Comparing George And Lennie In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the book Of Mice and Men, we have two distinctly great characters, with a slight twist to one of them, as one of the characters is a bit slower, mentally. However, they have come a long way so far. Since they were stuck together, they planned for their dream of having a ranch where they would escape the hell of a place the world had been for them. Our characters, George and Lennie have been in and out of jobs, all over the country, all in hopes of getting money and buying a ranch. Sadly, because Lennie isn’t fully functional in the head because of his disability, he causes a lot of trouble in the places they are. Hence the reason they’ve been struggling so much with finding a stable place to work and stay, but they have potential as they

In the book, it is spoken of by Lennie and George that they wish to own their very own ranch, where they can make their own paradise. When you think about it, their motivation in succeeding to get that ranch is a team effort between them both, as they rely on one another to get through life. What they see as their “dream ranch” would include, but not be limited to, their own rabbits, pigs, chickens, cows, and other wonderful things on their ranch. For instance, in chapter 3, George begins to talk about the ranch again, and what they’d be able to have or do on the ranch, as he says “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 just live there. We’d belong there.” (Steinbeck 57). Aside from George talking about one of the many luxuries they can indulge on their ranch. More importantly, he spoke of the feeling of getting their dream, saying “we’d belong there.’ Afterwards, Lennie responds with pleasure, saying “"Tell about the house, George,” (Steinbeck 57). This just goes to prove how much Lennie and George desire the ranch. Honestly, there is nothing that has gotten in the way of those two when it comes to striving for the ranch. Long story short, Lennie and George’s motivation is owning their own

Thinking more general characters, though, Slim is the first that comes to mind. Slim is the man that everybody on the ranch rely on for advice, wisdom, and even their decisions sometimes. When you first hear of Slim, he was the one who was referred to as a trusty and admired man. In other words, he is like the God type of figure of the bunkhouse, as he is very respected and loved by everybody. However, he can still use his power for bad, as well. For example, towards the end of chapter 3, he tells Curley what to say to cover up the Curley vs. Lennie hand breaking situation. He said, “Well, then listen,’ Slim went on. ‘I think you got your han’ caught in a machine…” (Steinbeck 64). This is the perfect example of Slim being listened to by everyone. Think about it, he has power of the people, same way the President is in control of our nation. But also seeing he has gotten someone to lie about a horrible situation. He got the most stubborn and rude character that listens to nobody and practically has temper tantrums, to listen to him. As Curley then said, “I won’t tell” (Steinbeck 65) in full agreement and in no question. In conclusion, Slim is a powerful man at the ranch when it comes to the people