Friendship Is Meant For Pleasure In Of Mice And Men

Are friendships meant for pleasure, or are they the key to survival? In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the topic of friendship is often spoken about, some for the better and others for the worse. The novel takes place during the Great Depression, a period of time in the 1930s when unemployment levels were extremely high. Two lone people, George and Lennie, are looking for jobs on a ranch. George is smart and has a small build, while Lennie is big-natured, gullible, and unintelligent. The two together seem like polar opposites, but the fact is, they need each other. Together, they use George’s brains and Lennie’s strength to find themselves a job on a ranch, but what they come to witness is not all that they expected. Although friendships

Lennie doesn’t exhibit adequate control over himself, leading him to cause terrible tragedies. An event in which Lennie killed someone occurred in a farmhouse. Curley’s wife was in the barn, talking to Lennie when she offered to let him touch her hair. Lennie obliged and proceeded to hold on to her hair. Curley’s wife began to yell out, for Lennie’s strength was beginning to hurt her. Lennie, not letting go, told Curley’s wife to stop yelling. Lennie had a fear inside of him that George would not let him tend the rabbits if he got caught. When Curley’s wife wouldn’t stop yelling, Lennie proceeded to break her neck, killing her instantly. These tragedies, in turn, lead to the friendship between Lennie and George to really show. One example of this is when Stenbeck states, “He (George) pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering” (Steinbeck 106). George just killed Lennie. At first, it might seem the friendship between the two had thinned out, it really didn’t. When the ranch, especially Curley, finds out about the death, they begin a search for Lennie. Curley vows he will shoot Lennie himself, and starts gathering everyone to begin searching. George finds Lennie first, by the river, in the brush just like he told him to do if he ever got into trouble. George

Although there are different views of friendship compared to Of Mice of Men, the article states that there are three types of friendship. The first is comparable to an acquaintance, a familiarity. The second is true friendships. These are the types of friends that stick together, no matter what happens between them. Finally, the point to be proven, the third type of friendship is the necessity to survive. These are friends that not only know each other, they help each other in the face of danger. As one article states, “It is threatened when we are led to believe that friendships without a recognizable gain are, in the economic sense, irrational” (Todd May). Friendships that prove useless are not worth it. To view friendship as a necessity, rather than a privilege, can show a stronger bond between the two people. It can change lives. An example of this is when the article states, “They render us vulnerable, and in doing so they add dimensions of significance to our lives that can only arise from being, in each case, friends with this or that particular individual, a party to this or that particular life” (Todd May). Friendships grow in different ways. It can turn into true friendships, which is what most commonly occurs, or form a bond necessary to protect someone or help get through a tough situation. Friendships are extremely important for survival in that they can help with