Essay/Term paper: Thats what friends are fo

Essay, term paper, research paper:  College Papers

"Of Mice and Men" is a book about 2 men and their struggle to achieve
their dream of owning a farm through their companionship. The two men
are completely different, one being a retarded fellow(Lennie), and the
other, a typical ranch hand(George) who travels with him. On the path
to achieving their dream, they run into obstacles, but stick together,
stressing the importance of true friendship. Steinbeck wrote this book
to tell us how important it is to have a friend to share your life
with.

The book starts off set in Soledad, which, when translated into English
means "lonely". But when Lennie and George are together, they are
anything but lonely. They share a friendship so great that if either
person dies, or both are separated, they other could not survive.
Their friendship is a true one, where they share their lives together,
benefitting from each others company. "Guys like us, that work on
ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family.
They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake
and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing
you know they're pounding in' their tail on some other ranch. They
ain't got nothing to look ahead to....With us it ain't like that. We
got a future. We got somebody to talk to that give as a damn about
us. We don't have to sit in no bar room blow in' in our jack jus'
because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail
then can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us. But not us!
An' why? Because.....because I got you to look after me, and you got
me to look after you, and that's why."(p.13-14) Because of the extent
of Lennie and George's friendship, they go beyond the mere sharing of
words. George and Lennie share a dream of owning a farm, due to their
friendship with each other. Their friendship makes this dream
possible, because if there were only one person, there would be no one
to share the dream with, it would be just a silly old thought, and not
a serious possibility. "With us it ain't like that. We got a future.
We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us......O.K.
Someday--we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a
little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and' An'
live off the fatta the lan, An' have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell
about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the
cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the
cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that,
George."(p.14)

In the third chapter of this book, Candy is center of attention due to
his dog, which Carlson wants killed. Candy is an old man who has no
one to talk to or keep him company besides the dog. To him, the dog
was more than an animal that smelled, it was a companion to share life
with. When Carlson tells Candy he wants to kill his dog, Candy is
hesitant to answer. Candy stalls, and finally gives in to Carlson's
request. He had this dog for his whole life, and now that it was gone,
Candy would be abandoned without a friend. Out of this loneliness, he
jumps on to Lennie and George's dream, giving practically everything he
has to them, stressing the importance of friendship and sharing your
life with a friend. "Tell you what' s'pose I went in with you guys.
Tha's three hundred and fifty bucks I'd put in. I ain't much good, but
I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How'd that
be? I'd make a will an' leave my share to you guys in case I kick off,
'cause I ain't got no relatives nor nothing."(p.59)

In this book most of the people had no one to share their life with as
intimately as George, Lennie, Candy and his dog did, leaving themselves
with a void which they tried to fill in. Take for example, Curley's
wife. She had a husband, but he was never there to spend time with
her, so she went in search of someone to talk to. What Curley's wife
needed was a companion or a friend which she could spend her life with
because even though she was beautiful, she didn't have anyone to spend
her life with, therefore resulting in her unhappiness. "Think I don't
like to talk to somebody ever' once in a while? Think I like to stick
that house alla time?"(p.77)

Through out the book Steinbeck uses many characters to emphasize a
message which he wants to get across to us. By looking at the
situations which George, Lennie, Candy, and Curley's wife were in, we
can conclude that Steinbeck wrote the book to tell us how important it
is to have a friend to share your life with.