George And Lennie Friendship Essay

Someone once said, “True friendship is knowing someone’s faults, and loving them anyways. ” This quote is exactly how it sounds. Being a true friend to someone is accepting them for who they are and what they have done in the past. Lennie and George both have done many things in the past, and yet they are still close. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, they display exactly that. Although Lennie and George tend to fight quite often, struggling through hardships along the way, they are always there for each other no matter what; they manage to maintain a very special relationship.

Throughout the book, Lennie does some outrageous things that put George over the edge, but in the end, George is always trying to forgive him even if it is not what he wants to do. For instance, Lennie is extremely forgetful with some of the things that George tells him. While they are sitting by the river bank, Lennie, again, does not seem to remember any direction George may have previously given him: “So you forgot awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? ” Lennie explains, “I tried not to forget, honest to God I did George! (Steinbeck 4).

Once Lennie explains this to George, he backs off. George automatically feels bad for blowing up on Lennie when he knows it was not Lennie’s intention to forget what he had said. George’s willingness to forgive Lennie shows that he really cares. In addition to forgetting things, Lennie also has many more faults that he does not realize.

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George and Lennie talk by the river bank earlier that day, when George accidentally, out of anger, says something to Lennie that he did not mean. He says, “What do I got? I got you!

Why Are George And Lennie Friends

You can’t keep a job and you lose me every job I get! ” (Steinbeck 11). After seeing the look on Lennie’s face, George realizes something. George realized that he could not go a day without Lennie, and he would not want to go a day without Lennie, even if he sometimes feels like he would be better off. Lennie is bewildered with most of the things that he does wrong, and he does not understand why, but there comes a time in the book where Lennie knows he is in the wrong. “I done a bad thing, I done another bad thing. ” (Steinbeck 91).

Lennie is referring to the killing of Curley’s wife. As a result of this, George is the one who puts Lennie out of his misery in order to keep him from getting lynched, and to save Lennie from the future consequences he would have had to face. The true trials of friendship become apparent throughout the book. Lennie causes George many hardships, but George still loves him regardless. George is really a father figure to Lennie, but George loves Lennie for the type of companionship he expresses to him. Somehow putting the two opposites together, they always make it work.

There comes a point in the book where George feels like it is appropriate to tell Lennie how he really feels: “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. ” (Steinbeck 13. ) George explains later in the book that it is much easier to go around with somebody you know. Really in George’s head, his life would be completely different if it was not for Lennie. Deep down George knows that Lennie is what he can call a “true” friend. Before you even get to know George and Lennie, the book explains something that automatically gives you the idea that George is the leader. They’re both dressed in denim trousers and coats with brass buttons, one following after the other. ” (Steinbeck 2). Along with their appearance, this explanation shows that one of them is the leader, and the other is following his every move. In that case, Lennie would be considered the follower. Additionally to George being the leader of the two, he explains to the guys on the ranch that Lennie and him are in it together. George said coldly. “We travel together. ” (Steinbeck 25).

By expressing this to the guys on the ranch, it shows that he is true to his friendship with Lennie, and there companionship towards one another. Of Mine and Men by John Steinbeck is a book in which many issues dealing with the responsibilities of friendship become apparent. Throughout this novel, Steinbeck portrays friendship as a difficult task, but makes it well worth it. He makes it clear that true companions stick together through everything, and that is exactly what George and Lennie did. While struggling through hardships along the way, they make their friendship work.