Of Mice And Men Character Analysis

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Pages: 4
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Mykel Pierre
Mrs. Crandall
American Literature- 2nd
25 March 2013
Of Mice and Men “Dammit Lennie!” is something I always imagine George saying every two chapters of this story. George and Lennie were both inspired by real people that Steinbeck met when he was a bindlestiff in the 1920’s. The man who inspired Lennie was a mentally unstable who was very nice but also had major anger problems. Steinbeck used a character like this that can be easily controlled so he could use indirect characterization of George and Lennie as alpha male and subordinate to express the theme of friendship. Towards the beginning of the book, Steinbeck immediately establishes George and Lennie roles and friendship. “They had walked in single file down the …show more content…
“As Curley's voice, and that of other pursuers, are heard getting nearer and nearer, George sits with Lennie, asks him to look across the river, quietly raises a pistol behind his head, and once again rehearses their American Dream: ‘We gonna get a little place...An we'll have maybe a pig an' chickens...Gonna do it soon...You...an' me. Ever'body gonna be nice to you. Ain't gonna be no more trouble...’ When George pulls the trigger, Lennie dies instantly, his last thought being of that paradise across the river” (McLennan 2). George’s actions throughout the story have only been intended to help Lennie be happy, so shooting Lennie while telling him their future dreams was to only way for him to really be happy. Through indirect characterization, Steinbeck shows us that friendship does exist in this story through the relationship of Lennie and George. It is shown several times throughout the beginning climax and end of the book. This theme of friendship is important in the story because it shows just how unique of a bond George and Lennie have in a world where people in their line of work don’t any relationships at all.

Work Cited
Newman, Gerald, and Eleanor Newman. A student's Guide to John Steinbeck. Berkely Heights: Enslow Publishers, Inc. , 2004. 176. Print.
Castro, fransico. "Of Mice and Men - True Friendship." studymode. (2010): 1. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.
McLennan, Scotty. "Friendship in Steinbeck's of mice and men." sermon by Scotty
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