Of Mice and Men Brotherhood
“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” (Steinbeck, 15). As we follow Lennie and George on their journey towards what they consider to be the dream life, the audience comes to learn along with the characters that dreams are not all they’re cracked up to be and sometimes the most rewarding goal in life is one which has already been achieved. The two main characters in the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck are poor farm workers who hope to one day own their own farm and become self-sufficient. What they never realize is that the most important thing they can ever have is each other. Despite their periodic quarrels, Lennie and George share a connection comparable to that of brothers and a love so profound it ultimately costs Lennie his life, leaving George with the reality he never saw before: that were he not so caught up in a frivolous endgame, he would have seen that he had already found something worth living for in his large, clumsy companion. George often has a hard time coping with Lennie and the problems his disability causes for the two of them regarding work and living situations. He tells Lennie, “You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shovin’ all over the country all the time. An’ that ain’t the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out. You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time” (12). George rarely becomes as outwardly upset with Lennie as he is in this instance, but it’s clear in the way he talks to him throughout the book that he is easily frustrated with having to look after someone else all the time, especially someone who needs as much care as Lennie does. Lennie doesn’t seem to fully understand this, or otherwise doesn’t care much because he trusts George to stay with him whatever the trouble they come across. Lennie often settles arguments by