Loyalty and Belonging Through Of Mice and Men (Essay Example)

📌Category: Books, Of Mice and Men
📌Words: 791
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 18 January 2022

Loyalty and belonging is regularly introduced throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men, through relationships and unexpected events. Without the relationships formed, nobody would have successfully made it through the rough times of the Great Depression. The novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, conveys the idea that without staying loyal to one another, it would cause more hardships and further resentment towards one other.

George and Lennie’s relationship is what kept them on their feet. If Lennie hadn’t been with George, he wouldn’t have had somebody with enough compassion and patience to help him through his struggles. If George left Lennie, George wouldn’t have had Lennie’s strength and hard work. Although sometimes George isn’t happy with Lennie. In this particular situation, Lennie can’t remember where they are going. “‘God, you’re a lot of trouble,’ said George, ‘I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail,’” Steinbeck (8-9). Lennie is a lot of work, he needs constant reminders of what and what not to do. George has big dreams from himself that he knows he could accomplish without Lennie. When Lennie does offer to leave and let George live the life he wanted, George refuses. “‘George, you want I should go away and leave you alone? George looked quickly and searchingly,’ I been mean ain’t I?’ ‘No-look! I was just fooling Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me,’” Steinbeck (13-14). George is taking Lennie for granted. George has a great partner, Lennie is hard working and compassionate. He quickly realized that what he said hurt Lennie. After Lennie offered to run away, George begged him to stay. He realized that he needed to put his dreams aside and continue to remain loyal to Lennnie.

Candy had a very old dog and Carlson kept begging Candy to shoot the dog because he was old and suffering. Candy kept refusing and eventually gave in and Carlson shot the dog. Candy feels such a strong sense of belonging between him and his dog to where he won’t even put the dog out of its misery, “Candy said, ‘maybe tomorra, Le’s wait till tomorra,’” Steinbeck (47). Candy pushing away the idea of putting down the dog is selfish. His dog is suffering and for his own sake he wants to keep it alive. On top of being selfish, he doesn’t want to do it himself. After Carlson shoots the dog he then realizes that he should have been the one to do it. “‘I ought to of shot that dog myself. I shouldn’t ought to let no stranger shoot my dog,’” Steinbeck (61). Candy allowing Carlson to shoot his dog was only in Candy’s best interest because he didn’t want to see his dog die. Candy realized that in order to give his dog a sense of belonging, he should have been the one to end his life so the dog died in the hands of somebody it knew and not a stranger.

One night Lennie accidentally murdered Curley’s wife. Curley was very angry and George knew that if Curley was the one to kill him, he would live the last moments of his life suffering. George knew that the only logical thing to do was to shoot Lennie himself. George was describing the dream that he and Lennie had shared throughout their journey together; to have rabbits, pigs, and a large farm. “Lennie begged, ‘le’s do it now. Le’s get that place now. I gotta, we gotta.’ He [George] pulled the trigger,” Steinbeck (103-104). George made a very hard and loyal decision to shoot his own friend who he cared about very much so that he wouldn’t suffer.  He even went the extra mile to make sure that Lennie died happy by talking about his biggest dream. If it had been an act of revenge, George would have left him to suffer with Curley and most certainly would have made it known that he was about to shoot him. Even in the most difficult situations, it is still possible to show loyalty, even if it means killing your best friend. Once Curley and the rest showed up, Slim sat next to George and said, “‘Never you mind, said Slim. ‘A guy got to sometimes,’” Steinbeck (104). Slim was saying that sometimes we have to make difficult decisions in order to do what’s best for our friend. George having to kill Lennie wasn’t in George’s best interest but deep down he knew that he had to in order to stay loyal to Lennie.

 Loyalty and belonging is the most important especially during the unfortunate times of the Great Depression. John Steinbeck conveys the idea that sometimes we need to make hard decisions in order to better benefit the well being of the other person. If George and Lennie didn’t have each other, they wouldn’t have made it through the hard times. If Candy had decided to keep his dog, that would mean a longer amount of suffering that would only benefit Candy. Without loyalty, people will remain selfish and resentful creating more trouble between one another.

 

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