Parent And Son Relationships In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

n the book, “Of Mice and Men”, the author John Steinbeck presents the relationship between the two characters, George and Lennie, as a parent and son relationship. At the beginning of the book, when the two companions were introduced it is illustrated that “they had walked in [a] single file path and when they came into the open, one stayed behind the other” (Steinbeck, 2). With regard to this example, the individual who portrays an authoritative parent in this relationship is George, whereas Lennie is the innocent and dependent child. The first feature that makes their relationship a loving parent and child relationship is the fact that they rely on each other for help and in Chapter 1, this idea is further developed in preparation of their …show more content…
Got kind of used to each other after a little while” (Steinbeck, 40). George entails that despite the hardships that he has to go through regarding Lennie’s disability, he learns to accept Lennie’s unique differences and cherish the rare friendship he merits with Lennie by being there for him throughout his troubles. For example, when Lennie’s fetish for soft things got out of hand in Weed, or when Lennie got into a fight with Curley. The last feature that illustrates George and Lennie's unique relationship is their willingness to sacrifice everything for each other because of their love for one another. In the opening chapter, when George was getting angry with Lennie’s prompt for wanting ketchup with his beans, Lennie gently says, “I was only fooling,' George. I don't want no ketchup [...] I’d leave it all for you” (Steinbeck, 12). This is an example of Lennie’s way of showing his love for George by trying to give him an imaginary bottle of ketchup. Lennie understands that he is a burden to George and he tries his best in order to make him proud by following his orders and staying away from trouble. Throughout the course of the story, George also makes many sacrifices out of the purpose of love for Lennie, similar to what parents do for their …show more content…
Before Aunt Clara passed away, George made a promise to her to take care of Lennie, and with his promise, he had to lay off everything in order to protect Lennie. However, whenever George regrets keeping that promise he yells out in frustration, “God a’ mighty if I [were] alone I could live so [easily] […] [but] I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me [every] job I get. [...] An’ that ain’t the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I [have] to get you out [of it] ”( Steinbeck, 11). George wishes he did not have the obligation to take care of Lennie, however no matter the situation or how frustrated George is with Lennie, he cannot bear to ever leave him because he cherishes him. Steinbeck strongly emphasizes the beauty of George and Lennie’s affectionate relationship through the way they depend on each other for a sense of belonging and protection, and the immense love that fuels them to go to great lengths for one another which renders a loving parent and son