Brotherhood/ Friendship
Brotherhood and friendship are both major themes throughout the novel Of Mice and Men. One of the greatest and most powerful examples of the theme brotherhood/ friendship was at the end of the novel when George makest the most courageous and hardest decision to kill Lennie himself so those who were mad at him wouldn't kill him or lynch him or hurt him at all. George had always looked out for Lenne; he always did his best to keep Lennie out of trouble. They were best friends, for they always travled together which not many people did back then.
George was sitting across from Slim at a table playing cards. Lennie was also sitting at the table listening to the two talk about Lennie and George's relationship. George told Slim about how they look out for each other when they travel: "We kinda look after eachother... It's a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know" (Steinbeck 35). George admitted aloud that him and Lennie do look out for each other, which is what best friends should do. The two are never alone because they both know that one always has the others back no matter what the circumstance.
A critic, Harry Thornton Moore, talks about George in the novel Of Mice and Men: "George is no more than pathetic. He attracts sympathy because he has to lose his friend Lennie, to whom he has been so loyal, and whom he has to kill at the last in order to save him from the others" (Moore 342). I strongly disagree with this critic. George is not at all pathetic nor is he trying to get sympathy from others. I imagine it was not easy for George to kill his best friend whom he was very loyal too. He doesn't even tell the others that he killed Lennie because he didn't want Curley and his gang to hurt him, so obviously he is not trying to gain sympathy. He is not pathetic, he is veryu strong for what his does to protect his friend. The critic is right in the fact that he does kill Lennie to save him from the others so that shows that George is not pathetic; it shows he is very courageous and worthwhile.
George was sitting across from Slim at a table playing cards. Lennie was also sitting at the table listening to the two talk about Lennie and George's relationship. George told Slim about how they look out for each other when they travel: "We kinda look after eachother... It's a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know" (Steinbeck 35). George admitted aloud that him and Lennie do look out for each other, which is what best friends should do. The two are never alone because they both know that one always has the others back no matter what the circumstance.
A critic, Harry Thornton Moore, talks about George in the novel Of Mice and Men: "George is no more than pathetic. He attracts sympathy because he has to lose his friend Lennie, to whom he has been so loyal, and whom he has to kill at the last in order to save him from the others" (Moore 342). I strongly disagree with this critic. George is not at all pathetic nor is he trying to get sympathy from others. I imagine it was not easy for George to kill his best friend whom he was very loyal too. He doesn't even tell the others that he killed Lennie because he didn't want Curley and his gang to hurt him, so obviously he is not trying to gain sympathy. He is not pathetic, he is veryu strong for what his does to protect his friend. The critic is right in the fact that he does kill Lennie to save him from the others so that shows that George is not pathetic; it shows he is very courageous and worthwhile.