. Their mutual dependence on one another is what keeps George and Lennie together.
Lennie is incapable of making decisions by himself and relies and depends on George entirely and also looks to him as sort of a big brother. Lennie also sees that George is helpful for guidance and answers which relates to Lennie’s mental abilities. Lennie feels a sense of safeness and comfort when he is with George, whereas when Lennie is without George he sometimes feels awkward and misunderstood by others. George refers to Lennie as his cousin in the book, only to avoid questions being asked and hassle from the ranch owner. But the truth to the matter is that George promised Lennie’s Aunt Clara that he would take care of him when she passed away.
Reardan is the opposite of the reservation. However, with effort, Arnold manages to reconcile his life in Reardan and on the reservation. Although sometimes Arnold also lies and plays some tricks, he works hard to prove himself, to gain respect and to make friends. It’s a big challenge, but well worth the effort. On the other hand, the internal conflict is the difficulties of creating Arnold’s own autonomy while being faithful to his tribe.
Each character in a story gives off a different personality which makes some more likable than the others. As for Ralph and Piggy from Lord of the Flies, their characters aren’t exactly my favorite. Although Ralph does his best to act like a leader, he’s somewhat a pushover; as for Piggy, his personality can be considered irritable. As the main protagonist and leader, Ralph has to keep everyone in check and try to run things smoothly. Although he’s a stubborn person, he can also be considered a pushover.
George warned Lennie not to say anything while he was talking to the boss. It’s for Lennies own good which shows that George cares for him. Lennie doesn’t abide what George has told him and therefore speaks while he is talking to the boss. George behaves viciously because he is starting to get irritated due to Lennie because he creates more problems. He is also angry because he doesn’t have enough money to make the dream become reality, therefore he requires a job, but Lennie minimises the opportunity available because of his child-like
(Steinbeck Pg. 41). George helps Lennie to function properly in real world situations that prove stressful and confusing for Lennie’s simple mind. George has an integral role in Lennie successfully getting a job on the work farm. Lennie is strong and a good worker but he does not have the ability to understand or answer appropriately the questions of the employer during the interview.
Throughout ‘Of Mice And Men’ Steinbeck portrays George as a resentful father figure to Lennie; however this task proves to be a lot of work, as Lennie is rather an annoyance towards George due to his lack of intelligence and knowledge of the world. Consequently this means George has to focus upon keeping Lennie safe and protected and unfortunately his own ‘American Dream’ is temporarily abandoned. When starting at the ranch George is judged for travelling around with Lennie, his boss assumed he was using Lennie for labour purposes and taking his money; ‘Funny how you an’ him string along together.’ Similarly the workers also feel George is going to a lot of effort to keep someone who is ‘slow’, like Lennie, with him when it would be easier to travel alone. The adjective ‘funny’ suggests the situation is unusual and no one has ever bothered to do the same, nor have they ever seen anything like it before. However earlier in the novel George describes him and Lennie as the, ‘loneliest guys in the world’ implying that he doesn’t feel the same way.
It was difficult for George that Lennie was mentally challenged because he had to care for him. Lennie had no one so George felt obligated to be there for him even if it caused him not to have a normal life. George was always looking out for him and always tried to keep him out of trouble. He was related to him but knew him since they were young boys. They had to leave Weeds because a girl accused Lennie of
His ex-friend Bennie Reid taught Paul that sometimes relationships ‘just happen’ even though Paul did not like the prospect of befriending Bennie largely because of his position in the social hierarchy, he still could not abandon Bennie and be left with nobody. Paul’s relationship with Keller is therefore very important to him because although Paul might be at the bottom of the school hierarchy along with Bennie, he is as his parents often remind him, a talented musician. The maestro sees Paul’s arrogance for what it is and conversely devises his teaching methods to suit the position at which Paul was at. As this was initially an insult to Paul the relationship started with no mutual respect, Keller having respect for no one in his surroundings treated his student as he would anyone else. Paul’s first impressions of Keller are ‘Misleading, of course’ and that he is a bad teacher because of Keller’s patronisation.
Instead of Lennie standing beside George or in front of him, he was behind him. The quote shows the dynamics of their relationship that even though Lennie is larger George is still the leader.However it could connote George to be protecting Lennie which suggests he is quite weak mentally and needs guidance as he is unable to do that