Characters in of Mice and Men

There might be a period in each of the lives where people need to experience a time of the battle, and even loved ones are not there to help out. The odds are, the vast majority of people have not had a period where those nearest to themselves walk out on them. There presumably will come a hard time where any individual may yearn for brotherhood. A significant part of the characters in John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, in any case, show that individuals during great depressions of the 1920s were not as lucky as it is today, and Steinbeck uses composing devices to help explain the battles of the rough time to readers. Steinbeck portrays the general theme that friendship is especially significant during tough times, which exhibits through the portrayal of the main characters to highlight the importance of companionship, particularly between George and Lennie as well as Crooks. First of all, George gives as all the consideration and guidance as he can to Lennie. When Lennie stops to drink out of dirty water. George says, 'Lennie! Lennie for god sakes does not drink so much… Lennie, you going to be wiped out like you was the previous evening!' which demonstrates that George is worried about Lennie as his mental illness, recalling things are challenging for Lennie, and this frequently leads Lennie into troubles. Though George gets bothered with Lennie, he cares Lennie regardless. Their guardian-like companionship is trustworthy and reliable needs to look out for Lennie consistently. Secondly, George and Lennie have their dream to have their place to live together, a dream that they sincerely wish to happen. Both their companionship and their dream make them feel like their future is a little more brilliant than others and George speaks 'They ain't got nothing to look ahead to…. With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us' (Steinbeck 15).

Additionally, George also thinks about himself and Lennie are blessed to have one another and feels that they are not as isolated as other workers in ranch since they have been relying on each other for a long time. For example, When George and Lennie arrive at the ranch, the boss reacts to George that he has 'never observed one person take such a great amount of inconvenience for another person' (Steinbeck 25). This statement clearly shows that it is uncommon that workers get long and travel together, not to mention that a man like George is ready to deal with a disability man like Lennie. It also displays how phenomenal George's thoughtfulness and generosity towards Lennie is. Another example is that when George has presented himself and Lennie to Slim, Slim also says comparable: 'Funny how you an' him string along together… Hardly none of the guys ever travel together. I hardly ever seen two guys travel together. You know how the hands are, they just come in and get their bunk and work a month, and then they quit and go out alone. Never seem to give a damn about anybody. It jus' seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart little guy like you travelin' together' (Steinbeck 44).

One of the loneliest characters is Crooks. An example of this is Lennie's encounter with Crooks, who is never treated like American and isolated because of his color of skin. For instance, in chapter four, Crooks says sharply, 'You got no right to come in my room. This here's my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.' (34) He is defensive and cynical. However, despite stating that he ought not to chat with Lennie, he eventually lets Lennie come into the room because he seems like different person than others to judge or harm people to him. Finally, even though Crooks may not straightforwardly demonstrate it, readers can undoubtedly tell that Crooks deep aches for the brotherhood to extinguish his inner loneliness. He reveals:

Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he's goin' to come back. S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that? S'pose you had to set out here an' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody – to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya… (Steinbeck 82)

As an African American, chatting with the other workers is entirely unusual, and his openness with Lennie presents his longing to become a close acquaintance with others.

It feels like Steinbeck is recommending that if workers such as in ranch can show more thoughtfulness and to be more caring to each other, then they would not be so lonely and may even have an extensively happier life. Furthermore, considering the life in America in the 1930s, due to high unemployment and cries, the workers have nowhere to go, they always move from one place to another in a such a terrible condition with racism and sexism. In his novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck also suggests readers that every single individual should be accepted as who they are and have the opportunity to live in with others. As ranch workers work hard and deal with tough times to survive and live a solitary and lonely life, it is seen to be necessary to have someone by side to count on, a genuine companion who is happy for everything. Sadly, such companionship does not come easy.