Nancy Richler's 'Your Mouth Is Lovely'

In the short story “Your Mouth is Lovely” by Nancy Richler and the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck it is easy to generate the similarities such as authority and communication as factors that influence the main characters' relationship. Although the similarities, there are some differences between the relationships.

In both pieces, there is a sense of communication from an authority figure of some sort which makes the relationship controlling. In “Of Mice and Men”, George is shown to be in charge due to Lennie listening to everything he says. George directly mentioned to Slim how Lennie would “do any damn thing [he] tol’ him” (page 40). This is shown various times throughout the novel as Lennie continuously listens to George whether

Looking at George and Lennie’s relationship, both of them have a sense of making sure that the other is happy. George tells Lennie that he is not allowed to play with the dead mice, but he adds that the “first chance I get I’ll give you a pup” thus displaying how George cares about Lennie’s happiness since Lennie loves puppies. Vise Vera, whenever Lennie makes a mistake the first thing he says is “George’ll be mad” (page 92) as he considers George’s emotions. On the contrary, in “Your Mouth is Lovely” the step-mother does not care about the girl’s happiness. Her main concern is rather to “teach [the girl] to be a human being among human beings” (page 263) instead of showering her with love. Keeping the other person's happiness in mind allows George and Lennie’s relationship to be better compared to the step-mother and the girls. Due to this, George and Lennie seem to have a better understanding of each. On the other hand, the step-mother and the girl share different priorities whereas George and Lennie share the same. Both George and Lennie knew they “got a future” (page 14) and their mindset was focused on one goal. Whereas, in Tsila’s house the “quiet had already descended” (page 248) which the girl did not enjoy, but Tsila did. Having the same priories helps George and Lennie’s relationship to progress and have a goal making things easier. But since the step-mother and the girl do not have the same values and priorities. Since they do not have anything in common it could lead to collision in building the relationship. Although the similarities of communication and authority in both pieces, there is are differences such as the others happiness and having the same priorities. In “Your