Loyalty Leads to Total Annihilation The word loyal is defined as being “faithful to any lender, party, or cause, or to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity” and often has a positive connotation supporting it. Nonetheless, the novel Of Mice and Men depicts the quality quite negatively through its two main characters. George Milton and Lennie Small, who have a tremendously strong father son relationship, constantly travel from place to place in order to keep the latter safe, as Lennie’s disability always causes him to get into trouble. The reader sees George’s great faithfulness towards Lennie and his devotion to keeping the handicapped man safe, which constantly uproots his life and causes it to be in an incessant disarray. John
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The novel had, up until the very end, been a fairly light-hearted story about two best friends working towards their dream, that was until the murders began. What started the climax of the novel was Lennie’s accidental murder of Curley’s wife, just as she had finally been humanized. After the discovery of the body, Lennie’s disappearance, and the organization of a hunting party, it all came down to an act of loyalty leading to treason. Firstly, at the beginning of the novel, the reader experienced an extremely depressing killing of Candy’s dog. This dog had been Candy’s partner from puppyhood and in a way, Candy betrayed his trust right at the dog’s demise. By allowing a stranger to kill his dog, Candy thus allowed his dog to be panicked and upset in his last moments instead of happy, which is what Candy owed his for a lifetime companionship. The disabled elderly admitted his mistake to George saying, “‘I oughtta shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog’” (Steinbeck 61). Accordingly, another way that Steinbeck showed the path from devotion to treachery was George’s murder of Lennie. Likewise to Candy and his dog’s relationship was George and Lennie’s. Lennie was often given animal-like traits, being compared to a bear on multiple occasions, and in a way, George was his owner. The parallel between the two groups was a great foreshadowing to Lennie’s betrayal. At first, George merely wanted to get Lennie sent to prison,
The novel had, up until the very end, been a fairly light-hearted story about two best friends working towards their dream, that was until the murders began. What started the climax of the novel was Lennie’s accidental murder of Curley’s wife, just as she had finally been humanized. After the discovery of the body, Lennie’s disappearance, and the organization of a hunting party, it all came down to an act of loyalty leading to treason. Firstly, at the beginning of the novel, the reader experienced an extremely depressing killing of Candy’s dog. This dog had been Candy’s partner from puppyhood and in a way, Candy betrayed his trust right at the dog’s demise. By allowing a stranger to kill his dog, Candy thus allowed his dog to be panicked and upset in his last moments instead of happy, which is what Candy owed his for a lifetime companionship. The disabled elderly admitted his mistake to George saying, “‘I oughtta shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog’” (Steinbeck 61). Accordingly, another way that Steinbeck showed the path from devotion to treachery was George’s murder of Lennie. Likewise to Candy and his dog’s relationship was George and Lennie’s. Lennie was often given animal-like traits, being compared to a bear on multiple occasions, and in a way, George was his owner. The parallel between the two groups was a great foreshadowing to Lennie’s betrayal. At first, George merely wanted to get Lennie sent to prison,