Friendship In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
Friendship There exist two kinds of friendship – the good and the bad. A bad friendship being one which involves someone who does not truly care for the other, feels indifferent towards the friend, and lacks showing any kind of emotion or compassion towards the other friend. Moreover, this type of friendship would ultimately burn out. By contrast, a good friendship would be someone who honestly cares, has the best intentions for the other, and knows about the imperfections and flaws of their friend yet continues to stay with them. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, one can find an example of a good type of friendship. In the story, one will find out that the characters, Lennie and George, have been long-time friends who have gone
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Of course, one will argue that George was never a good friend due to the fact that he shot his own best friend, and that it was not an act of a true, good friend. There are times when people come across a situation in their life in which they have to make a very tough decision in which effects their loved ones, but they do it for the best intentions. Likewise, George was one of these people who had to face a difficult choice in which he could end Lennie’s life, he even had second thoughts about it (Steinbeck 106). Although there existed alternative ways to solve the situation that the characters were going through, in George’s mind, he did it for the good of Lennie. Knowing that Lennie had unintentionally just killed a woman and that a mob of the ranchers were going after him, George thought it was better to end his life (Steinbeck 92, 96-98). In other words, he did him the favor of saving him from the pain and suffering that could have been brought to him by the men. Even if they ran away from the ranch and changed their identities, they cannot keep running away from all the things Lennie keeps on messing up; it would have only gotten to a point in which it could have been worse and eventually they would have been caught at some point in their lives. Additionally, I find that based on the circumstances that they found themselves in, that it would have only
Of course, one will argue that George was never a good friend due to the fact that he shot his own best friend, and that it was not an act of a true, good friend. There are times when people come across a situation in their life in which they have to make a very tough decision in which effects their loved ones, but they do it for the best intentions. Likewise, George was one of these people who had to face a difficult choice in which he could end Lennie’s life, he even had second thoughts about it (Steinbeck 106). Although there existed alternative ways to solve the situation that the characters were going through, in George’s mind, he did it for the good of Lennie. Knowing that Lennie had unintentionally just killed a woman and that a mob of the ranchers were going after him, George thought it was better to end his life (Steinbeck 92, 96-98). In other words, he did him the favor of saving him from the pain and suffering that could have been brought to him by the men. Even if they ran away from the ranch and changed their identities, they cannot keep running away from all the things Lennie keeps on messing up; it would have only gotten to a point in which it could have been worse and eventually they would have been caught at some point in their lives. Additionally, I find that based on the circumstances that they found themselves in, that it would have only