Companionship is the Cure The novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck illuminates the relationship between two travelers, Lennie and George, and how their bizarre friendship interacts with the time period they are in. Of Mice and Men illustrates how companionship is the most significant theme in the book and how everyone needs companionship whether they know it or not. Throughout the story, George and Lennie meet Crooks and Candy, who are longing for the connection that they have. At the beginning of the novella, John Steinbeck paints the picture that Curley’s wife is not a good person and is a complete tart. She walked around the men working, avoiding her husband at all costs. She used manipulation to get into the men's heads, especially Lennie’s. The author makes the reader assume that Curley's wife does not have any worth to anyone by not even revealing her name. Although throughout the novella, Curley’s wife is looked at as a bad person, Steinbeck tries to change the …show more content…
Just another pup will not be able to replace Candy’s dog that abruptly. They have a bond that has been built over the years. The thought of Candy shooting his dog made him squirm. His restrain from saying yes to shooting his dog is modeled in the text when Candy is fighting with the men, “‘Well-hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him”’(Steinbeck 44). The other men continued to pressure the old swamper, Candy, into shooting his dog. In the back of Candy’s mind, he knew it was the right thing to do and with all of the pressure the decision became clear. Candy did not want to talk to any of the other men in the bunkhouse after he agreed to let Carlson shoot his dog, so he went straight to bed. Candy had instant regret that he let Carlson kill his dog, not because he was shot but because he did not do it himself. Part of companionship is being there for your partner until the