How Steinbeck Presents the Relationship Between George and Lennie in of Mice and Men

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Of Mice and Men: Controlled Assessment Preparation
What methods does Steinbeck use to present George and Lennie’s relationship in Of Mice and Men? Refer to three key episodes and discuss them in detail.
‘Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They ain’t no family. They don’t belong no place…With us it ain’t like that. We got a future…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.’ These are great quotes from the famous short novel, Of Mice and Men. In this book there are two significant characters, George and Lennie. George is described as, ‘small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features.’ Lennie is then described as, ‘a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders.’ Steinbeck uses several interesting methods to present the relationship between these two characters which makes this book so captivating.
Steinbeck uses symbolism at the start of chapter 6 to give the reader an idea of what will happen to George and Lennie’s relationship during this chapter. ‘A water snake glided smoothly up the pool,’ this scene seems relaxed like when George appears out the brush and talks to Lennie calmly. ‘And came to the legs of a motionless heron,’ this shows that tension is starting to build up because we can guess what is going to happen next, which is similar to when George raises the gun to Lennie’s head. ‘A silent beak and head lanced and plucked it out the head,’ this quote is relative to the death of Lennie because both Lennie and the water snake are killed by the head.
Steinbeck uses circular plotting to present the relationship between George and Lennie. In chapter 1 Steinbeck introduces the reader to the Salinas River where George and Lennie camp for the night. George tells Lennie about ‘the rabbits’ and how it going to be between the two of
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