Of mice and men
Friendship
Lennie and George
The main friendship displayed throughout ‘Of mice and men’ is the
friendship of Lennie and George. Their friendship is unusual as they
have very contrasting personalities and also it shocks the people on
the ranch as it is very rare that people would travel around together.
However we are unsure whether George chose to look after Lennie
or that ‘Aunt Clara’ expected George to. George often gets
frustrated with Lennie as he had quite an immature state of mind.
Overall we can tell that they both have a strong friendship because
at the end of the book it shows that George would go to great
lengths to look out for Lennie and to keep him from harm.
Lennie and George
‘We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a
damn about us’
-
George, Page 15
‘because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look
after you’
-
Lennie, Page 15-16
‘It ain’t so funny, him an’ me goin’ aroun’ together, … kinda
used to each other after a little while’
-
George, Page
Candy
Candy is desperate for friendship, you can tell this by the way he is friendly and
welcoming when Lennie and George arrives. He instantly connects with their dream of
living on a ranch. Candy often seeks companionship from his dog which he has raised
from a pup.
‘well – hell! I had him since he was a pup. Was the
best damn sheep dog I have ever seen.’
This relationship between Candy and the dog is similar to the relationship between
George and Lennie. Candy loves the dog even if he smells and George loves Lennie
even if he isn’t too bright.
Crooks
Crooks is a very lonely character as he is black and at the time when the book was
written there was a lot of racial discrimination, therefore Crooks would have been seen as
a lower rank than all the other workers on the ranch. However Lennie is unaware of this
and tries to befriend him. Crooks is very cautious about Lennie, and quite resentful.
However eventually he lets Lennie into his room.
‘S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into
the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black.
How'd you like that? S'pose you had to sit out here an' read
books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but
then you got to read books. Books ain't no good. A guy
needs somebody - to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he
ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is,
long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely
an' he gets sick.’
- Crooks, Chapter 4.
Curley’s Wife
I believe that Curley’s wife is quite resentful of Lennie and George because she
is jealous of their friendship. In the book you began to get the idea that she
doesn’t have a very good relationship with Curley. Therefore she wouldn’t have
anyone to talk to. Also she often mocks their idea of living on the ranch, this
might be because she never achieved her dream of being an actress so she
doesn’t want them to achieve theirs either.
‘think
I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while?
Think I like to stick in that house alla time?’
- Curley’s Wife, page 77.