Of Mice and Men Theme Quotes Essay Example
Of Mice and Men Theme Quotes
-------------------------------------------------
FRIENDSHIP THEME:
-------------------------------------------------
In this novella, friendship isn’t discussed heavily. George and Lennie don’t talk about how they feel about each other or why they should stay loyal – they just stand by each other. It’s a very harsh and rough atmosphere, and though feelings aren’t talked about, we get the sense that the men take nothing more seriously than their friendship. For George and Lennie, as they make their way through the Depression, all they have is each other.
FRIENDSHIP QUOTES:
QUOTE#1
LENNY: “I was only foolin’ George. I don’t want no ketchup. I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right there beside me.”
GEORGE: "If it was here, you could have some."
LENNY: “But I wouldn’t eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it." (1.93-95)
EXPLANATION:
Even after this awful fight, the men’s friendship has a simple and remarkable earnestness. George grudgingly knows he’s wrong and in fact really loves his friend, and even though Lennie can’t express it in a terribly complex way, he loves George back.
*Earnestness: Showing depth and sincerity of feeling.
*Grudgingly: Unwillingly.
QUOTE#2
GEORGE: “Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place.”
LENNY: "That’s it—that’s it. Now tell how it is with us."
GEORGE: "With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us."
LENNY: "But not us! An’ why? Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why." (1.113-116)
EXPLANATION:
This is a pretty timeless definition
-------------------------------------------------
FRIENDSHIP THEME:
-------------------------------------------------
In this novella, friendship isn’t discussed heavily. George and Lennie don’t talk about how they feel about each other or why they should stay loyal – they just stand by each other. It’s a very harsh and rough atmosphere, and though feelings aren’t talked about, we get the sense that the men take nothing more seriously than their friendship. For George and Lennie, as they make their way through the Depression, all they have is each other.
FRIENDSHIP QUOTES:
QUOTE#1
LENNY: “I was only foolin’ George. I don’t want no ketchup. I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right there beside me.”
GEORGE: "If it was here, you could have some."
LENNY: “But I wouldn’t eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it." (1.93-95)
EXPLANATION:
Even after this awful fight, the men’s friendship has a simple and remarkable earnestness. George grudgingly knows he’s wrong and in fact really loves his friend, and even though Lennie can’t express it in a terribly complex way, he loves George back.
*Earnestness: Showing depth and sincerity of feeling.
*Grudgingly: Unwillingly.
QUOTE#2
GEORGE: “Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place.”
LENNY: "That’s it—that’s it. Now tell how it is with us."
GEORGE: "With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us."
LENNY: "But not us! An’ why? Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why." (1.113-116)
EXPLANATION:
This is a pretty timeless definition