Somebody to Lean on According to Sarah Carol of Boston University, during the Great Depression, the top 1% of Americans owned over 40% of the country's wealth, creating a huge disparity between the rich and the poor. Since the rich owned such a vast percentage of America’s total wealth, they possessed immense power. But unfortunately, as a result of this, about 60% of the country held extremely little influence or leverage. Many of these underprivileged families needed someone to provide them with the power and motivation required to stay hopeful. John Steinbeck portrays how some found the necessary motivation in their friends and family, whereas the Great Depression ruined others, who did not possess the necessary support. In Of Mice …show more content…
For example, as George explains a life without Lennie, “‘...I could live so easily...I could take my fifty bucks [at the end of each month] and go into town and get whatever I want’… ‘[But] I want you to stay with me Lennie’” he never mentions anything about saving his money to become a landowner like Lennie and he dream of doing (Steinbeck OMM 11). Although George bottles up his frustration towards Lennie, he draws from this anger to redouble his kindness and drive. Want implies a need so when George says “I want you to stay with me Lennie” he truly means he needs Lennie to stay with him because George realizes he heavily relies on the company of Lennie. Lennie provides further motivation because George knows that Lennie deserves to live on a nice farm where, “‘Ever’body gonna be nice to you [Lennie]. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble,’” (OMM 106). George yearns for a worry free life not for himself but for Lennie, showing all the power for his hard work comes from his caringness for his best friend. By placing Lennie above himself and feeling the need to compensate for him, it gives George the necessary motivation to put in double the work to save and earn money. Moreover, when George shoots Lennie in the woods, “his face set and his hand steadied,” and it drains all the emotion and joy out …show more content…
For example, Jim Casy listens to Tom Joad and asks his opinions, “‘But I ain’t preachin’. Preachin’ is tellin’ folks stuff. I'm askin’ ‘em’” despite that at this point Tom does not hold a strong enough voice to speak out against any injustices (Steinbeck GOW 97). This listening empowers Tom Joad to later listen to the cry of the poor the same way Jim Casy once did for him. Tom draws from his relationship with Jim Casy and uses it as a flashlight to guide the path towards speaking out against injustice. In addition, “‘Two are better than one...if two lie together then they have heat,” as Ma Joad holds Tom and the rest of the family together, she builds a family, who channel each other's support for power (GOW 570). The Joad’s realization that “‘two are better than one” leads them to survive the seemingly impossible hardships of poverty and unemployment, and it also instills socialistic beliefs in all of them. Tom Joad demonstrates his fierce unwillingness to desert the family unless it's for their own good, and he uses this unrelenting belief to show solidarity with the poor in his shift “from ‘I’ to ‘we’” (GOW 206). Furthermore, Tom sacrifices running away and his own life to protect his mom and family “‘s’pose
Right away, he struggles between choosing to go with his wife or to work on his project. The fact that he chooses to stay home proves the need to succeed is stronger than his relationship with his wife. Not only will he spend hours on end for his job, but when a paper flies out the window, he is unable to stop thinking about the amount of work he would be losing if he let it go. With this said, Tom is suddenly fighting the battle to stay balanced, “he hung suspended between balance and falling ” ( ). If he had not been overly obsessed with his work and this paper, he would have been either with his wife at the movies or inside safe, not wondering whether or not he would survive.
Due to Lennie’s mental disadvantage, George has felt responsible for him. Because of Lennie, the two of them had to flee their old town of Weed. Whatever dreams George has in mind, Lennie is a part of. George has come to admit that to himself. George recognizes that Lennie is dependent on him.
After killing the boy in Vietnam, Tom Leyton lost all trust within himself. He has locked him self in his room for years, refusing to speak to anyone. This has caused his sister, Caroline, to suffer as well. The brother she knew “died in that war.”. Tom Leyton doesn’t trust that he won’t hurt anyone because of the things he has done, he believes he is a monster.
He owed it to Lennie to have him do it. George has just done something that he wished would never had happened. George had to face that he was not going to be able to complete his dream with Lennie, after all of the trouble he got himself
I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.'” The reason lennie says that is because he has George and he doesn't need anyone else . If George didn't have Lennie he would be lonely and same goes for Lennie. Without George Lennie would not be able to get a job because of his disabilities and he wouldn't be able to keep Lennie to not do anything stupid.
George’s care for Lennie is also fulfilling a promise he made to Aunt Clara, who was Lennie’s caretaker for a period of time. This can be seen when George says “Lennie-if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush... Hide in the brush till I come for you”(Steinbeck page 15). We see that George tells Lennie to hide in the area they are staying in. He wants to prevent any harm being done to Lennie, because most of the time people tend to just want to kill him.
Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why” (14). Repeatedly throughout the story the two men exchange this uplifting speech about their extraordinary friendship to remind each other of their unique bond. George and Lennie also share the same dream of owning a little house together. They
You do bad things and I got to get you out”(11). This meaning that if Lennie wasn’t in George’s life then George could have kept a job and be able to only care for himself. Plus, Lennie did cause so much
George describes Lennie honestly, but it shows the cruel side of humanity by pointing out Lennie’s weaknesses and his inability to fix them. Steinbeck’s tone sets up a very honest and cruel world that man lives in Steinbeck’s use of
Tom’s uncle Brendan is also very supportive to everyone in the family. Brendan helps Tom to recover emotionally, as he not only helps him becoming interested in training again, but treats him like a close friend. Because of Brendan’s help, Tom is able to become fit and see that his life is not over and that he has a future that includes playing rugby, romance and maybe even a holiday in Nepal. The story tries to show how if a Family can stick together if they are faced with tragedy or crisis, despite their different ways of dealing with the crisis, can work together to resolve the issues they
It is evident that George’s actions and words towards Lennie are selfless or caring represented by Lennie’s mental disability, his troublesome behavior, the life George could have without him, and why George kills him. It seems like George and Lennie are always on the run. George and Lennie state, “An’ you ain’t gonna do no bad
That George got rid of the burden that Lennie was to him. On the other hand, George also knows what Lennie is capable of and knows what Lennie has done in the past. For example, the thing that happened in weed, “So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do” (Steinbeck 41). Lennie panics too much and just freaks people out, so George put Lennie out of his confusion. In the end, George murdering his friend was well justified.
Despair Among People During the Great Depression People who face great odds will hang on to hope, however, many will lose it to the cruel reality they live in. This is the story told in the novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck. In this novel, Lennie and George are traveling bindle stiffs who experience the losses that come with the Great Depression, and the hope of others that is dashed by the death of one person. This theme of hope and loss is shown through Curley's wife, Candy, and George.
After all the anger that George has shown towards Lennie, he utters these words now so Lennie can die with a sense of peace. George does not want to pull the trigger, but he knows that the further consequences of Lennie’s actions will only worsen. To save Lennie from Curley’s wrath, possible imprisonment, and perhaps years of suffering, George takes Lennie’s
George’s words, a warning to Lennie not to drink so much lest he get sick, set the tone of their friendship. George may be blunt and impatient at certain times, but he never deviates from his main purpose of protecting Lennie. Unlike Lennie, however, George does go through some changes as the story goes on. The reader learns that he is capable of change and growth during his conversation with Slim, during which he confesses that he once bullied Lennie for his own enjoyment. From this event George learned the lesson that it is not right to take advantage of the