Of Mice And Men: Book Review, Power Of Camradeship Essay, Research Paper

Of Mice and Men: Book Review, Power

of Comradeship

Some people say that there is nothing more important, more powerful than

friendship. The comradeship of two or three or many is priceless. What is the point of

going through life alone? Wouldn?t it all be easier if you had a friend? The book Of

Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, really illustrates the importance of friendship.

In the book the obvious friendship that we first see is the friendship of George and

Lennie. George was a normal guy, smaller, but strong, smart, and friendly. Lennie was

mentally retarded, and had some problems. Lennie didn?t mean to be troublesome and

hurt people he didn?t know any better. In the opening scene it shows George and Lennie

spending the night by a quiet pool. By the pool we really get to see how the friendship of

the two works, who plays what roles, and how they feel about each other. George gets

real angry with Lennie, because Lennie had a dead mouse that he just wanted to pet.

George tells him how much easier it would be for him to go and live by himself, and not

have to look after Lennie all the time. Lennie in return tells how he could go off in the

mountains and find himself a cave to live in. In Lennies cave Lennie could have all the

mice he wanted and no one would take them away from him. The argument was settled

when George told Lennie about their life long dream to go and get a place of their own,

and Lennie would get some rabbits that he could take care of all by himself. George told

Lennie ?most guys dream just like us, and never get what they dream for…? He told

Lennie ?…we?re not like them other guys though,? and Lennie broke in,

?Cause I got you to watch my back, and you got me to watch yours.?

Their dream of there place that they had in mind was all but magical. In each of

their minds they had this beautiful picture painted of there little place. Although this

place was only a dream it was more too. To them it was a release from the cruel reality of

the world. Although they knew in the back of there mind it would probably never

happen, they almost constantly thought of it. They also knew that there was no one else

in the world that could take their dream away from them, and there was no one else that

they would rather share that dream with.

On The farm they met Candy, he was an old man who worked on the farm

swamping out the bunk houses, who only had one hand. Because of the fact that Candy

only had one hand there was no possible way that he could be all that useful working out

in the field with the rest of the guys, so that in a way made him an outcast. Candy never

did get to feel that comradeship of the men who worked in the fields. That comradeship

was very powerful to the working men, it gave them a sense of belonging that not

everyone could feel. Candy looked elsewhere to find his friend and found it in his dog,

who he raised from a pup. Now the old dog of Candy?s was a lot like Candy himself.

Old, tired, miserable, and practically useless. One night when the men came in form the

fields they talked Candy in to letting them shoot his dog. Not because they were cruel,

but because the dog was suffering, and useless. They promised Candy a new dog, but

what shooting the dog symbolized to Candy was that when you get old and useless they?ll

take you out back and shoot you. Candy knowing he wasn?t far off from the state that his

dog was, felt an unbelievable amount of loneliness. Candy turned to George and said, ?I

should have shot him myself.? That same night when George and Lennie were discussing

their dream of the little place together, Candy joined into their dream, and almost made it

a reality. After that the comradeship of three grew very strong. Instead of just George

and Lennie getting the place all three of them were going to. All that was left to do was

to finish out the month and send their money to the people and then the three would have

their own little place.

Their dream was quickly ended when Curly?s wife, another who suffered from

loneliness, was found dead in the barn. Curly?s wife always found herself in a situation

where someone could get in trouble. This time she saw Lennie in the barn petting the

puppies, and she sat down beside him to talk, and Lennie told her how he liked to feel

soft things, and she let him touch her hair. Lennie got a little carried away and she began

to scream, so Lennie grabbed her over the mouth and shook her till she quit screaming.

Lennie, scared and alone ran to a safe place that George had told him to go to. George

knew he didn?t mean to hurt the lady, but he also knew that the rest of the guys were sure

to kill Lennie when they found him. It was just like Candy and his dog, only on a much

more emotional and powerful level. George stole a gun and went to Lennie. Lennie told

George he had done a bad thing and they should run and get away. George wasn?t mad

though, he didn?t yell at Lennie or hit him or scold him. He just told Lennie it doesn?t

matter now. Then George pointed Lennie across the pond and told him to just be silent,

then George pulled out the gun and shot Lennie in the back of the head.