Altruism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
In Barack Obama’s 2004 Democratic National Convention speech, he introduced his ideology of “I am my brother’s keeper”: if someone else is hurt or negatively impacted, no matter their background, heritage, social standing, or economic stability, you have a responsibility to aid them. In a sense, this philosophy expands upon the “Golden Rule” principal of treating others as one would wish to be treated, and the idea that altruistic behavior between people forms mutual relationships that eventually benefits society as a whole. For instances, within Obama’s speech he conveyed: “I am my brother’s keeper. I want his children and mine to learn and be educated and have every chance at success and happiness in life.” This posed scenario, expresses
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Of Mice and Men follows the “unlikely pair” George and Lennie as they “cling together in the face of loneliness and alienation” in the 1930’s (Steinbeck,1937). Like most single men during the economically struggling 1930s, both were migrant laborers in the American west vegetable fields, with other laborers, as they work hard to earn enough money to achieve their dream of being independent and owning an acre of land and a shack (Steinbeck, 1937). However, to other laborers on the ranch, George and Lennie’s companionship is considered out of place and suspicious, since most either consider others as competition, “dead weight”, or feel that they are more likely to succeed independently; even the ranch owner asks George “…what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ his pay away from him?” and George expresses that he is not to which the Boss replies: “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is.” (Steinbeck, 1937, p. 22). This conveys that the Boss was perplexed by George and Lennie’s affiliation that he became suspicious of George taking advantage of Lennie being mentally challenged, rather than reasoning that George and Lennie just do not want to be by themselves. Steinbeck also utilizes this novel to reflect on how loneliness impacted minor characters to juxtapose the advantages
Of Mice and Men follows the “unlikely pair” George and Lennie as they “cling together in the face of loneliness and alienation” in the 1930’s (Steinbeck,1937). Like most single men during the economically struggling 1930s, both were migrant laborers in the American west vegetable fields, with other laborers, as they work hard to earn enough money to achieve their dream of being independent and owning an acre of land and a shack (Steinbeck, 1937). However, to other laborers on the ranch, George and Lennie’s companionship is considered out of place and suspicious, since most either consider others as competition, “dead weight”, or feel that they are more likely to succeed independently; even the ranch owner asks George “…what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ his pay away from him?” and George expresses that he is not to which the Boss replies: “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is.” (Steinbeck, 1937, p. 22). This conveys that the Boss was perplexed by George and Lennie’s affiliation that he became suspicious of George taking advantage of Lennie being mentally challenged, rather than reasoning that George and Lennie just do not want to be by themselves. Steinbeck also utilizes this novel to reflect on how loneliness impacted minor characters to juxtapose the advantages