Mice and men
Explore some of the ways Steinbeck leads up to George’s final decision to shoot Lennie in Of Mice and Men
Loneliness and companionship is imminent throughout the book. It starts from the beginning when George sets the tone by repeating to Lennie that life on a ranch is the loneliest life there is, for example Steinbeck states “Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world’. This shows us that men on a ranch rarely have any companionship or safety however George and Lennie have each other and this contradicts the idea that ranch men are always lonely. As the story develops we see that there are other characters that experience loneliness one point in the story like Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all confess to it. Crooks and Curley’s wife find a companion within Lennie and share their fears for example with Crooks, Steinbeck states ‘don’t make no difference who the guy is, longs he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick". This shows the effects that loneliness can have on a person and Crooks admits that he is extremely lonely and companionship of his kind is impossible. Also another lonely character is Curley’s wife, she is forbidden to talk to anyone but Curley however instead she approaches the ranch hands by looking for Curley as an excuse to talk to them. Only result of this is that she becomes more disliked and Curley gets more jealous. Unfortunately her loneliness leads to her untimely death by making the error of confiding in Lennie and teasing him. This all leads up to George’s decision to shoot Lennie as he knows that the hope of such companionship with Lennie dies as the cycle will be repeated and it seems that George’s original belief becomes true as he shall now walk through life alone.
Loneliness and companionship is imminent throughout the book. It starts from the beginning when George sets the tone by repeating to Lennie that life on a ranch is the loneliest life there is, for example Steinbeck states “Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world’. This shows us that men on a ranch rarely have any companionship or safety however George and Lennie have each other and this contradicts the idea that ranch men are always lonely. As the story develops we see that there are other characters that experience loneliness one point in the story like Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all confess to it. Crooks and Curley’s wife find a companion within Lennie and share their fears for example with Crooks, Steinbeck states ‘don’t make no difference who the guy is, longs he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick". This shows the effects that loneliness can have on a person and Crooks admits that he is extremely lonely and companionship of his kind is impossible. Also another lonely character is Curley’s wife, she is forbidden to talk to anyone but Curley however instead she approaches the ranch hands by looking for Curley as an excuse to talk to them. Only result of this is that she becomes more disliked and Curley gets more jealous. Unfortunately her loneliness leads to her untimely death by making the error of confiding in Lennie and teasing him. This all leads up to George’s decision to shoot Lennie as he knows that the hope of such companionship with Lennie dies as the cycle will be repeated and it seems that George’s original belief becomes true as he shall now walk through life alone.