The Quintessence of Love and Loss Throughout life, many of our journeys leave us feeling despondent and unwanted. It is when we travel with another human soul that we are not left feeling so austere. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are two wandering souls, both very different in stature and appearance, yet very alike in spirit. It is in this relationship that the true foundation of companionship is expressed. In the beginning of Steinbeck’s novella, George and Lennie have set up camp and are starting to cook supper. Lennie annoys George by stating a simple luxury, and George recoils by exclaiming he could “live so easy. [He] could go get job an’ work, an’ no trouble” (11). After an explosion from George, like a …show more content…

Is it better to be buried in dirt with your heart or liver or brain with your body intact, or is it more logical to bestow it upon a bedridden child? Lennie and George’s companionship is the true example of the belief in love.

Near the beginning of the story, George explains to Lennie that if he happens to get in some trouble he cannot get out of, to “come right here an’ hide in the brush” (15). After the killing, and to George’s surprise, Lennie has remembered as he “appears out of the brush” (100). This one specific element of Lennie and George’s relationship is more than a mere coincidence, but emphasizes the way Lennie disregards any command or memory of anyone other than George. When George arrives at the brush, and sees Lennie in a state of shock, he is forced to act. As the lynch mob draws near, George is able to fantasize the farm one last time before “sparing” Lennie’s life. But as George aims the gun and pulls the trigger at Lennie’s head, he aims the gun and pulls the trigger at any harmonic life with Lennie.
George and all readers learn from this story about the merciless and callous effect the human nature has on mankind. The novella in its essence flails at the idea of ‘every man for himself’. George learns many lessons throughout the book that can be applied to a reader’s everyday life. Loyalty and Sacrifice underscore the parable and the relationship between Lennie and George. Is it better to shoot the