Of Mice And Men Companionship Essay

Companionship: the good feeling that comes from being with someone else. Many people in the 1930’s longed for companionship. That one person who kept someone going when all they wanted to stop. This concept is carried throughout John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men as it shows friendships coming and going quickly, as people long for, pursue, and achieve the overall goal of companionship. Steinbeck uses conflict, imagery, and syntax to assert how although the essence of companionship was rare, people still wanted it and in a sense needed it.
Throughout the book it’s clear how conflict between and within the characters expresses the importance of companionship. In the first chapter George becomes frustrated with Lennie as Lennie continues to forget …show more content…
When Candy’s dog is shot, his emotions towards his lost companionship that was between him and his dog are revealed, “Candy looked about unhappily ‘No,’ he said softly. ‘No, I couldn’t do that. I had ‘im too long’ ‘He don’t have no fun,’ Carlson insisted. ‘And he stinks to beat hell’...’I’m so used to him,’ he said softly. ‘I’ve had him from a pup’” (45). A lot of the men want to get rid of Candy’s dog, and Candy is not on board. By the use of short sentences we see Candy is tired and done with this topic and wants it to be over with. He has no intention of engaging in the conversation and just simply wants to keep the companionship between him and his dog thriving. Short sentences are also used in the book when George becomes scared for Lennie, as George says, “Look Lennie! This here ain’t no setup. I’m scared. You gonna have trouble with that Curley guy. I’ve seen that kind before. He was kinda feelin’ you out. He figures he’s got you scared and he’s gonna take a sock at you first chance he gets.” (28). George comes at Lennie with short and quick sentences allowing the reader to infer he’s mad. The fact that he is mad shows the compassion he has for Lennie and the fact he wants to protect Lennie. Spiralling off of that, we see the companionship between the two of them and how that reflects in their actions. Lennie has an unspoken …show more content…
At the very end of the book it is shown how George pursued his companionship with Lennie in a rather different way, “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (106). Although, George does kill Lennie, he does it with his best intentions. Through the imagery in this passage it is clear how guilty George was and how he killed Lennie in the least harmful way possible, it is almost like he wanted the best for Lennie, and this just happened to be it. George had to free Lennie from his condition and all the hate he got for it. George just wanted Lennie to be happy. Again with the loss of companionship, we see this with Lennie and the dead pup, “Lennie sat in the hay and looked at a dead little puppy that lay in front of him. Lennie looked at it for a long time, and then he put out his huge hand and stroked it, stroked it clear from one end to the other. And Lennie said softly to the puppy, ‘Why do you got to get killed?’” (85). Lennie does not know his own strength and had no intent in killing the puppy, but that is just what happened to occur. He had this connection with the puppy almost like he related with it on some level, as the imagery in this passage helps show how truly sad Lennie was that the puppy was dead. He connected with the pup and