Model Theme-Based Answer
Do you agree that all the characters in “Of Mice and Men” are seeking companionship more than anything else?
It is human nature to seek companionship, and Steinbeck is keen to emphasise that his characters are ordinary human beings, many of them on the lower rungs of society. They have little status, few possessions, no savings, no home, and little control over their own destinies. It is this ordinariness which makes us sympathise with most of Steinbeck’s characters.
These are mostly men who travel from place to place seeking work. They have no job security, and no real prospects of securing a long-term job or a place to call their own. As a result most are lonely, but unwilling to admit that they are, and unable to express their sense of loneliness in an articulate manner.
Their lives are also complicated by the presence of one woman, Curley’s wife, who is attractive, unhappy, and desperate to find somebody to talk to. She expresses her loneliness in anger when on Saturday evening she is forced to seek the company of Crooks, Lennie and Candy,
“ ‘ a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep – an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else.’ “
She insults all three at the same time as she is willing to accept their companionship, even if it is only temporary and short-lived.
Candy finds companionship in his old dog, although it is now smelly and unable to work, rather like Candy himself.
“ ‘I been around him so much I never notice how he stinks.’ “
He resists the pressure from the other men to have the dog shot, and turns sadly to the wall when it is shot.
He is quick to listen in to George’s and Lennie’s dream, and grasps a way to become part of it, offering the only thing he has, his savings. For a brief period of optimism, he believes they can fulfil the dream together and he can once again find purpose, friendship and independence.
Crooks has become so accustomed to his loneliness that he appears to resent an intrusion into his private space, even if it offers companionship.
“He kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs.”
He is an outsider even more than the other characters because of his colour. He lives with constant physical pain, which Steinbeck intends us to interpret as an emotional pain as well.
Given the chance of companionship with Lennie, he cannot resist the opportunity to inflict pain on Lennie when he senses Lennie’s vulnerability.
“ ‘S’pose he gets killed or hurt so he can’t come back.’ “
If he has to remain lonely, he is jealous of Lennie’s friendship and tries to wish it away, if only to let Lennie see how fortunate he is to have a good companion.
Slim comes closest to accepting and making the best of being single. He is more independent than the other men by virtue of his skill and status as a jerkline skinner. He invites and earns their trust, for example encouraging George to tell the story of his relationship with Lennie. In this way he gains a kind of detached companionship.
George and Lennie have found a kind of companionship which is not entirely one-sided. It gives George a sense of authority over Lennie, but also teaches him to care for and protect Lennie because of all the troubles Lennie has caused them both.
“ ‘Made me seem God damn smart alongside of him.’ “
Although to begin with George enjoyed playing jokes on Lennie, he has learnt a sense of humility from Lennie’s gentle reactions to being outsmarted.
In return, Lennie, although a constant burden to George –
“ ‘ if I was alone I could live so easy’ “ –
is extremely loyal, as Crooks nearly finds to his cost when he threatens their friendship. Lennie also recognises deep down that he complicates George’s life, and that he has done things wrong.
“ ‘I done another bad thing.’ “
even if he is incapable of anticipating when things will go wrong.
Steinbeck uses the ending of his novel to emphasise just how alone his characters are. Those with most to lose, because they have a relationship which has stood the test of time, are bought to a tragic end. Lennie dies with his dream ahead of him over the river, while George is left to mourn his companion in the knowledge that he took the impossible decision to end Lennie’s life for Lennie’s own sake. The only character who understands what George has lost, and why he had to execute Lennie, is Slim, the one person who is at least in part happy in his singleness.
Do you agree that all the characters in “Of Mice and Men” are seeking companionship more than anything else?
It is human nature to seek companionship, and Steinbeck is keen to emphasise that his characters are ordinary human beings, many of them on the lower rungs of society. They have little status, few possessions, no savings, no home, and little control over their own destinies. It is this ordinariness which makes us sympathise with most of Steinbeck’s characters.
These are mostly men who travel from place to place seeking work. They have no job security, and no real prospects of securing a long-term job or a place to call their own. As a result most are lonely, but unwilling to admit that they are, and unable to express their sense of loneliness in an articulate manner.
Their lives are also complicated by the presence of one woman, Curley’s wife, who is attractive, unhappy, and desperate to find somebody to talk to. She expresses her loneliness in anger when on Saturday evening she is forced to seek the company of Crooks, Lennie and Candy,
“ ‘ a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep – an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else.’ “
She insults all three at the same time as she is willing to accept their companionship, even if it is only temporary and short-lived.
Candy finds companionship in his old dog, although it is now smelly and unable to work, rather like Candy himself.
“ ‘I been around him so much I never notice how he stinks.’ “
He resists the pressure from the other men to have the dog shot, and turns sadly to the wall when it is shot.
He is quick to listen in to George’s and Lennie’s dream, and grasps a way to become part of it, offering the only thing he has, his savings. For a brief period of optimism, he believes they can fulfil the dream together and he can once again find purpose, friendship and independence.
Crooks has become so accustomed to his loneliness that he appears to resent an intrusion into his private space, even if it offers companionship.
“He kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs.”
He is an outsider even more than the other characters because of his colour. He lives with constant physical pain, which Steinbeck intends us to interpret as an emotional pain as well.
Given the chance of companionship with Lennie, he cannot resist the opportunity to inflict pain on Lennie when he senses Lennie’s vulnerability.
“ ‘S’pose he gets killed or hurt so he can’t come back.’ “
If he has to remain lonely, he is jealous of Lennie’s friendship and tries to wish it away, if only to let Lennie see how fortunate he is to have a good companion.
Slim comes closest to accepting and making the best of being single. He is more independent than the other men by virtue of his skill and status as a jerkline skinner. He invites and earns their trust, for example encouraging George to tell the story of his relationship with Lennie. In this way he gains a kind of detached companionship.
George and Lennie have found a kind of companionship which is not entirely one-sided. It gives George a sense of authority over Lennie, but also teaches him to care for and protect Lennie because of all the troubles Lennie has caused them both.
“ ‘Made me seem God damn smart alongside of him.’ “
Although to begin with George enjoyed playing jokes on Lennie, he has learnt a sense of humility from Lennie’s gentle reactions to being outsmarted.
In return, Lennie, although a constant burden to George –
“ ‘ if I was alone I could live so easy’ “ –
is extremely loyal, as Crooks nearly finds to his cost when he threatens their friendship. Lennie also recognises deep down that he complicates George’s life, and that he has done things wrong.
“ ‘I done another bad thing.’ “
even if he is incapable of anticipating when things will go wrong.
Steinbeck uses the ending of his novel to emphasise just how alone his characters are. Those with most to lose, because they have a relationship which has stood the test of time, are bought to a tragic end. Lennie dies with his dream ahead of him over the river, while George is left to mourn his companion in the knowledge that he took the impossible decision to end Lennie’s life for Lennie’s own sake. The only character who understands what George has lost, and why he had to execute Lennie, is Slim, the one person who is at least in part happy in his singleness.
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