How Does Steinbeck Use Alliances In Of Mice And Men

In a world of solitary individuals it is only through alliances that we can survive and achieve success in our endeavors, but it is also true that some alliances are not successful and can doom us to fail. In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck intentionally characterizes George and Lennie’s alliance as a rare and special achievement to illustrate how success is easier and more likely to be achieved through cooperation with others; however, it is also emphasized that these alliances don’t always work.

In chapter 3 Slim comments on the strangeness and uniqueness of George and Lennie’s alliance when he states that “Hardly none of the guys ever travel together” (pg 39) and that they “work a month, and then quit and go out alone” (pg 39).

Allied, they have a larger probability for success by pulling together their earnings each month. Alone, they would never have a chance of getting enough money together to succeed, like “them other guys” (pg 14) who nobody “gives a damn” (pg 14) about. Because George and Lennie “got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you” (pg 14) they “got a future” (pg 14) and can succeed. When Candy, who overhears them talking of their dream ranch, offers to join their alliance and be a part of this dream ranch to contribute “three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in” (pg 59). Until Candy had joined their alliance George responded to Lennie’s asking about when they would get their dream ranch with “I don’t know” (pg 56), but after Candy joined they only have to “work a month an’ don’t spen’ nothing” (pg 60) and then they will have their dream ranch. Consequently, “this thing they never had really believed in was coming true” (pg 60) and the coming together of the three of them results in the greatest chance of success in their

The alliance between George, Lennie, and Candy is only a month away from succeeding in getting their dream ranch, all that needs to be done is for George and Lennie to “work for a month an’ don’t spen’ nothing” (pg 60) and also for Lennie not to “get in trouble like you always done before” (pg15). Lennie is the weak link in the alliance as stated by Curley’s wife with the description of Candy, Crooks, and Lennie as “all the weak ones” (pg 77). Lennie being the cause of the downfall of the alliance by murdering Curley’s wife is foreshadowed throughout the book with lines like “you’ll kill him, the first thing you know” (pg 43), “I didn’t mean no harm” (pg 43), and Lennie’s interest in Curley’s Wife on account of the fact “she’s purty” (pg 32) as well a Lennie’s liking to “pet nice things” (pg 90). While Steinbeck characterized this alliance as a rare and special achievement close to success he used Lennie to demonstrate how an alliance is only as strong as its weakest member and that even with the high probability of success not all alliances