Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck: Character Analysis

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Loyalty Equals Total Annihilation The word loyal is defined as “faithful to any lender, party, or cause, or to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity” and often has a positive connotation supporting it. However, the novel Of Mice and Men depicts the quality quite negatively through its two main characters. George and Lennie, who have an immensely strong father son relationship, constantly travel from place to place in order to keep the latter safe, as Lennie’s disability always causes him to get into trouble. The reader sees George’s great faithfulness towards Lennie and his devotion to keeping him safe and most importantly alive, which constantly uproots his life and causes it to be in a continuous disarray. John Steinbeck portrays …show more content…
George sat stiffly on the bank and looked at his right hand that had thrown the gun away…. George’s voice was almost a whisper. He looked steadily at his right hand that had held the gun. (Steinbeck 107)
This quotation shows how traumatized George was seeing his best friend die right in front of him, especially since he caused it. George continually staring at his hand shows that he was in shock and denial about the fact that he himself had shot the man that he had been so loyal to. IN continuation, George crying preceding Lennie’s shooting, shown by his mispronunciation of words such as family, also shows his sadness. While George did not want to kill his best friend, he understood that for Lennie, this would be the best way to go. George made the ultimate sacrifice, one of his own soul, all in order to protect Lennie. “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is a novel which strays from the regular interpretation of loyalty. While most stories view this quality as a positive characteristic, Steinbeck shows it as something completely opposite. With the evidence present in the novel, such as George’s inability to achieve happiness, betrayal of Lennie, and destruction of his own soul, it is shown that true loyalty is more often than not a negative quality to
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