Friendship and Human Morality in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men There comes a time in our lives when the harder decisions we have to make are also the moral ones. In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men George is faced with the most dreadful decision on whether or not to end Lennie’s life and chooses the moral solution on behalf of Lennie’s own good and well being. George’s decision in killing Lennie is a true definition of human morality and friendship, because not only does he give up his own happiness for Lennie but gives him a much happier and painless death and freedom from the world Lennie truly couldn’t succeed in, giving off,” A sense not of realism but of reality” as stated in R.W.B Lewis’ article “John Steinbeck the Fitful Daemon” (512). Throughout the novel readers come to learn that Lennie and George have been together for years, George being Lennie’s primary caretaker. He goes about living a life it seems he doesn’t want and goes without little reward for the task he has taken (besides friendship and a friend in Lennie).
The friendship that George and Lennie share forms the core of the novella, and although Steinbeck idealizes and perhaps exaggerates it, he never questions its sincerity. From Lennie’s perspective, George is the most important person in his life, his guardian and only friend. Every time he does anything that he knows is wrong, his first thought is of George’s disapproval. He doesn’t defend himself from Curley because of George’s stern instruction for him to stay out of trouble, and when he mistakenly kills his puppy and then Curley’s wife, his only thought is how to quell George’s anger. He has a childlike faith that George will always be there for him, a faith that seems justified, given their long history together.
As he tries to help the men attain their dream, he also reminds them of the possibility (and indeed, likelihood) that it’s going to fail. Once it does indeed fail, it’s Candy more than anyone else who feels the loss. While George mourns what he must do to his friend, and Lennie worries for the future rabbits, Candy is left to embody the despair one finds at the end of a long, hard-working life when you’re done with your career and no closer to the American dream. And also, your best friend (even if it is a dog), is
In the book, George cared for Lennie and was always there for him. He would comfort Lennie and gave him a shoulder to cry on. In the movie, their friendship wasn’t as great as it was in the book. George was very annoyed of Lennie and hated him being around. He believed his life would have been better if Lennie never existed or never met each other because George believes Lennie holds him
According to a Turkish Proverb, “A good companion shortens the longest road.” This companion is someone who must truly believe in and help the other individual accomplish his or her dream. In John Steinbeck’s classic novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses Crook’s segregation from society, Curley’s dysfunctional marital relationship, and George’s responsibility to care for Lennie, to show that the absence of a healthy relationship will prevent one from pursuing their dream. First, Crook’s dream is to feel a sense of belonging, and segregation denies him the ability to find a relationship that will help him achieve a status comparable to whites. Feeling left out, Crooks comments, “I ain’t wanted in the bunk house… ‘Cause I’m black. They
George knows that Lennie gets in trouble, but the fact that they have each other is worth the work. He tries to keep Lennie on track towards their dream. Even though Lennie makes George extremely irritated, he truly cares about him and hopes for a better future together, where they control their future not anyone else. George’s ultimate sacrifice is when he has to kill Lennie to save his friend from agenizing pain. George Truly cared about Lennie and wanted him to know it.
Once dreams are abandoned, happiness is impossible to achieve, leaving a person trapped in a cycle of misery. As evidenced by the attitudes of both Crookes and George, hopes and ambitions are not about feasible plans, but instead about discovering a way to pull through the depression, even if it’s just deceiving the mind with fantasies that may not come true. Upon the realization that these dreams will indeed not happen, misery and dissatisfaction is the only thing left. Crookes’ incapability to enter a world of hope, leads him into a bitter life lacking the thrill of living. Throughout the story, dreams seem to be infectious and even Crookes who Steinbeck portrays as the always negative pessimistic stable buck allows himself to believe.
TT [Lennie holds George back, but George cares so much for Lennie that he’s willing to overcome the challenges.] Lennie has issues, he can’t help it, but it’s real hard on George. When George gets really agitated from Lennie he doesn’t mean to yell, but he can’t help it. It hurts Lennie, he once told George that he “should go away and leave [George] alone,” that he “could go off in the hills” and “some place [he’d] find a cave” (12). T1 [George felt bad hearing his best friend say that, as much as that would get rid of George’s challenges, he cares too much for Lennie to lose him] George’s agitation might harm Lennie, but George has to ventilate his anger somehow.
Men and women seek hope in his or her lives in order to make something of themselves useful, but they cannot find it because of the fact that they are too isolated by his or her surroundings. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates Lennie’s friend, George, as a person who has a bit of hope, but is worried that his “partner” is going to ruins his life once again like at the time they were at Weed. George is often characterized as a person who has to take care of Lennie because he knows that the only person that could ever make things go wrong is Lennie. “Am I My Brother’s Keeper” specifically represents George because it shows that even though he has little hope on his side, he has to take of one’s life, and that is Lennie Small. When George has hope on his side, he says, “We’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens.
Sacrifices of Friendship How far are you willing to go to save a friend? In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George goes through ups and downs to take care of Lennie. At the end of the novella, George must make a decision to either keep his friend and have him suffer or end Lennie’s life completely to save him. This is one of the hardest decisions a person could make. No one should ever have to go through this but in this case, George was forced to take the life of his dear friend.