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Of Mice and Men4

Of Mice and Men4 Similarities and Differences Between George and Lennie John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men concerns and unlikely couple who travel about the country searching for work. Throughout the novel, characteristics of important people are similar yet different. George Milton and Lennie Small are two characters that have many differences physically, but many similarities mentally. Initially, George Milton is a kind, short and trustworthy companion of Lennie. George travels with Lennie and helps him to survive although Lennie is more of a burden than a help. Before Aunt Clara dies, she places the trust of her only relative in the hands of George. George protects Lennie in many parts of the story by creating a reason for Leenie not to leave, such as; “ Somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself” (13). George often insults Lennie and “gives him hell” (87) but he doesn’t really mean it. Although he often talks about how much better off he could be without Lennie, George secretly relies on Lennie. When Lennie offers to leave, George virtually pleads with him to stay by saying, “I was jus’ foolin’” (13) This is because George depends on Lennie to a certain extent for his unconditional friendship. George has two important characteristics which are pointed out within the novel. His friendliness is immediately present as he makes friends with Candy, Carlson, Slim, and the other ranch hands. George is also intelligent . He expresses his desire to be different from the other ranch hands who merely work for a month and then spend all their money in town. This intelligence that George has comes handy in many parts of the novel. The next important character is Lennie Small. Lennie is a massive, extremely strong man, “Strong as a bull” (22). The most obvious feature of Lennie’s character is that he seams to be retarded somehow. He is a man who has the mind of a child. Slim is the first to notice this, remarking that Lennie is “Jes’ like a kid” (43). Later in the novel, Curley’s wife also says, “Jus’ like a big baby” (90) when refering to Lennie. Lennie doesn’t know his own strength, and this is one of the reasons which lead to the eventual altercations. He realizes he is “Strong as a bull” (22), but he can’t judge how much force to use for certain actions. Despite the major flaws in his character, Lennie is amiable and friendly, and doesn’t do any bad things on purpose. Lennie has sort of a blind faith in George. He trusts in George to protect him and look after his welfare. For example, the incident George describes to Slim “One day a bunch of guys was standin’ around up on the Sacramento River. I was feelin’ pretty smart. I turns to Lennie and says, ‘Jump in’. An’ he jumps”(40). This proves that Lennie will do anything for George. Although Lennie may be of low intelligence, he can still be quite crafty. After threatening to leave, Lennie stays but asks George to, “Tell me-like you done before. About the rabits” (13). George does so. Thus, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men concerning two men who travel the country looking for work, has many important characters. Although many of the characters are very different from each other, they are also different. This is clearly shown through George and Lennie. Bibliography:

Word Count: 562