Outside Reading Project Blog #2

1) "'Tha’s good,' he said. 'You drink some, George. You take a good big drink.' He smiled happily". (3, Mice and Men).

These are Lennie's first words in the book. He and George arrive at a clearing with a pond, and Without thinking about hygiene or etiquette, Lennie just plunges his whole head, hat and all into the pond and takes a huge drink. He wants to share his pure pleasure with his friend George, a lot like an innocent child would. His first thought is to share the good feeling with a friend. George inspects the water before drinking it, making sure that it isn't too scummy or anything. He is a lot more cautious than Lennie. Lennie's innocence not only foreshadows his personality, it is also how Lennie feels about his friendship with George. Lennie is somewhat childish and simple, but he has a pure heart.

2) "Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want."
Lennie and George have an interesting relationship. Lennie always loses them their jobs and gets them in trouble, but George manages to get them safe everytime. George is kind of held back by Lennie, because he can never hold a job. On the other hand, if George was on his own, he would spend all his money and never be able to fulfill his dreams of buying his own farm. In a way Lennie keeps him in line and steadily working toward a goal. Lennie is in a way a symbol of hope for George.
3) "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. [. . .] 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"(13-14, Mice and Men).
Near the end of section one when George and Lennie camp in the small clearing, George gets very impatient with Lennie and starts yelling at him. He then sees that he hurt Lennie, and he comforts him by assuring him that they have each other and that is the reason that they have a future. Steinbeck idealizes friendships, saying that they are the best way to overcome loneliness and problems. Later in the novel we learn that most of the other characters are very lonely because they have no real friends like George and Lennie. Steinbeck proves that their friendship is so rare when Candy asks if they are still going to buy the farm without Lennie after his tragic death, instead of helping George deal with the loss. Only Slim understands how painful George's loss must be.
4) In "Of Mice and Men" most of the characters share a dream of one day having their own farm: "All kin's a vegetables in the garden, and if we want a little whisky we can sell a few eggs or something, or some milk. We'd jus' live there. We'd belong there. There wouldn't be no more runnin' round the country and gettin' fed by a Jap cook. No, sir, we'd have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house" (57, Mice and Men). George's explanation of the dream sparks candy's interest, and he later asks if he can pitch in his savings and live with George and Lennie. The dream comes much closer to reality at this point. They have very modest hopes for the future, having been hit the hardest by the Great Depression.

5) "Slim said, 'You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.' He led George into the entrance of the trail and up toward the highway.

Curley and Carlson looked after them. And Carlson said, 'Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?'"(107, Mice and Men)

At the end of the story, after Lennie kills Curley's wife, he runs down to the place where he and George first camped. It is here that George finds Lennie and kills him. When the rest of the men finally find George, they are all happy that he is dead. To them Lennie and George's friendship has absolutely no meaning. Slim is the only one that realizes how significant it is, and he comforts George. The other men have mostly had lonely lives and are completely oblivious to those emotions. Steinbeck is criticizing how compassion and sympathy are being lost by society, that many people are unable to recognize friendships because of their lack of friendships.