Painful Sacrifice In John Steinbeck's Of Mice Of Men Essay Sample

John Steinbeck wrote Of Mice And Men in 1937. Set in his home state of California, this story has many themes throughout that make readers think about life. One topic that is very prevalent throughout the story is the topic of sacrifice. Throughout the story, John Steinbeck wanted us to know that sacrifices are often necessary for the benefit of others. This theme is mostly shown in George and Lennie’s relationship.

The use of strong contrast shows how George sacrifices his leisure and pleasure for Lennie all the time. An example of this that resonated with me was in chapter one. On page 11 it says, “ God ‘amighty if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job ‘an work, ‘an no trouble.” This quote is continued later down the page when George says, “ I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get. … You do bad things and I got to get you out.”
In this passage, the author uses strong contrast, The use of contrast adds to the author’s idea that sacrifice can be for the benefit of others. In particular, when George goes from saying,” I could go get a job ‘an work”, to saying, “ you can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job you get” the author is showing that by George sticking with Lennie, he’s sacrificing a better life to guide and keep Lennie out of trouble. Lennie is in a sense holding George back yet he stays for Lennie’s benefit.
George loves Lennie like a brother and would do anything to see him happy. Another strong example of this is in chapter 6 on page 106. It says, “ An’ when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks an’ go to a … cat house…” (contd)
“Because_
Because I got you an’_
An’ I got you. We got eachother, That’s what, that gives a hoot in hell about us.”

In this passage, the author utilizes heartbreaking contrast. The use of contrast adds to the author’s idea that sacrifices are often necessary for the good of others. Namely, Lennie and George recanting George’s speech about what life would be like without Lennie. Lennie says, “ We got eachother”. This shows that George and Lennie’s relationship is so strong that George would sacrifice his pleasure, and in a way, his freedom for Lennie. Even when his beloved dream goes awry because of Lennie, he’d rather be by Lennie’s side than leave him to die at the hands of Curley.

Someone might say that George is not sacrificing anything because he and Lennie share the same dream of the ranch. They might think that George's dream involves Lennie as an integral part. I disagree with these claims. For one, George would have had the ranch money earlier if he wasn't sticking with Lennie. Lennie messes things up in Weed and on the ranch. Every time George gets close to achieving a goal, Lennie does something to mess his plans up. George let Lennie tend the rabbits more to appease him. Since he sacrifices to take Lennie along, he lets him become a part of his dream. Although, in all their time together, George considers him a brother.