Of Mice and Men: True Friendship Essay Example

What determines a friendship? Is it determined by just socializing with one another, or is it more than that? Does it mean staying with each other through all the adversity, sacrificing for one another, or even more than that? In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Lennie and George, two hardworking laborers, stay together throughout the whole book. During the period of the novel, The Great Depression, no one looks out for anybody but themselves, in such lost times. It is considered a time period in which people could not provide for themselves, so helping someone else out was undoubtfully extinct. But George ignores this notion and stays with Lennie to protect him, and this is only one of the selfless acts that George does. When considering George and Lennie, George is a friend to Lennie through the sacrifices he makes, keeping his pride up and never leaving his side. George resembles a friend to Lennie because he makes many sacrifices so he can look out for him. During the Great Depression, when virtually everything was lost, most people would never even think about anybody but themselves, which resembles the book because every character in the book is only looking out for themselves. Although Lennie and George are different in the sense that they care for each other. An example of the sacrifices he makes is when George was ticked about Lennie doing something that George specifically told him not to do. After he went on to say, “If I was alone I would live so easy. I would go get an’ job, an’ no trouble. I could take my fifty bucks and go into town whenever I want” (Steinbeck 11). This quote shows that George realizes the fact that he could be in a much better situation then he is at the moment. George could leave Lennie whenever he chooses to and would live a better life. This quotes significance is that it shows that George had, and still has, a chance to live a better life if he left Lennie. But he chooses to stay with him throughout because he