The relationship between Lennie and George is one of close friendship. The two men, who on the face of it, seem like chalk and cheese, have developed a close bond over the years that keeps them joined together through all manner of adversities.

And it's just as well that they have, because the life of a transient farm worker can be a very lonely one indeed. Traveling from place to place inevitably involves being separated from your loved ones, so it's good to have a faithful friend with you, a loyal companion with whom you can share the good times and the bad.

The friendship between Lennie and George isn't one of equals, however. Lennie has the mental age of a child and so needs George to look out for him. Even with George around, that still doesn't stop Lennie from getting into trouble, as when he frightened a woman in Weed by touching her dress. The simple fact is that Lennie isn't capable of taking care of himself; he needs George by his side virtually the whole time.

Even George's killing of Lennie, after Lennie inadvertently kills Curley's wife, can be seen as an example of George's taking care of his friend. George knows that if Lennie is caught by the authorities, then he won't be able to cope, and so, under the circumstances, he feels he has no choice but to shoot him.

The relationship between George and Lennie is frustrating for both men. It’s difficult for George because, minus Lennie, George could have a far less stressful life. As George tells Lennie early on, “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail.” For George, Lennie represents vexation. Even little things—like Lennie stating that he likes his beans with ketchup—get on George’s nerves.

Lennie, too, is frustrated by their relationship. Alas, his annoyance isn’t with George so much as with himself. He knows that he pesters George, and it bothers him that he can’t seem to control himself. For instance, after George makes it clear to Lennie that they don’t have any ketchup, Lennie tells George that he doesn’t want ketchup. In fact, if there was ketchup right beside him, he wouldn’t eat it with his beans.

Conversely, the relationship between Lennie and George is loyal. Despite the irritation that Lennie brings, George sticks by him. He makes sure that Lennie has food, shelter, and work.

The end reinforces this loyalty. Rather than leave Lennie to Curley, George opts to kill Lennie himself so that it’s done humanely.

George and Lennie grew up together and became close friends when Lennie's Aunt Clara passed away. Ever since Aunt Clara died, Lennie has been traveling with George, looking for manual labor jobs on farms and ranches. Unlike most migrant workers, who travel by themselves and experience lonely, stressful lives, George and Lennie's friendship is unique and beneficial. Given Lennie's mental disability, George acts as his guardian and protector. George makes every significant decision for Lennie, continually comes to his defense, and offers him valuable advice.

Despite Lennie's impulsive nature and mental handicap, he has an amazing work ethic, which provides some job security in the unstable economic environment. George recognizes that Lennie's strength, endurance, and obedient nature are valuable assets and gives them an advantage when applying for competitive jobs. Lennie also provides George with much-needed company and social interaction. In addition to their comradery, George and Lennie also share the same dream of owning an estate, where they can "live offa the fatta the lan'." Although their dream is illusory and unattainable, it gives them a mental respite from the harsh reality of their hopeless circumstances.

Even though Lennie keeps George in "hot water all the time" by jeopardizing his freedom and job security, George enjoys his company and values his friendship. Both men rely on each other for emotional support to endure the hostile environment. George and Lennie are also extremely loyal to each other and willing to make sacrifices during desperate situations. Overall, George and Lennie have a unique friendship which is mutually beneficial and makes their arduous lives significantly more bearable.

When evaluating the relationship of George and Lennie, keep in mind the influential external factors. The setting takes place during the time of the Great Depression and the Dust bowl. Lennie and George are both migrant workers and depend on farm work for money at a time when America's economy was the weakest and its farms were struggling to keep animals and crops alive. In addition, the Unites States is filled with intense prejudice towards races, sexes, and outcasts. There are a number of relationship pairs to evaluate throughout the story so keep the setting complications in mind.

Through figurative language and characterization used in chapter one, Steinbeck reveals the characteristics of both George and Lennie. Lennie has a mental disability and is a regular burden on George; he has lost jobs because of his inability to control his strength and is regularly badgering George with questions. Because of his strength, however, Lennie is able to impress farm owners who desire capable physical laborers. On the other hand, George has the wit and instinct to navigate from farm to farm and find new areas to work.

While George sacrifices job stability and independence, he gains companionship at a time when the rest of world is indifferent to him. Likewise, Lennie sacrifices some personal dignity (George regularly casts crude, demeaning remarks on Lennie) and gains a protector, provider, and friend.

George and Lenny are friends. There is no family relation between these two men.  George takes care of Lenny because he is mentally handicapped and he feels a social responsibility to help him. However, in many ways Lenny takes care of George as well.

They travel together, work together, and dream together.  They provide each other with companionship that they otherwise would not have.  Their ultimate goal is to have their own farm one day, but unfortunately that dream is cut short because of other events in the novel. 

I would say that the relationship between them is one based on caring and nurturing.  I think that they both need each other in an immediate and powerful way.  This is fairly evident with Lennie, as he needs George to look after him and ensure that he is not manipulated.  Lennie's aunt implored George to do as much.  I think that George needs Lennie as much, though.  George is constantly haunted by the feelings of his own banality, his own failures.  Lennie's presence reminds George that in someone's eyes, he is extraordinary.  The dream of the farm is a comforting thought to both on different levels and their shared affinity for it helps to bring to light how powerful it is to have dreams.  Their relationship is the reason why this dream is shared.  I think that we can see the exact nature of their relationship at the end of the novel.  Lennie's visions and hallucinations speak what George would say, almost absorbing George's words as a part of his own psyche.  At the same time, when George has to kill Lennie, it is done out of love.  I think that it is done because George would not want to watch and see what the mob will do to him.  If George had not loved Lennie, if there was not a strong relationship present, he would have left Lennie to his own devices at this most critical moment.

I think that it sometimes seems that George and Lennie have a parent/child relationship with George as the often rather despairing parent. George clearly feels responsible for Lennie and there is some suggestion that they may be related somehow. George is all too aware that Lennie would be unable to cope on his own and does his best to keep him out of trouble; although clearly this is not always possible.

Lennie is often compared to an animal; a bear in some places that does not realise its own power. George's role is to protect Lennie from this power and to shield others and when he fails to do this he resorts to killing him as he knows he could not cope with the consequences of killing Curly's wife.    

George and Lennie are friends in Of Mice and Men. George takes on a father-figure role toward Lennie. George ends up being the care-taker from the beginning and throughout the book. He has to ensure Lennie is treated fairly (when the boss wants Lennie to talk, and when Curley wants to beat Lennie up) and follows rules of society (Lennie needs to understand when it is okay to touch people, and if and when it is appropriate to bring animals into the bunkhouse).

Lennie does provide George the fulfillment of George knowing that he is contributing to the world, however, Lennie's disabilities ultimately become too much for George to handle.

This story is truly a story about the lengths to which one will go in order to do what is best for a friend.

In Of Mice and Men, what type of friendship do Lennie and George have?

George and Lennie are close friends and partners in everything they do, depending on each other for survival. Lennie needs George's guidance and cunning to make it in a world that he doesn't always comprehend, and George is able to use Lennie's physical abilities to secure work for them. They also provide company for each other, a rarity in their line of work. As migrant farm workers, they ought to be some of "the loneliest guys in the world," but they have each other.

"We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don't have to sit-in no bar room blowin' in our jack jus' because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us."

Lennie broke in. "But not us! An' why? Because .... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why."

They plan to stay together all their lives, dreaming of owning a farm together and living off the land without having to worry about moving around and finding new work.

However, their friendship is unlike most friendships between men their age. Because of Lennie's mental disability, George often serves as more of a parent figure to Lennie than anything else, with Lennie as the devoted and innocent child. George is in charge of their partnership and feels responsible for protecting and caring for Lennie. He tries to control Lennie's behavior and scolds him for disobeying, but it is all done in order to protect Lennie from a world that may not understand him.

Although George spends much of his time complaining about Lennie and blames Lennie for their having to constantly leave jobs, when Lennie does offer to leave the partnership, George immediately tells him that he wants him to stay. For all his complaining, he loves Lennie.

It is this fierce love, not often overtly expressed but revealed through the way he protects and defends Lennie, that makes the ending of the book so heartbreaking. In killing Lennie, he is offering one last act of protection, one that destroys him to carry out. George knows there is no way to save Lennie from death, but he loves him too much to see him die inhumanely. He kills him in order to protect him from suffering, as he always has.

In Of Mice and Men, what type of friendship do Lennie and George have?

George and Lennie have a unique, close-knit friendship founded on loyalty, camaraderie, and understanding. Typically, migrant workers travel alone and experience arduous, lonesome lives. The fact that George and Lennie travel everywhere and work together sets them apart from their peers. Both men mutually benefit from each other's company and their friendship can be described as a codependent one. Lennie relies on George for guidance and protection, while George relies on Lennie for company and leverages Lennie's spectacular physical capabilities for employment opportunities. In their friendship, George is the brains while Lennie is the brawn. Lennie obediently follows George's lead while George tries his best to keep Lennie out of harm's way.

Lennie's disability makes him heavily reliant on George, who desperately needs social interaction. Social interaction and genuine friendship is a privilege many migrant workers cannot afford. Even sedentary workers like Candy and Crooks are extremely lonely on the ranch in Soledad. Lennie's presence is somewhat therapeutic to George, who has someone to express and articulate his thoughts to when he pleases.

George and Lennie's shared dream of owning a farm and living off the land gives both men a mental respite from the harsh realities of life on the ranch. Tragically, their dream is never realized and George is forced to shoot Lennie to spare his friend from a painful death at the hands of Curley's lynch mob.

In Of Mice and Men, what type of friendship do Lennie and George have?

Lennie and George are friends who are mutually dependent on each other for survival and emotional support.

Lennie has an unspecified mental disability and relies on George's guidance, not unlike how an older child might rely on a parent. Lennie respects and listens to George, but he also struggles for his own independence in certain areas, as with the mice he hides from George. George, who likes to be in charge, is reasonably contented with this relationship, although at times he gets angry and impatient with Lennie. The two quarrel often over small things, but they are held together by a strong bond of friendship.

Their relationship benefits George by allowing him to avoid the loneliness inherent in the life of a migrant worker, who must wander from ranch to ranch in search of seasonal work. Remarking on the advantage of their friendship compared to the experience of their fellow migrant workers, Lennie says,

I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.

George is protective of Lennie, and Lennie is loyal to George. They dream of owning a small farm together that will allow them to plant roots in one community and grant them independence from working for others, but they have little money saved towards this goal.

Ultimately, it is clear that George cares deeply about Lennie and is heartbroken to have to shoot him.

In Of Mice and Men, what type of friendship do Lennie and George have?

The friendship that George and Lennie have in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a relationship of inter-dependence. Each has qualities that the other one needs, and each has frailties that the other friend helps out with. For example, although Lennie is learning-challenged, he is big and strong. George is cleverer and capable, but smaller and slighter in build. The best way they can get the ranch work so vital in America's Great Depression is to sell themselves as a team. George is responsible for the travelling and the hiring - he can sell Lennie's gifts (strength, stamina etc.) Lennie provides the brawn and the muscle that ranch owners need. Through this inter-dependent relationship they have built up an eccentric friendship--but for now, it works.

In Of Mice and Men, what type of friendship do Lennie and George have?

George and Lennie have a very close but co-dependent friendship. George is the wise, thoughtful one; Lennie is the physically strong but impulsive one. George and Lennie manage to survive and thrive as long as they do because they have one another. Neither would be able to so without the other. Throughout the novel we see George looking out for and protecting Lennie. Whether it was the incident with the red dress, or the puppy, or Curly’s wife, George is always there to guide Lennie out of trouble. Likewise, it is Lennie who provides the physical power that helps to fuel the George and Lennie’s dream of owning their own farm and “livin’ off the fatta the land.”

In Of Mice and Men, what is the relationship between Lennie and George?

John Steinbeck wanted to write a story about two farm laborers who share a dream of owning their own farm and not having to slave for others for a bare existence. But he must have realized that there was something a little odd about such a relationship. It has always been the natural pattern for a man and a woman to own a farm. If two men were to live together on a farm, some people would suspect that they had a homosexual relationship. A number of questions posted in eNotes have actually asked whether George and Lennie are gay. No doubt Steinbeck would have been glad to write a story about a man and woman who dreamt of owning their own farm, but he could not make them itinerant farm workers because a woman could not do heavy farm labor or sleep in bunkhouses with a bunch of men.

So Steinbeck had to invent a reason why these two men could live together and share ownership of a farm but not be gay. He thought of making one handicapped and the other his caretaker. But if Lennie were physically handicapped he couldn't be an itinerant farm laborer. Then Steinbeck must have come up with the idea of making Lennie mentally handicapped. To make up for this mental weakness, Steinbeck made him exceptionally strong. He could do the work of three men in the fields, and he would be an asset to George if they ever got that farm.

George, of course, would have to be shaped into the kind of character who would accept long-term responsibility for such a burden as Lennie. George made a promise to Aunt Clara which she had no right to ask. George is a healthy, intelligent, capable man who should be married and raising a family; instead, he is stuck perhaps for life with a retard who is always getting into trouble.

According to the Introduction to Of Mice and Men in the eNotes Study Guide, Steinbeck intended to convert his story into a play and did so the same year the novella was published. He could see the advantage of having a character in a play who was mentally retarded, because his buddy would have to keep explaining things to him. In a play the exposition has to be conveyed through dialogue, and having George explaining and repeating everything to Lennie makes it easy to convey information to the audience.

Steinbeck is conspicuously defensive about the relationship between George and Lennie. The boss who hires them is instantly suspicious.

"I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin' his pay away from him?"

"No, 'course I ain't. Why ya think I'm sellin' him out?"

"Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouoble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is."

Slim is also curious.

"Funny how you an' him string along together."

"What's funny about it?" George demanded defensively.

"Oh, I dunno. Hardly none of the guys ever travel together. I hardly never seen two guys travel together. . . . It jus' seems kinda funny a cuckoff like him and a smart little guy like you travelin' together."

Note how George "demanded defensively." Here Steinbeck has George give Slim the story about Aunt Clara.

"It ain't so funny, him and me goin' aroun' together. Him and me was both born in Auburn. I knowed his Aunt Clara. She took him when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin'. Got kinda used to each other after a little while."

Steinbeck invented the best plot he could think of to illustrate his thesis and to dramatize the lives of itinerant farm workers in the 1930s.

Describe George and Lennie's relationship in Of Mice and Men.

George Milton and Lennie Small have a fraternal and symbiotic relationship.

The small, intelligent man and the large but slow-witted man have a fraternal relationship as well as one of mutual dependency. Lennie is dependent upon George for decisions and direction, while George, who is diminutive, needs Lennie sometimes for protection. He also needs someone to care for and to have as a companion. When the two friends camp in the clearing, Lennie asks George to recite for him the conditions of their relationship and their dream for the future. At first George takes note of how the other bindlestiffs, who have no friends, are very lonely. They have no family and belong nowhere. When they work on a ranch, they "work up a stake," but then they go into town and spend it all. Afterwards, they must start all over at another ranch with nothing to which they can look forward.

But with George and Lennie, things are different; they have a future because they care about each other. George recites,

"With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don't have to sit in no bar room blowin' in our jack jus' because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us."

Later, George explains to Slim that he and Lennie are from the same place, and after Lennie's aunt died, George began to take care of Lennie because he is "too dumb to care for himself." George adds that Lennie is a nuisance, but "...you get used to goin' around with a guy like that."

Much like a child, Lennie enjoys hearing over and over the tale of how they will have a small place where they will raise their own food. Unfortunately, Lennie commits such misunderstood acts that he gets George and him into trouble. When Lennie inadvertently kills Curley's wife, there is no chance of running away or escaping fate. George shoots Lennie to prevent his violent death at the hands of an angry lynch mob.

In Of Mice and Men, the fraternity of man is a motif, as evinced in the relationship of George and Lennie, along with the desire for this fraternity in such characters as Candy and Crooks. 

Describe George and Lennie's relationship in Of Mice and Men.

George and Lennie have a rather unique and complex relationship. Both characters have different strengths and weaknesses, yet find a way to develop a mutual friendship that benefits each of them. Although George is physically smaller and weaker than Lennie, he is Lennie's guardian and feels a social responsibility to take care of him. In contrast, Lennie is a massive individual with a mental disability. He looks up to George and allows George to make decisions for him. Despite the fact that George has a tendency to yell at Lennie and criticize him, George truly cares about his friend's well-being. Lennie also understands that he can annoy George, but offers him companionship in an unforgiving world. George and Lennie also comfort each other by discussing their plans of owning a home and a piece of property throughout the story. Their friendship provides each other with a sense of belonging and companionship that other migrant workers do not have.

How is the relationship between George and Lennie presented in Of Mice and Men?

In Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie have a complicated relationship. George often insults and chastises Lennie for Lennie's many mistakes, most of which tend to have quite serious consequences. Lennie does not, however, dislike or resent George for these interactions. Rather, Lennie relies on George for his guidance, both through these redirections and George's ability to imagine their hypothetical future. 

Although they are both physically grown men, these aspects give their relationship the quality of a parent-child relationship rather than a fraternal or friendly one. What is interesting about this fact is that George and Lennie are not in fact related. They simply travel together, and George cares for and guides Lennie. One can analyze this situation and understand that despite George's many negative interactions with Lennie, he actually cares for him very deeply and worries about his well-being. In return, Lennie loves George with the unbridled adoration of a child. 

How is the relationship between George and Lennie presented in Of Mice and Men?

John Steinbeck had many problems plotting his novel. He wanted a story about the hard lives of itinerant farm workers (bindlestiffs). He decided to create two such characters and introduce them traveling around together, since he had to show how they lived on the road. He wanted them to share a dream of owning their own farm, so that they wouldn't have to live like tramps and work like slaves when they could find work.

But this raised one of his problems. It does not seem quite natural for two men to own a subsistence farm together. The common pattern since the agricultural revolution began in Mesopotamia was for a man and a woman to own a farm and raise children who could take over and support them when they grew old. (An excellent example of this kind of scenario is found in the novel Growth of the Soil by Noble-prize-winner Knut Hamsun.) Many people have asked   about the relationship between Lennie and George. Some have wondered whether they were gay--which was certainly something Steinbeck did not intend.

Steinbeck realized he could not have two ordinary men who wanted to share a farm because it would look like a homosexual relationship. He thought of making one of them physically handicapped and the other his caretaker. But then they couldn't both be farm workers. So he went the other way and made one  mentally handicapped but unusually big and strong.

This seemed to work out because Steinbeck intended to adapt his novella into a play. (See eNotes Study Guide "Introduction.") To make the adaptation simple, Steinbeck wrote most of the novel's espository material in dialogue, as can be seen in examining the text of the book. This enabled him to have George explaining everything to the dumb Lennie and then having to explain everything again, in the meantime explaining it to the reader and to the future audience of his New York play.

Steinbeck still felt he had to explain why two grown men wanted to own a farm together. He seems defensive about this. In Chapter Two, the Boss quizzes him:

"Say--what you sellin'?"

"Huh?"

"I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin' his pay away from him?"

"No, 'course I ain't. Why ya think I'm sellin' him out?"

"Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is."

In Chapter Three, Steinbeck has Slim express a similar curiosity.

"Funny how you an' him string along together."

"What's funny about it?" George demanded defensively.

"Oh, I dunno. Hardly none of the guys ever travel together. . . . . It jus' seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart little guy like you travelin' together."

"It ain't so funny, him and me goin' aroun' together," George said at last. "Him and me was both born in Auburn. I knowed his Aunt Clara. She took him when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin'. Got kinda used to each other after a little while."

Lennie and George both get something out of their relationship. Lennie needs to be told what to say and do. George is "a little guy" and gets protection on boxcars and in hobo jungles by having a giant as his companion. Both get friendship. And John Steinbeck gets the advantage of having two characters talking to each other with the reader listening in. If Steinbeck had created a single itinerant farm worker he would have lost most of the drama his story contains, and adaptation to a stage play would have been nearly impossible.

How is the relationship between George and Lennie presented in Of Mice and Men?

Given that alienation, friendship, and loyalty are all important themes in Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, the relationship presented between Lennie and George is necessary to help readers understand the importance as related to the themes.

Steinbeck shows readers the conflicts which exist in every relationship. The relationship between Lennie and George, therefore, has conflict typical of any given relationship. Steinbeck even shows readers how conflict within a friendship is resolved.

From the very beginning of the novel, readers understand that George is taking care of Lennie. readers can see his frustrations which stem from Lennie's neediness and diminished mental capacities. Regardless of this, George knows that Lennie needs him--in more ways then one.

For example, in chapter one, after a fight about ketchup, Lennie tells George that he will leave and go live in the hills on his own. The friendship between Lennie and George is so strong that George realizes that he has hurt Lennie and tells him that he is sorry and wants Lennie around.

Regardless of the conflicts, Steinbeck shows a relationship which is strong until the end. While George is forced to take Lennie's life, his love for Lennie is what forces him to do this.

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Explain the relationship between George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck’s writing often brought to life characters that struggled in life—the downtrodden. Written during the depression, Of Mice and Men portrayed life for migrant workers in the area of
Salinas, California.  Lennie Small and George Milton fight for their dreams with little chance of them coming to fruition.

When the story begins, Lennie and George have been together for a long time. In fact, during the course of one of their conversations, the reader learns that they were in school together. Lennie is cared for by his aunt, and George stays with them. When the aunt dies, she asks George to look after Lennie. Even though the task is burdensome, George shelters and cares for Lennie. 

Steinbeck cleverly names his characters: Lennie Small has the strength of ten men with his overwhelming size.  His smallness comes from his mental slowness…his limitations make him dangerous. When he finds himself in a situation that he does not understand, Lennie reacts which usually gets both George and him in trouble.

George is everything to Lennie---father-figure; protector; friend; provider; and savior.  Unable to make decisions on his own, Lennie depends entirely on George. His bane comes from his wanting to pet soft things which often ends in the death of an animal or the screams of a woman. 

Interestingly, Lennie might be compared to a pet dog that gives his ultimate loyalty to George. Whatever George tells Lennie, Lennie remembers.  Other things slip from his memory. Without George, Lennie would be unable to survive.  His size, his anger, and his retardation spell ultimate doom.

George Milton relies on his wits to find places for him and Lennie to survive. Through George, two important ideas are conveyed in the story: companionship and hope.  As Lennie’s protector, George must spend most of his time watching out for figurative traps that Lennie might fall into and hurt others or himself. 

His place in the story is keeping Lennie in tow. There are always obstacles in the way.   A girl’s scream, Curley’s wife, Curley, a puppy---all of these incidences work to make it impossible for the pair’s dreams to happen. 

Their relationship centers on the dream they share:

“Guys like us that work on ranches, are the loneliest guy in the world.  They got no family.  They don’t belong no place…With us it ain,t like that.  We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us…” 

What they have is each other!

The most important lesson in the story is the friendship that this unlikely pair shares. As George tells Lennie over and over they are different because they have each other. 

When Lennie commits his final crime, George knows that there is no way to fix this for Lennie. He also knows that Curley will make Lennie suffer.  Furthermore, Lennie would never be able to survive prison; with execution facing him, Lennie would never understand why he could not be George.

George has only one choice: he must end the tragedy with his love for Lennie by taking care of the situation himself.  With Lennie looking into the distance and imagining their farm and the rabbits that he would tend, George kills Lennie with a bullet to his brain. 

Afterwards, George is free to do whatever he wants.  The reader, however, knows that George is now just one of the many lonely guys who will walk through life wishing that he had someone to love and communicate.  

Explain the relationship between George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

The relationship between George and Lennie is a complex one. 

First, George is like a father to Lennie.  George takes care of Lennie in various ways.  For instance, George makes Lennie throw away dead mice that might make him sick.  He also reprimands him when he drinks too much stagnant water, which might make him sick.  Also like a father, George takes pride in Lennie when Slim says that Lennie is a great worker. 

Second, Lennie looks up to George and trusts him.  He probably does not see him as a father figure, but certainly as an older brother.  He knows that George will take care of him. 

Third, George and Lennie are friends.  This is the most profound point in the story.  One of the main points of the story is that loneliness reign over and pervades the lives of everyone.  Right from the beginning this note is struck. George says:

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly.

George continues:

“With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.

Even Lennie chimes in:

“But not us! An’ why? Because . . . . because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.” He laughed delightedly. “Go on now, George!”

In conclusion, George and Lennie care for each other.  This is the only bright spot in the whole story.  They are friends, true friends.  

How does steinbeck present the relationship between George and Lennie in the first two chapters of Of Mice and Men?

In the first two chapters of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, George Milton and Lennie Small are presented as what would appear to be an unlikely pair of best friends. George is a small, street-smart dreamer, whereas Lennie is a huge man who possesses incredible physical strength, but has the intelligence of a young child. Despite their differences, the two men travel around California together doing various jobs.

Lennie's lack of intelligence causes George lots of trouble and the smaller man laments that he "could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail." Still, the two men have learned to compliment each other and work together as a team: George serves as the brains, while Lennie serves as the brawn. Even Lennie is smart enough to remember that "I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you."

Finally, in the first two chapters of the novel, we learn that the two men share a dream, a dream of having a little house together where they can grow their own food and Lennie can take care of the rabbits.

In the book Of Mice and Men, how does the relationship between George and Lennie evolve?

In one sense, the dynamics of the relationship between George and Lennie does NOT change except at the very end of the narrative; however, in the sense of their overall history together, they have developed a real and lasting fraternal relationship. 

• Dynamics of George/Lennie relationship

When George and Lennie first enter the clearing in Chapter 1, George walks ahead of Lennie and is obviously the more dominant of the pair as Lennie is child-like in his speech and actions. Later, he is scolded for playing with a dead mouse, and when they eat, Lennie is upset that they have no ketchup for the beans that are their supper.
As the evening progresses, again like an older brother, George gives Lennie strict instructions to not talk when they meet the new boss at the ranch the next day:

"If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won't get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we're set. Ya got that?"
"Sure, George. Sure I got it."

George has Lennie repeat over and over the instructions about not speaking so that he will not forget. And, he tells Lennie, "An' you ain't gonna do no bad things like you done in Weed, neither." Then George reflects that Lennie has been an encumbrance to him as he has gotten them into trouble on jobs. He tells Lennie that if he did not have to watch out for him, he could have a girlfriend and go into the towns and drink. But, when a hurt Lennie says that he will just go off somewhere, George apologizes, "I been mean, ain't I?"  He tells Lennie to stay, saying someone would shoot Lennie, and his Aunt Clara would not want him running off, anyway. (In Chapter 3, when George talks frankly with Slim, he echoes these same sentiments about his sense of responsibility for Lennie.)

At this point, Lennie speaks "craftily," asking George to recite the "dream" of owning a little farm with rabbits to pet. George's voice grows "deeper" as he speaks of how the other bindle stiffs have no one who cares about them.

"We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us....we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an'a cow and some pigs and--"

Lennie finishes the recitation: "An live off the fatta the lan'...An' have rabbits...."

This friendship and hope for a future is what sustains George and Lennie as they migrate from job to job. It is, unfortunately, only in the final chapter that this hope and the dream of a ranch dies after Lennie inadvertently breaks Curley's wife's neck. 

• Fraternal relationship

It is when George converses with Slim, whose "god-like eyes" see more than most men's, that George's love for Lennie is revealed as he tells Slim, "We kinda look after each other....It's a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know." He tells Slim that they are both from the same town, and that he promised Lennie's aunt that he would look out for him."He 's jes' like a kid," George adds.

When George learns that Lennie has inadvertently broken Curley's wife's neck, he is greatly saddened and worried about what Curley and the others will do. Immediately, he tells Candy that Lennie did not kill her in "meanness." In despair, he also says that he has always known that they would never get their ranch. 
When George catches up with Lennie, Lennie confesses, "I done another bad thing." But, George tells him, "It don't make no difference." His voice is shaky as he asks Lennie to remove his hat; he begins to recite their dream. He also tells Lennie that he is not angry with him.

"I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know."

And, then, because he cannot stand for Lennie to be put in an asylum or a prison, George shoots his friend. Only Slim understands what really has happened; he tells George, "You hadda, George. I swear you hadda."

What is the nature of the relationship between George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men?

One of the major motifs of John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men is the Fraternity of Men. Writing his work during the Great Depression, Steinbeck the Socialist perceived the terrible alienation of the migrant worker and felt that the communion of these men working together was the solution to their terrible alienation.

Thus, the relationship of George and Lennie is that of brotherhood.  While George essays to protect Lennie as an older brother would, he does, in fact, fail at times as would a sibling who assumes such a role.  While Lennie does fear George somewhat, his fear resembles that of a younger sibling for an older one, rather than a parent.  For,his perception is clearly that they are friends, and, thus, equals.  When he asks George to tell him "how it is with us," and George describes how they have "somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us," Lennie breaks in describing their reciprocal relationship,

"But not us!  An' why?  Because...because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why."

Each man provides something for the other that he lacks.  With George, Lennie provides love and trust and, above all, the sustaining of the dream.  For, once Lennie who truly believes in the dream is gone, so, too, does the dream die, since Lennie is the keeper of ithe dream.  For Lennie, George is the thinker and the planner.  In their fraternity, there is strength and happiness, Steinbeck seems to say to his readers. Alone, apart, both Lennie's and George's ends are tragic.

In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, what is the relationship between George and Lennie like?

Many people have posted questions about the relationship between George and Lennie. A few have asked if they have a homosexual relationship. I believe it is impossible for a critic to talk about these two characters as if they were real people. They are only creations of the author John Steinbeck. What is important is understanding his purpose in creating them, just as it is important to understand why he created all the other characters, including the pugnacious Curley and his adolescent wife. None of these people are real. Steinbeck created them to serve specific purposes in a story about farm workers in California during the 1930s.

Steinbeck wanted to dramatize his depiction of the hard, lonely, dead-end lives of the men called "bindlestiffs," who carried all their worldly belongings in bed-rolls on their backs (like the jolly swagman in the Australian song “Waltzing Matilda”) and went from ranch to ranch looking for unskilled agricultural work. During the spring and summer months there was a demand for fruit pickers, and the growers provided some kind of accommodations for these workers. But they could never stay in one place for long. They had to "follow the crops," and the different fruits grew in different parts of the state. All of the work was back-breaking and low-paying.

Steinbeck painted a much broader picture in his masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath. His novelette Of Mice and Men was almost like a practice exercise or a sketch book in preparation for the much more powerful novel about the Okies and Arkies who had to come out to California when the great drought created a Dust Bowl in the mid-1930s and tenant farmers were being evicted from their homes.

In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck wanted to focus on a couple of men who travel around together working on ranches all the way from Bakersfield to Weed. It is important to understand that while writing his book, Steinbeck was already planning to turn it into a stage play. The play opened in New York in 1937, the same year the book was published. Steinbeck wanted to have, not one, but two central characters, because that way he could handle all his exposition by having them talk to each other. Most of the bindlestiffs were "loners," but he needed two who were partners mainly in order to write dialogue that would inform the reader, and the future theater audience, of all the information they needed to know. A good example of how Steinbeck uses dialogue for exposition is found in Chapter 1.

[George] took on the elaborate manner of little girls when they are mimicking one another. “Jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress—jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse—Well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin’ for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the country.

By making Lennie mentally retarded, Steinbeck was able to have George explain everything to him and to the reader at the same time. These two bindlestiffs have a symbiotic relationship. George tells Lennie what to do, and Lennie’s size and strength provide protection for George, who is described as “a little guy,” in the tough world of freight cars and hobo jungles.

In analyzing characters in fiction, it is useful to keep in mind that they are only creations of the human imagination, whether they are called Hamlet or Holden Caulfield--or whatever.

What is learned about the relationship between Lennie and George in Of Mice and Men?

George is ambivalent in his feelings about Lennie. He feels obligated to take care of him because of a promise to Aunt Clara, but he resents the burden of responsibility. He also realizes he is taking a risk because of Lennie's tendency to kill small animals and because of the really serious trouble Lennie got into with a girl in Weed.

"Jus' wanted to feel tht girl's dress--jus' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse---Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the country."

George senses that more serious trouble is brewing with Lennie. He is starting to take an interest in girls.

There is something ambiguous about Steinbeck's plot. George instructs Lennie to come back to this riverbank campsite and hide if he gets into any more trouble. The purpose would ostensibly be for the two of them to make their getaway as they did in Weed. But George ends up killing Lennie instead. And the fact that he stole Carlson's gun and brought it with him to their hideout shows that he intended to kill Lennie from the time he left the bunkhouse. He doesn't even try to lead Lennie away to safety. He has given up on Lennie. He probably gave up on him from the moment he realized his partner had killed Curley's wife. What is actually happening is not that George is saving Lennie from being tortured and killed by a lynch mob, but that George is peforming an act of euthanasia.

In Chapter one, George indicates that he is getting stressed out from trying to be Lennie's keeper. After Lennie kills Curley's wife in the barn, George must have given up on Lennie and decided that he had to be put away. He couldn't go on protecting a potential killer. He couldn't go on taking Lennie from ranch to ranch and hoping that Lennie woudn't kill again. He doesn't even try to escape the mob with Lennie, as they probably could have done in the dark. Why would it be any harder to escape the mob at night then it was to escape that other mob in Weed in broad daylight?

George was not only killing Lennie out of friendship and compassion, but out of a desire to rid himself of an unbearable burden and a sense of guilt for harboring a menace to society. George must have felt equally guilty with Lennie, or even more so, when he saw the dead body of that young girl in the barn.

What type of relationship does George and Lennie appear to have in the novel Of Mice and Men?

The best way to describe their relationship is that of caretaker (George) and dependent (Lennie).  Lennie is quite advanced enough for their relationship to be a true friendship.  Although he respects and cares for George, Lennie is like a child to George, the father.  He does what he can to please George, and will rebel against George's wishes when his desires overcome him.  This is what happens when he sneaks in to see the puppies, and ends up killing one.  George also told him to stay away from Curley's wife, but Lennie doesn't listen.  He is too eager to touch the soft hair, which we know is a fatal touch in the end.

George demonstrates his role as caretaker in a number of ways.  He vouches for Lennie, gives Lennie orders, and keeps track of Lennie.  He tells Lennie stories to keep Lennie happy.  He also takes the ultimate step as caretaker by killing Lennie in the end, knowing that the mob (i.e., Curley) will soon arrive.  He wants Lennie's death to be painless, so he does it himself.  He cares about Lennie, but again it is in the role of a parent, not as a friend.

George expresses his frustration at having to be a caretaker in Chapter 1:

Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want.

How does Steinbeck show the relationship between George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men?

Steinbeck illustrates George and Lennie's complex friendship throughout his classic novella Of Mice and Men by depicting the positive and negative aspects of their relationship. Both George and Lennie are close friends who travel throughout the western United States looking for jobs as migrant workers. George acts as Lennie's guardian/protector and continually offers Lennie advice. Despite helping Lennie survive and navigate the hostile environment on the ranch, George is highly critical of Lennie and severely chastises him for continually making mistakes.

Although Lennie seems like a burden to George, he provides him with necessary socialization and emotional support. Both George and Lennie keep each other company in the harsh environment and make each other's lives easier. Steinbeck portrays their friendship as necessary, and it is an integral aspect of their lives as they travel from ranch to ranch working difficult jobs. At the end of the story, George demonstrates his loyalty and love for Lennie by shooting him in the back of the head to prevent Curley and his lynch mob from torturing him.

In John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, do George and Lennie have a healthy relationship?

The question, "In John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, do George and Lennie have a healthy relationship?," is a subjective one. What this means is that different readers will feel differently about the relationship between George and Lennie. Answers, therefore, will vary between readers and their interpretations and views on the relationship in question.

That being said, all relationships have a little bit of "unhealthiness" to them (at one point or another). There are times where only one person gives and one person receives. There are other times where one person is always, and will always, be required to look out for the other person. I think the only way to really examine the healthiness of their relationship is to look at the meaningful conversations between the men.

In chapter one, after the men fight about ketchup and Lennie threatens to run away, George apologizes to Lennie and tells him that he does not want him to leave.

No-look ! I was jus' foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me.

Here, George could have agreed to let Lennie run off and would not have had to been worried about him ever again. Instead, he (George) realizes that they do have a special relationship.

One thing that must be said though is that relationships are healthy to different people for different reasons. Lennie needs George to take care of him. George needs Lennie to feel good about the promise he made to Aunt Clara. In the end, both men need each other. One could say that this justifies a healthy relationship.