John Steinbeck conveys a message of strong loyalty between the main characters, George and Lennie, in the novela, Of Mice and Men. The traveling pair encounters rough times, but George always stays with Lennie and helps Lennie when his actions are careless. Although the loyalty is mutual, Lennie shows a stronger obedience towards George. Never wanting to disappoint him, Lennie follows everything George says and tries his hardest not to forget George’s commands. This is first proven before George and Lennie are headed to the new ranch and George is telling Lennie how to act when they get there. George tests Lennie’s memory and asks him: “‘What you gonna say tomorrow when the boss asks you questions?’” Lennie shows the battle with himself, trying to recall the instructions George gave to him. Lennie stops eating and “his face was concentrated. ‘I… I ain’t gonna… say a word’” he replied. (15) The next day at the ranch, George talks with the boss and Lennie begins to …show more content…
After Curley and Lennie fight, George once again commands Lennie and tells him to say that Curley’s hand got caught in a machine. However, Lennie is so focused on making sure that he does what George tells him that he tells Curley’s wife, “‘he got his han’ caught in a machine,’” (80) when she asks him about his own injuries. Lennie panics and can only think of what George told him to say when someone asks him a question directly. As Lennie and George’s adventures on the ranch progress, Lennie continues to live his life through George’s directions. Curley’s wife tries to talk to Lennie, but he “glared at her” and says ‘‘George says I ain’t to have nothing to do with you-talk to you or nothing.’” By the end of the book, Lennie has proven to be so loyal that he could not make decisions for himself and live his own life without George’s