Grade – 9
Subject – English
Teacher – Mr.Kent
Date – Thursday 20th, November 2014.
Of Mice and Men Summative Essay
Question : Explain the value of relationships in this story, and how this contrasts to the problem of loneliness. Be sure to include insight about the value of this idea in society.
Written by John Stienback, Of Mice and Men, is a story about two uncommon friends, George and Lennie who travel and work from place to place so that they can earn enough money to fulfill their dream, of having a land of their own. What made this story so special is the relationship the characters had. They may have not liked each other, but there was a passion in the relationship of each character in this story. This story showed us how important relationships were, how we could support one another or dislike one another, it was better than being alone in today’s current society where so many people may be around us but we still feel so lonely. A relationship is a bonding between two or more people, its an understanding of one another. Its like a car, where every single person is required to stay stable, just like the motors of a car. We all have someone who we absolutely love and someone who we absolutely hate. The point is that we all need someone, it is not okay being lonely, it feels like a black hole which we can never come out of. This story shows us that we may be different, we may come from far away lands and be from different ethnic groups but no one deserves not to have a friend.
When Lennie was accused of rape, it was only George who trusted him and protected and escaped with him. He knew Lennie had a habit to pet ‘nice things’ and knew that he only wanted to touch the lady’s red dress. Even though George knew that he could just let Lennie suffer with his problems and he could continue to work the place he was, but to him, Lennie was his only friend and he knew that Lennie, at heart, was one of the nicest (and most dumb) people he ever knew, he had promised Lennie’s aunt that he would take care of Lennie and understood his responisbilty in their relationship.“Tha’s good,”he said. “You drink some George. You take a good big drink.” Lennie smiled happily (page 3). Now here’s the thing, from the story one can understand the Lennie has a mental disability but one can also see how much he cares about George as a friend and how all he wants to do is make sure that George never gets hurt. He feels he is responsible to make sure that George is always happy. Since George is the only one who is ever there for him. In this statement one can see all these factors and can understand that to Lennie, his friendship with George means the world. “Tell you what I’ll do, Lennie. First chance I get I’ll give you a pup. Maybe you wouldn’t kill it. That’d be better than mice. And you could pet it harder. This statement shows the care