that keeps people alienated, atomized, and alone. Most of the workers don't have even such a simple support system as a friend to work and travel with, which leads many of the men to drinking and hiring prostitutes. As George says to Lennie:

Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.

As the above quote also suggests, the pool of migrant workers, many displaced by the Great Depression, have been denied the chance at even such a simple version of the American Dream as owning their own small home or farm. This makes it impossible to put down roots, develop lasting friendships, or start a family.

George and Lennie's friendship is real and does set them apart from the other migrants. However, their dream of owning a farm, while inspiring to the other ranch hands, is little more than a fantasy. They have saved almost no money, even if they haven't blown their wages on drink and women. As George explains to Lennie, they can't afford to leave the ranch, even though it makes them both uneasy:

If we can get jus' a few dollars in the poke we'll shove off and go up the American River and pan gold.

George and Lennie dream, but they are in almost as bad a situation as the other men.

Look towards the end of the chapter, and you will find Lennie asking George to tell him "about the rabbits." At this point, George begins to tell a story which is obviously very well rehearsed -- it's something he has been thinking about for a long time, and which Lennie likes to hear.

George explains that he and Lennie are different to other ranch workers for one very fundamental reason: other ranch workers don't have "fambly" (families) and George and Lennie do. While other ranch workers are lonely, and have nobody to care for them and nothing to do but work and then blow their money in town and then move on to another ranch, George and Lennie have something to look forward to. In the form of each other, they also have a family, a support system, and somebody to care about them.

George says that he and Lennie, by contrast to the other ranchers, have "a future." They have someone "that gives a damn" about them. With other ranch workers, they could end up in jail and simply be left there to rot, but George has Lennie, and Lennie has George, which makes all the difference.

Lennie has heard this story told to him so many times that he could, George says, tell it himself, but he wants to hear George tell him about their imaginary future. In this future, the two men would live in their own little house, with a vegetable patch and a cow and acres of land. They would have chickens and rabbits to tend.

In many ways, this is only a fantasy which is unlikely ever to happen, as George knows, but in other ways he is right that he and Lennie are very different to other ranch hands. They certainly support and care about each other.

The e-notes guide gives lots of guidance on this issue, with illustrative quotes.

It is useful to note that George is very much the leader of the two, despite Lennie’s  size and height advantage. We learn that George has travelled with Lennie for a long time and acts as a guardian for Lennie. Lennie is mentally impaired which was ascertain from his childish actions such as copying George’s movements :

“ Lennie pulled his hat down a little more over his eyes, the way George’s hat was.”

George and Lennie are unique as they travel together, existing at this stage with the appearance of mutual support

because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.”

Although we realise increasingly that Lennie is a burden to George. They have to keep travelling as Lennie keeps getting into trouble. When Lennie becomes sulky about the lack of ketchup with their beans, George’s frustration comes to the surface

"Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want. God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy."

 The men share a common dream which is to “to live off the fatta the lan’”.It is only as the novel progresses that we see this is not a realistic dream for the two of them.

This section quickly establishes the most important fact of the novel:  George feels responsible for Lennie.  Lennie looks up to George and wants to please him, and George wants to and feels he has to protect Lennie.  The incident with the mouse proves that.  Although frustrated with Lennie - mostly stemming from the scene at their last job - George feels the need to make Lennie feel better.  This is why he says he'll get Lennie another mouse.  Lennie is easily comforted by George.  Also, the scene George alludes to from their previous job - having been run off the property because Lennie just had to touch the girl's pretty dress - proves George's loyalty to Lennie.  He could easily let Lennie be caught for his behavior, however innocent it was, and then be free of the burden.  But George will not.  He'll stick by his friend.

This is important because it sets the stage for readers to understand the last scene of the novel.  Many might misunderstand that scene and think that George was cold-blooded and simply trying to eliminate a problem for himself.  However, this first scene shows that George is devoted to Lennie.  His actions in the end are the actions of a friend and caretaker only.

First, we learn that Lennie and George are opposites in terms of their physical appearance. George is "small and quick" and Lennie is huge and walks like a bear. These physical descriptions also give indications of each man's personality. George is intelligent and skeptical. Lennie is slow and simplistic. Note that they are walking single file at the beginning. The trail might be narrow but this does suggest that, with George in the lead, George is the leader of the two men. 

Their dialogue demonstrates that they are friends and that George is the leader and somewhat of a parent or guardian to the simplistic Lennie. Lennie got into some trouble at their last job (Weed) and George got him out of it. We really see how simple and innocent Lennie is when George makes him get rid of the dead mouse he'd been carrying. 

The hope of owning their own land is a dream that sustains both men. Lennie asks George to repeat their plight and hopes for a better future. George notes that ranch workers are typically lonely. Lennie counters with the notion that he and George are different because they have their friendship and a plan for a future. (This is a dialogue that they have had many times before. Lennie always asks George to talk through it to make him feel better. Lennie recites his lines like a prayer with the hope that they will eventually "live off the fatta the lan'.") 

The relationship between George and Lennie is multifaceted, but in chapter three, we see George's paternal side come out. He tries to provide for Lennie. In the previous chapter Slim gave George a puppy. George, on behalf of Lennie, thanks Slim. George also mentions that Lennie may stay out in the barn and sleep there with the puppy. Lennie is like a little boy. 

While Slim and George talk, Slim comments that Lennie is an amazing worker. George is filled with pride, as a father would be proud hearing that his son did something well.

George spoke proudly. “Jus’ tell Lennie what to do an’ he’ll do it if it don’t take no figuring. He can’t think of nothing to do himself, but he sure can take orders.”

George also gives the story of how he and Lennie met. After the death of Lennie's  aunt, Clara, the two just stuck together. Hence, we see George's paternal side come out again. Towards the end of this conversation, Slim says these words:

“He’s jus’ like a kid, ain’t he?"

George confirms:

“Sure he’s jes’ like a kid. There ain’t no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he’s so strong. I bet he won’t come in here to sleep tonight. He’d sleep right alongside that box in the barn. Well—let ‘im. He ain’t doin’ no harm out there.”

Finally, George defends Lennie, as a friend. He says that Lennie might not be the brightest person, but Lennie is a good man. Here is what George says:

“He’s a nice fella,” said Slim. “Guy don’t need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it jus’ works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain’t hardly ever a nice fella.”

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. 

There's plenty of quotes that emphasize Lennie and George's unique, conflicting relationship. I can help you identify and talk about some of them.

Guys like us got no fambly. They make a little stake an' then they blow it in. They ain't got nobody in the worl' that gives a hoot in hell about 'em —

Those are George’s words. They come near the end of the novel, prompted by Lennie. Lennie interrupts George with, “But not us.” The quote shows the deep connection between the two. It also shows how their connection contrasts with other people in their predicament. Other people are lonely and alienated. They don’t have meaningful relationships. Yet George and Lennie mean something to one another. They do give “a hoot in hell” about each other’s welfare.

Le’s do it now. Le’s get that place now.

This time, it’s Lennie who’s speaking. He’s asking George to, once again, remind him of the land they’ll buy and all of the animals that they’ll care for on that land. You could argue that the quote highlights the rather contrary nature of this moment in their relationship. George does really care about Lennie, but he is also about to Kill Lennie. Before he kills him, he acts as if it won’t be long before their dream of owning land comes true. George is tricking Lennie, but it seems to be for a kind reason. He seems to be lulling Lennie into a comfortable mindset so that he won't die scared but instead die happy. If George didn’t kill Lennie, he will likely be killed far more cruelly by Curley. You might say George’s deep concern for Lennie is what leads him to take his life.

I was only foolin’, George. I don’t want no ketchup. I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me.

This, too, is Lennie. It comes at the start of the book. As you might remember, the book begins with Lennie aching from some ketchup to go along with his beans. George is quite annoyed and yells at Lennie about the ketchup (and some other issues). After that, Lennie walks back his demand for ketchup. You could argue this quote shows the power dynamic of their relationship. Lennie doesn’t want to bother George. He wants to please George and be agreeable to him. It’s almost as if Lennie is like a child and George is like a parent. George is the one with the power. He's the grownup.

Lennie, for God’s sakes don’t drink so much. . . . You gonna be sick like you was last night.

In the quote above, very early in the novel, George shows his caretaking role in Lennie's life. Even when it comes to something as simple as drinking water, Lennie depends on George to help him show restraint.

Look, Lennie! This here ain’t no setup. I’m scared. You gonna have trouble with that Curley guy. I seen that kind before.

Curley is small and wants to demonstrate his manhood against the much larger Lennie. George reveals his honesty in telling Lennie he is scared, showing they have a close relationship and that George doesn't have to fear that Lennie will think less of him for revealing vulnerability. This is a striking contrast to the way he verbally spars with Curley and won't give ground. George again exhibits his caretaking ability in this quote in warning Lennie to steer clear of Curley, who is the ranch owner's son as well as a difficult personality.

What you supposin’ for? Ain’t nobody goin’ to suppose no hurt to George.

Lennie says this in a threatening way to Crooks. Crooks has just teased him, a bit cruelly, about the possibility that the absent George is injured or in trouble. Lennie shows he is equally protective toward George as George is toward him, though Lennie presents this in a more physical way. The large, strong Lennie is more than willing to fight anyone he feels threatens his closest friend.

Just before Lennie and George go into meet Curley for the first time, George tells Lennie in no uncertain terms to let him do the talking:

Now, look- I'll give him the
work tickets, but you ain't gonna say a word. You jus' stand there and don't say nothing.

George spends most of the play either speaking for Lennie or defending him to others. An obvious example is the repeated dream of living in a house together and raising rabbits (Act I, Scene 1). George defends Lennie's strength and work habits to the Boss (Act I, Scene 2), and then warns Candy about Lennie's strength and how he may react to a fight with Curly (Act I, Scene 2). George later calls Lennie "a nuisance," but then tells Slim that "he's like a kid. There ain't no more harm in him than a kid neither..." (Act II, Scene 1). He defends Lennie until the end, when he himself must put an end to Lennie's string of strength-related calamities.

You might want to focus on the opening chapter and consider how the characters are presented and what that says about their relationship. From the very start, it is clear that George is in a position of power over Lennie, and as the story develops, we discover more precisely of what that position of power entails and about their relationship. Consider, for example, how George is described as leading the way into the clearing, with Lennie walking behind. It is clear that George is the leader.

Then think of what George says to Lennie when Lennie starts drinking water from the pool:

"Lennie!" he said sharply. "Lennie, for God's sakes don't drink so much." Lennie continued to snort into the pool. The small man leaned over and shook him by the shoulder. "Lennie. You gonna be sick like you was last night."

Note the way that Lennie is presented here, as we see him "snorting into the water like a horse." He is clearly unable to know what is good and what is not good for him, and lacks both restraint and sense. It is George's job to look after him and to make sure he doesn't hurt himself, like he has already done from drinking too much the night before. George is clearly the carer of Lennie, because Lennie is not able to look after himself.

George's extreme final action toward Lennie shows his deep love for his mentally challenged friend. Rather than let Lennie be shot by Curley or abused by law enforcement he kills Lennie himself. George felt he had no choice and that it was the best thing to do for his friend. The sentiment is echoed by Slim who tells George he had no choice.

George often treats Lennie like a parent would treat an unruly child. And it's difficult not to see the affection he has for Lennie. In chapter one he apologizes to Lennie for getting angry and not letting him have the mouse. He tells Lennie about the dream and how Lennie will get to take care of the rabbits. The fact Lennie is part of the plan shows that George cares for the big man. George says,

“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.” 

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.

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.

George and Lennie are described in the opening paragraphs of the first chapter. Both men are dressed in denim pants and coats. They both are wearing black hats and carrying blanket roles (like a rolled up sleeping bag). They are similar in dress but opposite in physical appearance. George's physical description matches his mental persona. He is small, quick, and defined. 

The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose. 

George's "restless eyes" reflect two aspects of his personality. One aspect is that George is always looking out for Lennie. George must constantly be aware of what is going on. The other thing is that George is physically and mentally restless. Being a wandering rancher, he is always on the move. But he keeps trying to save money in order to get out of this lifestyle. 

Lennie's physical description matches his personality as well. He is large but undefined, like an animal: 

. . . a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. 

In John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, the two protagonists George and Lennie travel together through Depression-era America, seeking work and the attainment of their American Dream. 

What is particularly interesting is the fact that George and Lennie are not brothers nor are they lovers. The reason this is a surprising fact is that their relationship is not an easy one. Lennie is intellectually disabled (ID), and as a result, consistently struggles to maintain normalcy in his environment. George is responsible for Lennie, but this is a difficult task. However, the fraternity between the friends is demonstrated throughout the novella as George remains loyal to his best friend, ensures his safety, and supports the dream they have together of owning a rabbit farm.

The reasons for which George originally decides to care for Lennie are never made explicitly clear, but they are alluded to. There was apparently an Aunt Clara to whom George promised to care for Lennie. 

Occasionally, George tells Lennie that he would be better off alone and that Lennie is holding him back. "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl." However, George stays with Lennie because he feels obligated to look after him, because he knows that Lennie needs him, and because the life of an itinerant rancher is a lonely one. It's better to have someone than to be alone. 

When their new boss questions them, George lies and says Lennie was kicked by a horse. He does this to stop the interrogation. But George seems to trust Slim almost immediately. When Slim asks if they travel together, George replies that he and Lennie "kinda look after each other." 

In Chapter 3, Slim notes that it is odd that George and Lennie travel together. He says this because most workers live alone, traveling from job to job. Slim says, "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." This shows what a lonely life a traveling ranch hand can be. This is one of the reasons George and Lennie stay together: to avoid being alone. 

George opens up to Slim here and tells him how he came to look after Lennie. 

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. 

It is likely that George feels obligated to watch Lennie, perhaps from some promise he may have made to Aunt Clara. But he also grows accustomed to having Lennie around and George realizes that Lennie would be lost without him. 

During their conversation in the first chapter, both Lennie and George make it obvious why they are different. Lennie urges George to speak about them and George states that ranch workers, which they are, "are the loneliest guys in the world". They have no family and don't belong anywhere. Such men come to work on a ranch, earn an income and then spend it all in town and are soon back on a different ranch working their butts off because they do not have anything to look forward to. This suggests that their lives are purposeless and without meaning.

He then states that he and Lennie, however, are different. They have a future and somebody to talk with and who cares about them. He says that they do not need to sit in a bar and spend all their money just because they have nowhere to go. He emphasizes the lost nature of the other ranch hands by stating that if they should land up in prison no one would care about them. They might just rot away in jail. It is not the same with him and Lennie for they have each other. They care about one another and if anything happens to the other, he can rely on his partner for help. Lennie affirms this by saying:

"... Because... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why."

The discussion of their unique situation becomes a refrain throughout the novel. The two men find comfort in the fact that, unlike other migrant workers, they both have someone to rely on and they are family. The "future" that George alludes to is that he and Lennie are planning to put together a stake and then buy ten acres of land. This is their ultimate goal. As Lennie repeatedly states, they will live "offa the fatta the lan'" once they have acquired their piece of real estate. Unlike the other men, they are working towards something. They have a plan and they know where they are going to.

The two are clearly excited about their future. it is obvious that they are serious about achieving their goal for George is not even prepared to spend too much money in town when he decides to hang out with the boys at Susy's place. He states that he and Lennie are "rolling up" a stake. Their ideal so invigorates and excites the two men that Candy, the swamper, eavesdrops into their conversation and becomes drawn in by their dream. George is at first reticent about letting him in, but once Candy convinces them that he has money available that can make the dream become a reality sooner, he becomes their partner.

George becomes lyrical when he realizes that their goal is within their grasp. Realizing this ultimate dream would show how truly different they actually are. They would not have to rely on anybody but themselves and would be able to make decisions about whom they befriend or reject and determine their own destinies. The dream is an invigorating inspiration to the three men.

In an unfortunate and ironic twist of fate, the dream is destroyed when Lennie becomes involved in a situation with Curley's wife in the barn and accidentally kills her. George, in the end, out of love and compassion for his dearest friend and companion, kills him before Curley and his men get to him. He spares Lennie the indignity of Curley's vengeance and malice.

George and Lennie are like the other men in every way, except in one very significant way. They are friends. In Steinbeck's book, one of the most significant and tragic points is that there are no friendships.  This is why Slim is so surprised that George and Lennie travel together. Here is what Slim says:

“Ain’t many guys travel around together,” he mused. “I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”

Hence, George and Lennie's friendship is what sets them apart, and the men know this. Listen to what George says to Lennie, who listens in agreement. 

Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys 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.

Even at the end of the book, George is a faithful friend.  We might not agree with what he did, but what motivated George's decision is his love for Lennie.  George believed that that men would harm Lennie and kill him in a far worse manner than if he shot him.  So, George's loyalty to Lennie made him take his life. 

I think that the most dominant difference between George and Lennie from their other workers is that they do look out for one another.  In a setting where there is so much in way of individuality and a sense of isolation, it is evident to everyone that George and Lennie are different in that they work for one another, are loyal to one another, and represent what solidarity looks like in a setting where it is absent.  Nearly every character in the novel remarks on how George and Lennie are different because they look out for one another.  This is something that is evident throughout the narrative and makes them fundamentally different than the others who are on the ranch.  While George might want to do what the other guys do, he also recognizes clearly that he has a responsibility to Lennie.  While Lennie might want to play with his pup or other animals, he understands that he must always do what George demands.  In this, both of them are different from the others on the farm because they are able to clearly identify what makes them different is their friendship and loyalty, something that is demonstrated all the way to the end of the work.

An introduction in an essay contains the following:

• A "motivator," or "hook" that captures the reader's interest. This can be a relevant observation, a quotation, or a catchy turn of phrase.
• Thesis statement - This contains the main idea of the essay. it is composed of the statement and a "blueprint."
• "Blueprint" - This is a short list of the main points that you are about to propose in the essay. There will be three points, one for each topic sentences.
• Central paragraphs - Each central paragraph supports the thesis. Much like a one-paragraph essay, there is in each paragraph the topic sentence that is supported with details from the novella and examples that are quoted.
• Conclusion - This contains the reworded topic sentence which recalls the main ideas that have been supported.
• "Clincher" - This is a final sentence or two that finishes the essay and provokes an extended thought.

_________________________________________________________

[Motivator] Having witnessed so many displaced men during the Depression, men who were alone and disenfranchised, John Steinbeck became convinced that a fraternity of men would provide them much needed companionship and a strength not possible in their aloneness and alienation. Steinbeck himself wrote that the child-like Lennie was not to represent insanity, but the inarticulate and powerful yearning of all men.

[Thesis Statement] George Milton and Lennie Small unite in a friendship (1) that fortifies them both against others and (2) gives meaning to their lives as well as (3) the hope of a better life.

[Blueprint] 
(1) Find examples of how George and Lennie's friendship protects them. For instance, George directs Lennie not to drink from the pool so he will not become ill, telling Lennie not to drink too fast. etc. George keeps Lennie from hurting others, but tells Lennie to fight back against Curley. ...."because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why." George protects Lennie from life in prison by shooting him.

(2) George and Lennie have each other with whom they can talk; as Crooks says, with someone else, a man has someone by whom he can measure himself. They share a dream of owning a ranch; they have someone to look out for each other. Together they save for a ranch. (Find passages that support with examples and details. Remember that the separateness of men is a dominate theme, so think how George and Lennie together fight this separateness.)

(3) The dream of owning a little farm allows the friends hope; it also provides the men with a reason to work and save in their dream of a better life. When Candy and Crooks want to come in, the dream seems even more possible.

Lennie is simply George's close friend and is not related to him in any way. When George and Lennie meet the boss of the ranch for the first time, George lies to him by saying that Lennie is his cousin. George is aware that the boss would not understand his unique friendship with Lennie and finds it easier to tell him that Lennie is his cousin. Later on, George explains to Slim that he was childhood friends with Lennie and mentions that they both grew up in Auburn together. George also mentions that he made a promise to Lennie's Aunt Clara that he would take care of him when she passed away. After Aunt Clara died, George kept his promise and has been Lennie's friend and guardian ever since. Overall, George and Lennie are close family friends who grew up together in Auburn and have been traveling the country looking for work together ever since Aunt Clara passed away. George acts as Lennie's guardian and protector while Lennie acts as George's loyal companion.

The two main characters in Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, are George Milton and Lennie Small. It's a common assumption by readers that George and Lennie are cousins, but they are, in fact, not related at all. 

Lennie grew up being cared for by his Aunt Clara. George also knew Clara, and, prior to her death, agreed to take care of Lennie after she was deceased. 

The confusion likely arises from the lie George tells their potential boss at the ranch in chapter 2: "He's my... cousin. I told his old lady I'd take care of him."

Later, though, in the same chapter, Steinbeck uses George to clarify that they are not related. Lennie says,

"You said I was your cousin, George."

And George replies,

"Well, that was a lie. An' I'm damn glad it was. If I was a relative of yours I'd shoot myself." 

It can be very tempting to believe that George and Lennie are related because of the care and love they show for one another throughout the novel. Though they would certainly be considered "family," they are not related. 

During a conversation with Slim, George Milton explains to him how he became friends with Lennie Small and began traveling the country with Lennie in search of work. George mentions that he and Lennie both grew up in Auburn, Alabama and George knew Lennie's Aunt Clara. Aunt Clara was Lennie's guardian, who took Lennie in as a baby and raised him. After Aunt Clara passed away, Lennie began following and working with George wherever he went. George tells Slim that they got used to being around each other and remained close friends ever since. George proceeds to explain to Slim how he used to play tricks on Lennie until they didn't amuse him any longer. Fortunately, George and Lennie's friendship continued to grow, and the two became virtually inseparable.

George and Lennie met as a result of George originally meeting and getting to know Lennie's Aunt Clara. She was the woman who devoted a part of her life to rearing Lennie. Upon her death, George Milton became the guardian of Lennie, as his protector, as Lennie is of limited mental acuity.

Lennie’s full name in this novel by writer John Steinbeck is Lennie Small, the last name a literary device that is indicative of how the world sees Lennie as concerns his mental ability, but not how they see him physically, as he is of great strength.

George, through knowing Lennie’s Aunt Clara, came to know Lennie and agreed to take on the responsibility of caring for Lennie upon her death. Lennie and George have been friends since childhood. Later in life, this leads to George and Lennie traversing California in search of better job (and overall life) prospects. They dream of living peacefully and working off the land together – a quiet, humble life that is not to be for Lennie, and ultimately, maybe not even George when all is said and done in his life.

One can surmise from the text that George and Lennie, the two main characters in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, have been friends since childhood and that they began traveling together since the death of Lennie's Aunt Clara.

There are a few passages which lead to this conclusion. In chapter one George makes reference to Aunt Clara after Lennie retrieves the dead mouse George has taken away from him. Lennie, because of his mental disability, can't remember who first gave him mice to pet. George says,

“Lady, huh? Don’t even remember who that lady was. That was your own Aunt Clara. An’ she stopped givin’ ‘em to ya. You always killed ‘em.” 

George and Lennie have known one another since boyhood. George tells people that they are cousins, but it is not true—it is just a simpler explanation than the real story. In reality, they grew up together in Auburn. Lennie’s Aunt Clara took Lennie in when he was a baby and raised him. George knew Aunt Clara and therefore has known Lennie since he was young.

After Aunt Clara died, George became a guardian of sorts to Lennie, and Lennie just began to accompany George wherever he went. As George says to Slim,

When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin'. Got kinda used to each other after a little while.

George feels a sense of responsibility for his friend because he is the nearest thing to family that Lennie has after Aunt Clara's death. Moreover, George also deeply regrets that when they were younger, he used to taunt Lennie the way other people did. Now, he understands that it was wrong to treat him that way, as Lennie is innocent and well-meaning. George now genuinely cares for Lennie, and the two have become inseparable.

After the incident in Weed that forces both men to flee town, George takes precautions and comes up with a plan in the event things go similarly awry at their new job. George and Lennie make a pact that if anything happens, Lennie is to go hide in the brush and wait for George. George makes Lennie repeat the instructions so that he is sure that Lennie will follow them:

"Well, look Lennie—if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done be fore, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush."

"Hide in the brush," said Lennie slowly.

"Hide in the brush till I come for you. Can you remember that?"

"Sure I can, George. Hide in the brush till you come."

After Lennie kills Curley’s wife and runs away, he does exactly what George told him to do. This is how George knows where Lennie will be hiding and is able to find him before the other men do.

Of Mice and Men opens with George and Lennie drinking from a shore. Steinbeck opens the story with a physical description of the land which is the Central Valley of California:

'A few miles south of Soledad,' the Salinas river winds through an idyllic scene of yellow sands, golden foothills, and deer that come to the shore to drink at night. It is in this setting that we first meet Steinbeck's two protagonists, George Milton and Lennie Small.

Gearge is Lennie's keeper. Lennie is mentally challenged and when his aunt dies, George begins to take care of Lennie. George is "small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features."

Lennie is "his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders." They have just come from the town of Weed where Lennie had gotten into some sort of trouble. Weed is in Northern California. Because of Lennie's trouble, they are forced to flee south.

George and Lennie arrive a ranch to begin working. They are temporarily working, saving money before buying their own farm:

George repeats, at Lennie's request, the story of how they are someday going to get out of the lonely life of itinerant farm laborers and buy a piece of land where they can live by working their own small farm together.

Now, they are at a ranch in the Salinas Valley in California where they will be working to make their dream come true. This is happening during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Lennie and George are friends, but because of Lennie's mental handicap, George does primarily take on a caretaker role with him. Evidence of George's caretaking can be found througout the novella. One example would be George's careful coaching of Lennie before they arrive at the ranch:

Now, look—I’ll give him the work tickets, but you ain’t gonna say a word. You jus’ stand there and don’t say nothing.

George also carries Lennie's "work card" to make sure it won't get lost.

At the ranch, George is sufficiently unnerved by Curley that he again coaches Lennie on how to behave. He tells Lennie that Curley is the type of person who will make trouble for him, and then get him "canned" or fired because he is the boss's son. George tells Lennie:

Look, Lennie. You try to keep away from him, will you? Don’t never speak to him. If he comes in here you move clear to the other side of the room.

George promises Lennie to ask Slim for one his puppies. George also takes care of Lennie by telling him over and over the story of what life will be like when they own their own farm.

At the end of the book, George takes on a very sad caretaking function when he shoots Lennie to save him from Curley's vengeance.

The main way Steinbeck portrays friendship is through the relationship between Lennie and George. Lennie is mentally handicapped and relies on George to guide and take care of him as they travel from job to job as migrant workers. Yet they are united by a true bond of friendship and care deeply about one another.

This friendship differentiates them from most of the other men they meet as ranch workers. As George says to Lennie, migrant workers are the loneliest of people. But he and Lennie have each other. George states:

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.

As they enter the new ranch, they meet with men who are lonely and isolated because of their work and inability to put down roots. The other men express a great longing to be part of George and Lennie's dream of owning a small farm, because then they too could have a sense of community and belonging.

One of the tragedies of George having to kill Lennie is how the loss of his friend will impact him: he will be as lonely and hopeless about the future as the other men he meets on the road.

While George and Lennie are extremely lucky to have the close friendship they do as long as they do, Steinbeck's larger point is that one cruelty of capitalism is the way the endless tramp from job to job and an uncertain future robs people of commonplace joys of friendship and a stable home life.

In Chapter Four, Steinbeck gives Crooks a thorough introduction, particularly in describing Crooks himself and his living quarters. Since Crooks is black, he is forced to live apart from the other white workers; clearly, racism was a part of this culture and era. Crooks lives/sleeps in a shed attached to the barn. Crooks was also excluded from other things at the ranch. While the rest of the workers are in town, Crooks stays behind claiming he isn't wanted. Having become accustomed to being excluded, Crooks has become a loner himself as if to accept his isolation or to have some control over it.

This room was swept and fairly neat, for Crooks was a proud, aloof man. He kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs. 

It is fitting then that Steinbeck gives Crooks his own introduction, thereby presenting him as he is in the novel: somewhat isolated from the others. 

Crooks has a back ailment, a crooked spine, and he has to rub ointment on it every night. He must deal with being a social outcast in addition to dealing with a physical ailment. Crooks is one who suffers yet perseveres. And being that he is often isolated, he suffers alone, seemingly with no hope. 

So it is unlike Crooks to allow Lennie (and then Candy) into his bunk. And although Crooks initially criticizes Lennie and the dream of owning a farm, Crooks eventually opens up a little bit. Even Crooks, in his solitude has not lost all hope of having a better life. When Candy and Lennie talk more about the farm, Crooks reluctantly offers to help: 

He hesitated. ". . . If you . . . guys would want a hand to work for nothing--just his keep, why I'd come an' lend a hand. I ain't so crippled I can't work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to." 

Unfortunately, Curley's wife interrupts this moment and after she threatens Crooks, he retreats back to his original demeanor and attitude of being aloof and keeping his distance. 

It is fitting that in this chapter, Crooks is befriended by Lennie and Candy. Lennie is a social outcast because he is socially awkward. In his innocence and mental disability, he often gets into trouble, often violent trouble on account of not understanding his own strength. Candy is the aging ranch hand, fearful that he will be too old to work (in the eyes of others) and therefore he feels like a potential outcast (being fired) in the future. All three are treated as different, "other," or unwanted in some way. Crooks is black, Candy is old, and Lennie is mentally challenged. And yet they come together in a fitting place, Crooks' isolated bunk, to discuss one last dream. 

Curley's wife interrupts talk of this dream, but her presence is somewhat fitting as well. She later reveals to Lennie that she had dreams herself but married Curley and now finds herself stuck at a ranch with nothing to do but flirt and talk with the other ranchers. 

The chapter ends with Crooks rubbing ointment on his back and this symbolizes his reluctant acceptance of his role as the isolated, ailing worker on the ranch. It is more melancholy knowing that Crooks had at least entertained the idea and hope of following George, Lennie, and Candy to a better life on a new farm, a place where he would probably not be persecuted the way he is in his current situation. 

The way in which George has to always look out for Lennie is one way in which Steinbeck is able to present the unequal relationship between both men.

Throughout the course of the novel, Lennie is George's responsibility.  As a result, he exerts a great deal of power in the relationship between them.  It is his duty to be the "brains" of the operation.  At different points in the narrative, George must come up with the plans for both men.  In almost every chapter, there are moments when the success of their unequal relationship is dependent on George telling Lennie what to do.  

In Chapter 1, George reminds Lennie not to speak when they are interacting with people on the ranch. George's power is continued in Chapter 2 when he has to reprimand Lennie for ogling at Curley's wife because he knows what happened in Weed. 

In Chapter 3, George's power is displayed when he controls Lennie's opportunity to fight with Curley, instructing him when to lay off and when to attack.  In Chapter 4, Lennie shows some independence in approaching Crooks, but George's power is evident when he orders him to leave Crooks's room.  The climax of the novel is the result of what George realizes he must do to save Lennie. 

While the situations might change, George's power over Lennie is constant throughout the narrative.  Through such a consistent exertion of control, Steinbeck is able to show the unequal nature of the relationship between George and Lennie.

The friendship between George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men is more like the relationship between family members. There are occasional times when the two seem like brothers or cousins, but most of the time, George seems like the parent to Lennie. He protects and instructs Lennie. For instance, when the two are making their trek to find work, they are thirsty and come upon a body of water. Lennie immediately drinks because he is thirsty. George, however, instructs Lennie that this is not a wise thing to do. He says,

Tastes all right. ... Don't really seem to be running, though. You never oughta drink water when it ain't running, Lennie. ... You'd drink out of a gutter if you was thirsty.

Further on, George asks Lennie if he has remembered his work card and bus ticket. Lennie’s hand clutches at his coat pocket, but he realizes that he does not have his card and ticket. In response, George says,

I got both of 'em here. Think I'd let you carry your own work card?

George also usually speaks for Lennie when others are present. This is because Lennie is fearful of outsiders and gets confused. For instance, when the two men apply for work, the boss asks where they have been working. George answers that they had been working “up around Weed.” The manager asks if that applies to Lennie, as well. Before Lennie even has a chance to respond, George answers. When the boss says that Lennie “ain’t much of a talker," George boasts,

No, he ain't, but he's sure a hell of a good worker. Strong as a bull.

Far from resenting George for his parental stance and authority, Lennie is happy and comforted by it. He smiles when George focuses on him and he looks to George for protection. In the scene with the boss after George boasts about Lennie’s strength, Lennie smiles to himself and repeats "strong as a bull" in his childlike manner.

That Lennie looks to George for protection is somewhat ironic, as Lennie is a large man who possesses great strength, which is an element of the move towards the climax of the book.

George was not always as nice to Lennie as he is now. However, as he grew to understand Lennie, he realizes that he needs to take care of him because Lennie would not really be able to survive on his own. When the boss asks George why he stays with Lennie, George responds,

“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."

George said, "He's my ... cousin. I told his old lady I'd take care of him. He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He's awright. Just ain't bright. But he can do anything you tell him."

George Milton and Lennie Small have a unique friendship and travel throughout the western United States together looking for work. Unlike the majority of migrant workers, who travel alone, George and Lennie stick together, and their comradery makes their difficult, unpredictable lives significantly easier. They get along most of the time and provide each other with much-needed social interaction and moral support.

George and Lennie grew up together in Auburn, Alabama, and George promised Lennie's Aunt Clara that he would look after him when she passed away. Since Lennie is intellectually disabled, George assumes the role of his guardian and protector. In turn, Lennie's comradery and friendship help George endure his difficult life as a migrant worker. Both George and Lennie also share the same dream, which is to live together on their own estate, where they plan to "live off the fatta lan'." George values independence, and Lennie simply wants to raise and pet fluffy rabbits. Although Lennie continually frustrates George and keeps them in hot water, George remains loyal to him and tries his best to protect Lennie at all costs. Tragically, George is forced to kill Lennie out of mercy at the end of the story to prevent Curley's lynch mob from torturing him.

John Steinbeck wanted to write about the plight of California farm workers. He also had an opportunity to write a play on the subject to be produced in New York. Book and play both came out in 1937 and made Steinbeck famous.

Steinbeck called Of Mice and Men “a playable novel,” that is, a novel that read like a stage play and could be converted very easily because it emphasized dialogue and action while minimizing authorial input, such as exposition, commentary, transition, and summation. Steinbeck ran into many plotting problems--but problems are often opportunities in disguise. Because the story was to read like a play, and converted into a play, Steinbeck needed, not one, but two main characters who would convey their bitterness, problems, worries and dreams in conversation.

So Steinbeck needed two bindlestiffs motivated by the dream of escaping from wage slavery. He knew this could sound a bit kinky. Normally it is a man and a woman who want to own a farm and raise a family. Family farms were still the paradigm all across America. But Steinbeck could not have a female bindlestiff who hopped freight trains, slept in bunkhouses, and did back-breaking field labor from sunup to sundown. It would not be impossible to have a man and woman bumming around together looking for work, but it would not be representative of the reality Steinbeck knew.

Both Steinbeck and his character George Milton sound apologetic and defensive about the relationship between George and Lennie. In Chapter Three the subject is brought out into the open.

Slim moved back slightly so the light was not on his face. “Funny how you an’ him string along together.”

“What’s funny about it?” George demanded defensively.

George answers “defensively” because he has been questioned and kidded about this before. He explains how he promised Aunt Clara to look after Lennie and how the two got used to traveling around together. But this explanation is intended for the reader. It is typical of the way Steinbeck handles exposition in his “playable novel,” because this is how exposition will have to be handled in the play.

Earlier the boss also shows suspicion of the relationship between George and Lennie.

The boss deliberately put the little book in his pocket. He hooked his thumbs in his belt and squinted one eye nearly closed. “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.”

Steinbeck realized that if two normal men started living together on their own farm, many people would think they were gay. So he considered making one leading character handicapped and in need of care. But if one was physically handicapped, that would detract from a realistic picture of itinerant farm laborers. It was okay for two buddies to bum around together looking for work, but it was not okay—at least in the 1930’s--for them to set up housekeeping on their own little spread. It occurred to Steinbeck that one of them could be mentally handicapped—and this inspiration led to the creation of Lennie Small, who turned out to be the most interesting character in the book, the play, and the two film adaptations.

If one man was mentally handicapped, the other would have to explain everything to him and in some cases explain several times. Thus all kinds of information could be conveyed through dialogue. Steinbeck was one of the best dialogue writers of his time, often compared with Hemingway. Steinbeck’s dialogue writing can be appreciated in Of Mice and Men but even more in his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath. Most of what we know about George and Lennie we learn from what they say to each other. Lennie had to be mentally handicapped to explain why two men dream of having a farm together, and he had to be exceptionally big and strong to explain how he could be a farm worker at all.

Steinbeck saw that two characters who were friends but quite different would give his story a uniqueness without detracting from its realism. George would be a little talkative guy with a sharp mind, while Lennie would be a big inarticulate guy with exceptional physical strength to compensate for his weak brain. George would tell Lennie what to do, and Lennie would provide protection in the tough world of hungry, homeless men riding the rails and sleeping in hobo jungles.

In the first few paragraphs, the narrator describes the physical characteristics of George and Lennie. These physical traits are similar to their personalities. Therefore, Lennie and George are opposites in physical stature, demeanor, and in terms of their personalities. 

The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose. Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. 

As they begin to converse, it becomes quickly apparent that George is the leader of the duo and Lennie is the follower. In fact, their relationship is quite similar to a parent-child relationship with George, of course, being the parent. Lennie lets his mind wander, often to the dream of having a farm and the rabbits. George shares this dream but his mind is always conscious of his environment. When Lennie is daydreaming about the rabbits, George is thinking about the next job and how to keep Lennie in line. In times of crisis or confrontation, Lennie panics and George keeps his head. They are opposites in almost every way except for the fact that they are both good people who look out for each other. 

I think that Slim serves as a priest- like character for George.  The manner in which Steinbeck describes Slim is laudatory, something that allows the reader to see Slim the same way that George sees him.  Consider these excerpts from Chapter 2, when Slim first enters the narrative:

a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen...killing a fly on the wheeler’s butt with a bull whip without touching the mule... [According to Candy]  'Slim don’t need to wear no high-heeled boots on a grain team'... gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke....His ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought...prince of the ranch... whose authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject.

If this is how the reader sees him, then, by definition, it is also how George sees him.  George recognizes that Slim could help out both he and Lennie.  In a setting where it has only been the two of them for so long, George sees a hopeful alliance in Slim.  It is here where the friendship forms between both men.  George, who has always done the thinking for both he and Lennie, finally recognizes someone who can provide much needed guidance in a setting where friends are few and adversarial threats are abundant.  In the third chapter, we see this need for guidance develop more when George openly "confesses" to Slim what happened in Weed and the exact nature of the relationship between both he and Lennie. Steinbeck uses the idea of a "confessional" in quite a deliberate manner in this chapter because it helps to better understand the relationship between Slim and George.  It only makes sense that when George needs some level of comfort at the end of the novel it comes from Slim reminding him that he "had to do it."  In the end, it is the friendship between George and Slim that provides a fleeting moment of relief or guidance in an emotional world where nothing seems certain.

John Steinbeck never tells his readers the specific ages of George and Lennie. Though both men are likely a similar age since they grew up together, the reader is given the impression throughout the novella that George is perhaps slightly older than Lennie—certainly he is more mature. Due to the physical nature of the work they're seeking, it seems likely that both men are in their twenties or thirties, although in terms of personality and cognitive ability, Lennie is much younger than this.

Lennie, who is often compared to a child, relies on George to take care of him and help him to function in society. Thinking on his feet, George lies to their new boss, telling him that Lennie is his cousin and that his condition is the result of being kicked in the head by a horse when he was a child. George and Lennie's ages matter far less than the roles which they assume, with Lennie being in some ways akin to a child and George often acting as the adult trying to make ends meet. The two share a brotherly relationship, and that George genuinely tries to look out for Lennie's best interests, taking on the role of the older, more responsible member of the pair.

Within the context of the novel, the relationship between our two protagonists is indeed unique. George states in chapter one that, as far as relationships go, he and Lennie share something special. Unlike other ranch hands who come to a ranch, work up a stake, spend their wages, and soon find themselves on another ranch, he and Lennie

"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 is quite proud of what they have and supports George's sentiment by mentioning that

"I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why."

It is this aspect of their relationship that makes the two men different from others. They care for one another and share a dream, which is lacking in the other men. George further proclaims that

"Someday—we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and—"

Lennie excitedly says that they will "live off the fatta the lan'," meaning that they will own property one day and enjoy its produce. They will not be reliant on anyone; they will have achieved independence. Their destiny will be in their hands. Lennie wishes to tend rabbits once they have reached their goal, and George agrees that Lennie will have as many rabbits as he wants.

The two men are proud of their close friendship. George, who is the more intelligent partner, makes all the crucial decisions and decides where they should work. Lennie is a mighty hunk of a man and can do the work of many men. The two have arguments now and again when George expresses his frustration about Lennie always getting them into trouble. This happens because of Lennie's intellectual limitations and his inability to understand and control his strength.

In spite of these disagreements, it is apparent that the two men care deeply about one another. George has made a promise to Lennie's aunt Clara that he will look after him, and he has done that with aplomb. At the end of the novel, he, for example, takes the ultimate step in securing Lennie's dignity and safety by shooting him before Curley and his men get to him. George realizes that they would torture Lennie before finally killing him. His desperate act indicates the depth of his love and care for Lennie.

It is ironic that the two men's dream is shattered by Lennie's unfortunate inability to control his strength, for it is his power that George uses as a selling tool whenever they arrive at a new ranch. Further irony lies in the fact that after Lennie's death, George finds himself in the same position as all the other ranch hands: his dream is in ruins, and he is without a confidante.

Steinbeck gave George and Lennie many contrasting characteristics in order to make it easy for the reader to visualize them and tell them apart.  Their contrasting physical and psychological traits are pointed out by the uneducated but very intelligent character called Slim.

"It jus' seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart little guy like you travelin' together."

George is a smart little guy. Lennie is a powerful giant but mentally incompetent. Lennie has to depend on George to tell him what to do, but he resents some of the orders he gets, especially regarding his interest in petting little animals. As a result, Lennie has developed a tendency to tell lies. He probably doesn't know the difference between lies and truth. Both men share a dream of owning their own small farm. Even Lennie is smart enough to realize that it is a dog's life working from sun-up to sundown, sleeping on a straw mattress, gobbling down cheap, ill-prepared food before it is all gone, and having nothing to show for years of toil but a broken and worn-out body like those of Candy and Crooks.

George feels that Lennie is a burden. At the same time, however, he realizes he is getting something out of the relationship. Being able to share dreams and secrets with another person has a humanizing effect on both of them.

"I ain't got no people," George said. "I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time."

Most of the men feel instinctively that they are competing for their very existence. Being loners makes them mean. George and Lennie are different because they cooperate. They are real friends. Steinbeck believed that the world would be a better place if only people would cooperate instead of competing and fighting.

Both Curley and Carlson are examples of men who see the world as a place in which it is every man for himself. Curley is always looking for a fight. Carlson is not pugnacious, but he is the only one of the bindlestiffs who owns a gun. No doubt he feels that he needs it, living the kind of life he does. He sleeps in the open and travels on freight trains with desperate men who would cut his throat in his sleep if they thought he had anything in his pockets worth taking.

George is a "little guy." He must be well aware of the fact that having a powerful friend like Lennie is an advantage in his world. George is afraid he might have to fight Curley himself.

"Ya know, Lennie, I'm scared I'm gonna tangle with that bastard myself. I hate his guts."

This is a situation in which George does not have to get into a fight which he would probably lose. He and Curley are the same size, but Curley is a semi-professional boxer. Candy tells George:

"Curley's pretty handy. He done quite a bit in the ring. He's a lightweight, and he's handy."

But Curley makes the mistake of picking on Lennie instead of George and gets his hand so badly mangled that he will never fight again. This incident demonstrates one of the benefits George derives from having Lennie as friend and companion. They have a symbiotic relationship. George provides the brains and Lennie provides the brawn. Lennie could never have his own farm without George, but George could never have his own farm without Lennie.

George and Lennie are both hard-working, peace-loving men just trying to survive in a hostile world ruled by greed, fear, and the never-ending battle for survival.

Lennie and George are alike in depending on each other for friendship and companionship. They are also alike in needing work; both are forced into migrant labor as the only way to make a living during the Great Depression. This leads them to dream of the stability of owning their own farm. Finally, they are alike in being fundamentally kind and decent people trying to survive in a cold and harsh world.

Many passages in the novella show Lennie and George depending on each other. An important one is as follows:

He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. They ain't got nothing to look ahead to."

Lennie was delighted. "That's it- that's it. Now tell how it is with us."

George went on. "With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. ..."

Lennie and George are forced to wander from job to job, but also often dream of owning a farm. This common dream joins them in a common purpose of saving their money and creating something better to look forward to. George describes the farm they desire as follows, emphasizing the contrast of their imagined lives to their real existences:

We'd jus' live there. We'd belong there. There wouldn't be no more runnin' round the country and gettin' fed by a Jap cook. No, sir, we'd have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunkhouse.

After they meet Curley, the owner's son, at the ranch where they have begun to work, George is worried about Curley's meanness. Both he and Lennie are upset by it, because they live in a different way and don't want trouble:

"Look, Lennie! This here ain't no setup. I'm scared. You gonna have trouble with that Curley guy. I 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 the first chance he gets."

Lennie's eyes were frightened. "I don't want no trouble," he said plaintively. "Don't let him sock me, George."

George got up and went over to Lennie's bunk and sat down on it. "I hate that kinda bastard," he said. "I seen plenty of 'em. Like the old guy says, Curley don't take no chances. He always wins."

In the end, however, both men, alike in being decent and downtrodden, are unable to prevail against the cruelties of the world they have been thrust into. Even their common goal does not save them. George finally shoots Lennie to save him from a worse fate.

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.

Slim is described as a “big tall skinner” and is an important person on the ranch. He seems to be fairly impressive to Curley’s wife, and there are even rumors of an affair.  The whole ranch looks up to him and respects him.

Slim does flirt with Curley’s wife, but not in a serious way.  He seems to be on to her games.  He is talented and well-respected.  Physically, he is tall and has long, black hair and an ageless face. He moves “with a majesty achieved only by royalty and master craftsmen” and “his authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love” (ch 2).  In addition, he is very intelligent.

His ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought. His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer. (ch 2)

Slim is philosophical, and immediately takes an interest in George and Lennie.

Slim looked through George and beyond him. “Ain’t many guys travel around together,” he mused. “I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” (ch 3)

Slim is practical, intelligent, and dignified.  George and Lennie see him as an ally right away, especially in their combat with Curley.  George trusts him enough to confide in him and tell him some of their story.  He also assists them when Lennie does get into trouble with Curley, and later with his wife.

In the story, the Dust Bowl migration draws attention to the suffering that afflicted the working-classes during the Great Depression. George and Lennie's poverty-stricken and nomadic lifestyle is the direct result of the economic devastation caused by the dust storms. Additionally, the migrant experience highlights the powerlessness of men like George and Lennie during a period of extensive economic upheaval. 

During the Dust Bowl exodus, almost 2.5 million people left the Plains states. Many of these people were migrant men in search of farm work, and most of these men ended up in California. In fact, Of Mice and Men begins with George and Lennie traveling to a California ranch for work. The migrant life was a lonely one, and George draws attention to this when he tells Lennie: "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. They don't belong no place..."

Additionally, many migrant men were housed in dilapidated shanties, huts, and makeshift barns. Living conditions were atrocious, and George and Lennie's experience bears this out. In Chapter Two, the men are received by Candy and Curley in the bunkhouse. Although the walls are whitewashed, and there are windows on the walls, the bunkhouse isn't an especially sanitary place. When George picks up a yellow can, he exclaims with dismay that it says, "positively kills lice, roaches, and other scourges." He demands to know what sort of beds he and Lennie will be sleeping on. Candy tries to reassure George, but the latter is initially skeptical that he won't get lice from the sleeping arrangements.

During the Great Depression, migrant workers earned meager wages and had few rights. When California farm owners struggled with falling production and higher taxes during the Great Depression, they simply paid their migrant workers less. Wages fell from 35 cents an hour in 1928 to only about 14 cents an hour in 1933. In Chapter Three, we get an idea of how little migrant workers earn when we listen in on the conversation between George, Lennie, and Candy. During the discussion, George mentions that, if he and Lennie don't spend their earnings, they will have a hundred dollars between them at the end of a month's work. All three men decide to pool their earnings in order to buy their own farm and land.

From the above examples , we can see that migrants had few channels to pursue their rights when it came to their wages and living conditions. They often lived at the mercy of ranch owners. The plight of migrants is further highlighted at the end of the story when George performs a mercy killing in order to spare Lennie a lynching. Today, Lennie would likely receive legal counsel and help for his predicament, but during the Great Depression, migrants had few rights. Lennie's death and George's subsequent grief highlights the brutality of migrant life.

George's sense of duty to Lennie, and to Lennie's Aunt Clara, is the biggest reason that the two men travel around together. George grew up with Lennie, so there's an emotional connection to home, as well as his brotherly bond, that keeps him watching out for Lennie. George tells Slim that he used to play jokes on Lennie when they were younger. As George matured, he realized that Lennie not only didn't understand when he was being bullied, but he also thanked George for helping him with the jokes. That made George think that maybe he should stop being a problem for Lennie and start being the solution.

Then, when Aunt Clara died, Lennie didn't have anyone else and George says, "Lennie just come along with me out workin'. Got kinda used to each other after a little while" (40). Add all of these reasons to the fact that Lennie could not take care of himself if he were alone and George is stuck; but at least he cares for Lennie, too. Finally, George admits to Slim that life can get lonely as a transient worker and having someone to talk to helps keep the loneliness to a minimum. George also admits the following:

"I ain't got no people. . . I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time" (41).

Thus, George keeps a look out for Lennie because of his sense of duty, kindness, and to keep the loneliness of their life from making them mean.

Several factors keep George and Lennie together, including the loneliness both feel as laborers who wander from job to job. Further, Lennie, being mentally handicapped, could not survive without George's protection, and George derives a sense of meaning and purpose from taking care of Lennie. They both understand the strength provided by that companionship. As Lennie puts it, they will succeed because

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

But the main glue binding them together is their shared dream of saving enough money to buy a small farm. The farm will allow them to settle in one spot and put down roots, offer them freedom and dignity, and allow them to be economically independent rather than working for wages. Steinbeck emphasizes the importance of the dream by having Lennie ask George to repeat it over and over. Against the harsh reality of their laboring lives, it provides an idealized counterpart. Both men derive comfort from imagining this better future. The details of the dream can change in the telling but the basics remain the same: 

 [Lennie]  laughed delightedly. “Go on now, George!” “You got it by heart. You can do it yourself.” “No, you. I forget some a’ the things. Tell about how it’s gonna be.” “O.K. Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and—” “An’ live off the fatta the lan’,” Lennie shouted. “An’ have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it."

The shared dream sustains the two men with its hope of a better future. 

One of the most powerful elements in Steinbeck's novella centers on the idea that shared subjective experiences can provide solidarity between people. For example, part of what causes Crooks the most amount of pain is that he is isolated as a person of color, incapable of forging these shared experiences with anyone.  For Lennie and George, the shared experience of hope is what binds them.  This hope is what drives the belief that after a certain point, Lennie and George will be able to "get out" of the life of living as bindle stiffs, moving from ranch to ranch.  This is the hope that drives both of them.  George's hope is that he can own something and be his own boss, while Lennie's hope is to "take care of the rabbits."  It is this collective hope that binds them to one another.  From the opening chapter all the way through, this vision is what allows both of them to remain in belief of the other.  Even at the end, when George has to kill Lennie, this vision of hope becomes more poignant when iti becomes Lennie's last vision.

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. 

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.

This is a good question, because what the book underlines from the beginning is the fact that they are different. One is big, the other is small. One is quick, the other slow. When it comes to similarities, two points stand out.

First, both Lennie and George are committed to each other. This is probably the most important similarity. They are the only ones in the book that show true friendship. This is why one of the refrains in the book is that they have each other. Here is a quote:

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.” He laughed delightedly. “Go on now, George!”

Second, they both also have the courage to dream. Surprisingly, there are no dreams in the book. In a world of brokenness, people do not dare to dream. Crooks says it best when he states that he has seen dreams come to nothing. This is not so with Lennie and George. They have a dream to get land and live off the fat of it. In fact, this dream drives them in many ways.

"O.K. Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and— "An’ live off the fatta the lan’,” Lennie shouted. “An’ have rabbits.

In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are peas in a pod, two sides of the same coin, too sides of a man's brain.  They are foils of each other: one big, one small; one naive, the other experienced; one a child, the other a parent.  To use Freud's terms, George is the Superego (the social, moral side), Lennie is the Id (the hidden desire side).  As such, they are inseparable.

Both have a strong work ethic, are good workers (though Lennie is better), and are believers in the American dream.  George defines them in the first person plural: "we" and "us."  They are team; their dreams are shared:

"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys 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." Chapter 1, pp. 13-14

Both George and Lennie were single men who worked on ranches and had need of companionship. Each had a limitation in life, one's limitation just happened to actually be the other. They both appear to have a dream of a better life, although their definition of such might be different. 

I would look in chapter one for a quote that demonstrates they have a friend in each other. There's one that sounds like this, "Cause I got you," and "I got you." These words might be in italics in your book. They would be near the idea of their dream to live off the fatta the land. 

In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are described as polar opposites to show how unusual people can be drawn together when they share the same struggles or even the same dreams.

The novel is set in the Great Depression (which began with the Stock Market Crash in 1929). While the story is set in Salinas, California, the Depression spread over the entire country, and people moved around, as go George and Lennie do, to find work (though we learn, too, that George and Lennie also move because of Lennie's inappropriate social behavior).

While Lennie is tall and strong physically, he is like a child mentally. George, on the other hand, is smaller in stature, but he is smart and clever. One seems to complement the other. We learn that George promised Lennie's aunt that he would look out for Lennie, and while it is sometimes a responsibility that wears on him, he does care about Lennie, as we will see at the story's end.

There is some irony in the contrast between the two men. When they first are introduced in the story, one man is following the other. We might think that the taller man would lead and the smaller man would follow, but this is not the case. In truth, the smaller man may not have the physical power that the larger man does, but the smaller man is more powerful with regard to his intellect and survival instincts. Even as they are described, George's features are dark, sharp and accentuated—with a quick step—while Lennie is presented as having "pale eyes" and "a shapeless face," and a heavy, dragging stride.

They had walked in single file down the path, and even in the open one stayed behind the other….The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features…Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little...

George has even shared his dream of making enough money to one day own his own piece of land, with Lennie; Lennie dreams of caring for the rabbits they will have. In including Lennie in his plan, George extends no only a hand of friendship, but treats Lennie like a part of his own family. While others on the ranch find it odd that the two men travel together, since many people who do not travel as a family (in this time period are alone—which supports the theme of isolation in the book), George and Lennie are connected, which stands out.

The Depression has affected the entire country and has fragmented families and friendships, neighborhoods and businesses. However, there are some, like George and Lennie, who fight this fragmentation by joining together. And where differences might separate some people, here they seem to link these diametrically opposed men in terms of personality, stature and intelligence.

One irony about the conflicting relationship of George and Lenny is the fact that George knows that he would be better off without the burden of caring for the mentally diminished Lenny:

If I was alone, I could live so easy.  I could get a job an'work, an' no trouble...and when the end of the month comes, I could take my 50 bucks and go into town and get whatever I want.

However, he also understands Steinbeck's theme of the community of man that helps men measure the world. When asked why he travels with Lenny, George tells Slim,

I aint got no people.  I seen the guys that go around on ranches alone.  They ain't no good.  They don't have no fun.  After a long time they get mean...wantin' to fight.....'Course Lennie's...a nuisance most of the time, but you get used to going around with a guy an' you can't get rid of him. 

In addition, the childlike Lenny--albeit the cause of their troubles--is the reason that George can keep alive the dream of having a ranch and happiness, a dream that protects them from a pedatory world.  Once Lenny dies, George knows that the dream, too, is dead. Using an old cliche, George "can't live with him, but he can't live without him," either.

The characters of George Milton and Lennie Small are about as different as night and day. Steinbeck goes to great length to create very different personas for the two men, even making the two different physically. George is described as being small and quick, while Lennie Small is, ironically, a giant of a man. George is also quick-thinking and crafty; Lennie is mentally challenged.

Considering all this, conflict between the two characters is inevitable. George has promised Lennie's Aunt Clara that he will look out for Lennie, and he makes a sincere effort to do so. The combination of Lennie's enormous strength and his diminished intellect, however, leads to much trouble. George is continually rescuing Lennie from the consequences of his actions until at last, Lennie does something so egregious that George knows he cannot protect his friend any longer. When Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife, the conflict reaches a climax which must be resolved. To spare Lennie from the mob, George kills his friend.

I would add as well that, in the story, the symbiotic relationship of George and Lennie also suffered the sad incidents caused by Lennie that directly led to them a) having to change what "their dream" was- having enough money to lead an independent life,  and b) giving it up when George ended up shooting Lennie to avoid the lynching that was coming to him for accidentally killing Curley's wife.

The conflict in this case is the many ways that George tried so hard to include Lennie in his dreams, basically b/c he had not much of a choice but to take care of him due to his condition as a dependent, and potentially retarded man. This, contrasts with the fact that because he is "stuck" with Lennie he has to suffer the consequences of Lennie's incapabilities, and this led ultimately to the end of it all. It was a no-win situation.

On this, George says:

"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" (p 11-12).

On losing the dream, George says:

"I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we'd never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would" (p 103).

The conflict between George and Lennie arises because George has been taking care or Lennie and looking after him for most of their adult lives.  At this point in George's life he truely wishes that he could rid himself of Lennie and lead his own life, however George would never tell Lennie this nor would he purposely try to get rid of him.  It was a childhood prank that made Lennie the way that he is and because of this, George feels obligated to take care of Lennie as best as he can.  But, at this point, George is becoming overly frustrated at everything that happens and wishes that he could live his own life, without the worry and hassle of Lennie always being so needy and right by his side.  This is why there is a conflict between these two characters.

George has power over Lennie in the sense that, unlike Lennie, he doesn't have any learning difficulties or disabilities. One could argue, then, that George's power derives from privilege. That doesn't mean, however, that George lords it over Lennie or that he dominates or controls him in any way because for George, with power comes responsibility. George is determined to ensure that he uses his power responsibly to protect Lennie, in keeping with the promise he made to Lennie's Aunt Clara.

At the same time, Lennie uses his enormous physical power to protect George. In the tough world of itinerant farm-workers, this is an important power to have. However, it doesn't in any way alter the fundamental dynamic at the heart of George and Lennie's relationship, for unlike George, Lennie has little understanding of what it means to exercise power responsibly. The problem for Lennie is that he just doesn't know his own strength, and this keeps him in a position of subordination with regards to George.

It's notable that, even in the dream life they envisage together, it's George who gets to run the ranch while Lennie takes care of the rabbits. So even if their dreams came true, the fundamental power imbalance between the two men would remain.

The element of power of George and Lennie is one of reparation and genuine friendship. Reparation stems from George's side of the relationship because when they were younger he "beat the hell out of him" (Steinbeck 40). Lennie contributes genuine friendship. Upon hearing even the slightest rumor of George being in danger, Lennie demands that "nobody is going to suppose hurt to George" (Steinbeck 72). So in the power of George and Lennie, George clings to Lennie in a way to escape his past wrongdoings, and Lennie stands by George as a genuine friend whose loyalty will never falter.

While it is difficult to certain about George and Lennie's relationship in the first chapter of Of Mice and Men, the reader later realizes that theirs is, indeed, a true friendship.  However, if the response is to based solely upon the narrative of only the first chapter, indications are only that George feels some obligation to care for Lennie, and he gives this care somewhat begrudgingly.  Thus, the relationship seems similar to an older brother having to take care of a little brother:

'...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.  Why, I could stay in a cat house all night.  I could eat any place I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of...An whatta I got,...I got you!...You keep me in hot water all the time.'

But, after this tirade which sounds much like an older brother's complaints, George's anger leaves him suddenly; he looks at the fire "ashamedly."  And, when Lennie asks if George wants him to go away, George asks, "Where the hell could you go?"  Then, when Lennie's feelings are hurt, George tells him,

'I want you to stay with me, Lenie. Jesus Christ, somebody'd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself.  No you stay with me.  Your Aunt Clara wouldn't like you  running off by yourself, even if she is dead.'

Clearly, George is irritated with Lennie, but like an older brother he may not like Lennie, but he feels an obligation toward him since he has promised Lennie's aunt he would look out for her nephew, and since Lennie's child-like nature makes his fond of the man.  This child-like nature also gives George something:  the dream.  With Lennie, as an older brother can, George can still believe in the unbelievable.  And this dream of owning a ranch of their own is what motivates George to keep working.  Lennie gives George a reason to live.

So, when Lennie says he can go away if George wants him to, George tells him to be quiet.  George needs Lennie to talk to, to share their dream. Their relationship is both one of obligation and of a begrudging friendship, as George, with Lennie,  has something to hold onto to give his life meaning.

Chapter 1 seems to support the conclusion that George feels obligated to take care of Lennie because we have him acting as a father figure by:

• organizing how they will eat
• ordering Lennie to complete the chore of bringing wood
• holding Lennie accountable to get rid of the dead mouse, and
• demonstrating how much of a leech Lennie is: "If I didn't have you, I could get a girl..."

However, as you move through the book, you will find that George is a character with a hard exterior and a soft interior. He loves Lennie dearly. Based on your question, I am not sure if you want to know more than what is going on in chapter 1.

If you want to take the other side from chapter 1, I believe their banter back and forth about being "fambly" and "livin' of the fatta the lan'" demonstrates their commitment and friendship to each other. Look for the "Cause I got you!" and "I got you."

George and Lennie have a unique relationship and travel the country as migrant workers, looking for manual labor jobs during the Great Depression. Typically, migrant workers travel alone and must endure the difficulties of life by themselves. Fortunately, George and Lennie have each other, and their companionship is a significant aspect of their transient lifestyle. Even though Lennie benefits more from George being his guardian, role model, and caretaker, George relies on Lennie's comradery and friendship to keep him company, and his presence enables George to exercise much-needed socialization. On the ranch, characters like Crooks and Candy reveal the difficulties of constant loneliness, which contrasts greatly with George and Lennie's unique situation.

In addition to providing the social aspect of George's life, Lennie also helps George come closer to his dream of purchasing his own homestead. Alone, George would have no chance of saving up enough money to purchase an estate, but Lennie's income contributes to the dream. George had promised Lennie's aunt Clara that he would look after him when she passed away, and George follows through with his promise. George not only makes all the decisions for Lennie and speaks on his behalf, but he also tries his best to keep Lennie out of trouble and is a constant source of support. Overall, the two friends share a unique relationship and their camaraderie and friendship help them survive in a challenging, dangerous environment.

George takes care of Lennie who is mentally handicapped, although physically very strong, a big bear of a man.  George depends on Lennie for his companionship, even though George complains about having to take care of Lennie, he really needs him emotionally.

The two share a friendship that is more like a brothers relationship than that between strangers.  Lennie, because of his immense strength and his lack of an adult's mental capacity to understand his own strength, is capable of killing with his bare hands.  He doesn't mean to do this, but the simple, child-like Lennie can't resist petting soft things.

George looks after Lennie time and again when he gets into trouble.  The two run away from jobs where Lennie has done damage with his super strength.  George feels compelled to take care of Lennie, having promised his aunt that he would do so.

In the course of the story, we learn that Lennie and George share a secret dream of owning their own farm someday.  This story, like a child's bedtime story, soothes Lennie, and George uses it to control Lennie's behavior to a certain extent.  He constantly reminds him not to misbehave.

But unfortunately, Lennie does not spend every minute with George.  He cannot control the man's behavior all the time. In the end, Lennie's actions lead to a tragic death.  Sadly, George feels that the only way to take care of his giant friend, before others can punish him, is to kill him. 

In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses Lennie's and George's relationship to convey ideas about America in the 1930s. George and Lennie were migrant agricultural workers on a California ranch. Lennie and George have to struggle to survive. They share a dream of owning their own farm someday. The dream of owning their own farm and farmhouse keeps them going in the hard times of the Great Depression. With the Great Depression of the 1930s, America was facing difficulties. Wages were low. Combines were replacing men. George and Lennie were fortunate when they found work. George and Lennie dream of "how they are someday going to get out of the lonely life of itinerant farm laborers and buy a piece of land where they can live by working their own small farm together."

Truly, life was lonely for the migrant agricultural workers. Fortunately, George and Lennie had each other to keep one another company. However, with their companionship, there were problems. Lennie was mentally challenged, and he kept George frustrated much of the time.

Lennie was a big man with the mentality of a child. Lennie in his child-like innocence never meant to harm anyone. Because of Lennie's tendency to get in trouble, George and Lennie were often on the run. They only dreamed of settling down one day and farming their own farm.

Of Mice and Men tells the story of two simple men who try to escape homelessness, economic poverty, and emotional and psychological corruption. Otherwise, the fate of those who do not abandon the lives they lead as itinerant workers is bleak and dehumanizing.

By the end of the story, Lennie has caused major problems. He accidentally kills Curley's wife. Because George would rather see Lennie dead than to hang at the hands of Curley, George shoots Lennie in the back of the head. Ironically, George is sharing his dream of having his own farm with Lennie as he is about to shoot Lennie. Lennie dies dreaming of a better life. In the 1930s, dreaming was all that a man had. Unfortunately, some dreams never came true. George gave up on his dream when he had to shoot his best friend Lennie. Life continued to be a lonely existence for George. 

George and Lennie actually have very little in common other than their experiences and background.  Lennie's emotional and mental limitations also limit the kind of relationship the two characters can have with each other.

For one, they are both farmhands, migrant workers who go from ranch to ranch and work jobs such as "buckin' barley".  In this way, they are both fairly simple, without a lot of ambition.

Another thing they have in common is their own shared history.  They don't know the rest of the ranch hands, they only know each other, and the things they have been through since Lennie's Aunt Clara died.

Third, they are both generally good people, Lennie because he knows no differently, George because he's been raised that way.

Fourth, they seem to need each other, that is, they are the only real family each other has, and so they protect each other, Lennie needs George to look after him, and George needs to look after Lennie. 

Lastly, they share a dream, a little place where they can "live off the fat of the land", and no one could "can" them.  Lennie, of course, gets to "tend dem rabbits".

George and Lennie's friendship is unique and special because they are close companions, traveling the country looking for employment as migrant workers. The majority of migrant workers are lonely individuals and do not have close relationships with other people. Most migrant workers live isolated lives and struggle to make ends meet on their own. In contrast, George and Lennie enjoy their close friendship and rely on each other for company and protection. While George makes the decisions and is considered the leader, Lennie provides George with much-needed company and amusement. Their contrasting personalities and abilities also balance their relationship. While George is smarter and more intelligent, Lennie is physically gifted and can lift more weight than most men combined. Lennie is also somebody whom George can trust. Both George and Lennie understand that each has the other's best interests in mind, and they both provide each other with hope for a better future. George and Lennie also continually discuss their dream of one day owning their own homestead, which allows them to briefly escape their harsh realities.

Lennie and George are co-dependent. Lennie is mentally-disabled and needs George to help him and look after him. George needs to feel special and important, which he achieves by being Lennie's guardian. Their dream is created together and is the product of their relationship. The negative/dependent aspects of their relationship create a desire in them for freedom (for George - his own place where he is the boss/ for Lennie - his own rabbits that he can pet whenever he wants).

George and Lennie have a special bond that, unfortunately , is viewed with suspicion by others.

 "Ain't many guys travel around together … I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other"

Lennie's poor skills and his overwhelming panic ultimately cause the death of Curley's wife and still George feels responsible for him. Lennie, mentally challenged and not aware of his own strength; also having a need to touch everything, has already killed, amongst other small animals, a puppy by being too rough. This foreshadows events to follow.

George took responsibility for Lennie a long time ago, after a promise to Aunt Clara, as Lennie is compromised in social situations and does not know how to behave. His actions are often misintepreted and George, as Lennie's caretaker, has had to get Lennie out of difficult situations before.

Lennie is childlike and often described in association with animals. As with animals, he is unpredictable and completely unaware that his strength can cause harm.

George takes his responsibility for Lennie very seriously and without him, George

is friendless and alone.

 The friendship keeps the dream alive of having their own farm and Lennie is instrumental in keeping that dream going throughout the story. George needs this relationship as much as Lennie depends on it.  

It does sometimes consume George and his anger is evident - "I been mean, ain't I?" - but he makes, what he sees as the ultimate sacrifice, when he feels that the only way to protect Lennie from himself ,as well as from the Law, is to kill him.

In the book, George is a small man who is very quick and defined.  Everything about is is sharp and strong.  By contrast, Lennie is big and shapeless.  He walks heavily where George is quick.

To me, this says a lot about their characters.  George is sharp and strong and aggressive.  He is the one who has a plan, who is always controlling things and moving forward.  By contrast, Lennie lets other people shape him.  He reacts to what George is doing (and what others do) rather than acting for himself.

In this way, Steinbeck really uses the two mens' physiques as metaphors for what they are like personally.

George is loyal to Lennie in many different ways, even though it is he who, ultimately, is faced with the sad choice of ending Lennie's life for his (Lennie's) own good.

George is fully aware of how he and Lennie have some sort of cosmic connection based on their ongoing loneliness. Basically, they are all that each other has. Yet, a lot of value is placed upon this mutual dependence. This is what primarily motivates George to always be protective of Lennie. The following passage illustrates the extent to which George is true and loyal to Lennie, regardless of their differences, or of the fact that they are not related.

Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world...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.

 Not only does George fulfill an old promise to watch out for Lennie;  he also ensures that Lennie does not allow his clumsiness and inherently-limited intellect to get him into trouble. It is clear that George not always succeeds at saving Lennie, after all, they are in Soledad precisely because of Lennie's troubles in their previous place. Yet, the burden that Lennie may represent is not bad enough for George to continue carrying it, becoming ever-more responsible for Lennie.

George also comforts and motivates Lennie in their everyday talks. Even when he treats Lennie in a way that, to the average person, may seem cruel, he still finds the time to speak of their dream of owning a farm together, of tending Lennie's much wanted rabbits, and to "life off the fat of the land".

When George shoots Lennie at the end of the novel, the reader understands that this choice would have still saved Lennie from a much more cruel and violent death at the hands of Curley and his lynch mob. George is loyal even then. In shock, he turns around and sees his dream dissipating with the death of Lennie. The fact that the reader is never told the fate of George might also be indicative of the fact that George and Lennie are meant to be a dyad; they were simply born to live- and perhaps even die, together.

The opening pages of the novella offer a description of George and Lennie. Even though this description is physical, it does show what their personalities and characters are like. Let me give the quote and then make some observations.

The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose. Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely.

George is quick, sharp, and strong. He is the one who thinks, makes decisions, and charts a path for the future. He is also the one with the dream and the plan to get there. On the other hand, Lennie is a massive man, and that is pretty much it. He is not decisive, quick-witted, or agile in any way. He simply exists. 

We can also say that George is wise in the ways of the world. He knows how things work and reads people well. Lennie, on the other hand, does not know any of these things. He is just a child. This comes out in many ways, such as his love for animals and his innocence. Here is what George says to Slim:

“Sure he’s jes’ like a kid. There ain’t no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he’s so strong. I bet he won’t come in here to sleep tonight. He’d sleep right alongside that box in the barn. Well—let ‘im. He ain’t doin’ no harm out there.”

George tells Slim that he used to tease Lennie a lot.

Used to play jokes on ‘im ‘cause he was too dumb to take care of ‘imself. But he was too dumb even to know he had a joke played on him.

George says he even beat him up.

I’ve beat the hell outa him, and he coulda bust every bone in my body jus’ with his han’s, but he never lifted a finger against me.

George says he’s given all that up. Once he told Lennie to jump in a river. He couldn’t swim, and Lennie and other men were barely able to save him. George felt badly about nearly killing Lennie, and he felt sheepish because Lennie was so grateful for be saved.

Since then, they have become quite dependent on each other. Lennie is physically dependent, as he probably couldn’t survive on his own. But he also is completely dependent emotionally. The mere thought of leaving George causes Lennie to panic.

George often complains that Lennie is a nuisance and keeps him from having a good life. However, it becomes clear that George cares deeply for Lennie and depends on his companionship. Lennie's work capacity is also a source of money and pride for George. We learn near the end that Lennie’s desire for rabbits kept George’s own dream alive.

As for who was listening, the old man Candy listened to them talking in the bunk house. His desire to join them and contribute his savings made the dream actually seem to be within reach. Crooks, the black stable hand, also hears Lennie and Candy speak of their plans.

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.  

George and Lennie have a unique friendship, which dramatically affects both of their lifestyles. George is portrayed as Lennie's caretaker and gives him valuable advice that allows Lennie to survive on the various farms they work on. George also calms Lennie down when he is upset by repeating their fantasy of one day owning their own homestead. Despite George's sympathy and compassion for Lennie, his lifestyle is greatly affected by Lennie's presence. George lacks independence and must constantly watch over his friend. Lennie also gets George into numerous altercations and puts his friend in danger by accidentally committing serious crimes. George is forced to flee for his life while working in Weed and attempts to distance himself after Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife.

Lennie's lifestyle is also affected by George's friendship. While Lennie gains a protector and a person to guide him through life, he is also subjected to George's derogatory remarks and disrespectful comments, which makes him sad. Despite both of their flaws, George and Lennie cherish their camaraderie and companionship as migrant workers attempting to survive the Depression together.

One way in which Lennie's and George's relationship affects their lifestyle is that they live for one another.  It is clear that both men recognize that their relationship is the basis of how they live their lives.  For example, when Lennie gets into trouble in Weed, both men must go into hiding.  When Lennie is hunted down by Curley's lynch mob, both men have to act accordingly. In these instances, it is clear that their relationship affects their lifestyle.  They cannot live comfortably when the other one is in danger.  

Another way their relationship affects their lifestyle is in their continual reliance on one another.  This aspect of their relationship becomes an embedded part of their lives.  It can be seen in their refrain to one another that "Guys like us" are different than others because they are present for each other.  It can also be evident in how they are able to tell others that both of them "go around with one another." This is something received with surprise by people like Slim and Curley.  Their relationship affects their lifestyle because the image they project to other people is fundamentally different than what others have seen.  In a world where independent despondency permeates all aspects of being, the relationship that Lennie and George share and the lifestyle that goes with it is fundamentally different than what others see and understand.

George tells the boss that Lennie is his cousin, and tells Curley that they travel together.

The boss is suspicious of the relationship between Geroge and Lennie, because George speaks for Lennie.  He wants to know if Lennie is incapable of talking or working, or if George is stealing his pay.  He doesn’t know why anyone would “take so much trouble for another guy.”  He wants to know why George protects Lennie.

George said, "He's my... cousin. I told his old lady I'd take care of him. He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He's awright. Just ain't bright. But he can do anything you tell him." (ch 2)

The boss finally decides that you don’t have to have brains to work on a ranch, and lets it go.  The men are not so lucky with the boss’s son, Curley.  George knows immediately that he’s a troublemaker, and will try to pick a fight on a man Lennie’s size to prove he is tough.

Curley is annoyed when Lennie doesn’t respond to him, and says he needs to talk when spoken to.  George gets protective.

"We travel together," said George coldly.

"Oh, so it's that way."

George was tense, and motionless. "Yeah, it's that way." (Ch 2)

George knows that most men won't understand why he and Lennie travel together, or the symbiotic relationship they have.  George needs Lennie as much as Lennie needs George, because he needs companionship and someone to protect, just as much as Lennie neeeds someone to protect him.  In the dog eat dog world of the migrant, this is an unusual situation.

When George romanticizes about their dream ranch, he contrasts Lennie and his relationship with "other guys:"

Guys like us ain't got no families.  They [other guys] get a little stake and they blow it.  They ain't got nobody in the world that gives a hoot in hell about 'em!

Later,

We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.  We just don't sit in no barroom blowin' in our jack, just because we ain't got no place to go.  If them other guys gets in jail, they can rot for all anybody gives a damn.

George, in particular, sets Lennie and himself apart from moral and work ethic perspectives.  First, George points out that most migrant workers travel alone.  They are like solitary predators (like Carlson--who shoots Candy's dog), with little moral conviction.  They squander their money, have no home, and do not look for companionship.

Second, he believes that he and Lennie, although not blood relation, are a family.  They stick together no matter what.  This is especially evident given that Lennie's mental weakness makes him reliant on George.  Other guys would steal Lennie's pay (even the Boss suspects this of George.)

Third, George and Lennie share a dream.  They are saving their money for a patch of land and a ranch so they can retire from tramping.  When Candy comes along and contributes another third, their dream is within reach.

Assuming that you are asking for evidence showing that George and Lennie's friendship is "true", here are three determining factors. 

1) George is loyal to Lennie

Regardless of how angry George gets with Lennie, or how much heat he gives him everyday, George is determined to keep Lennie by his side until the end. Notice that George has spend his entire life next to Lennie. While the men knew one another since childhood, the only solid evidence in the story that shows a reason why George decided to become Lennie's keeper is that the latter's aunt died, and George decided to take care of him. 

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."

This is a demonstration of true loyalty. Sure, George has his days when he even acknowledges being mean to Lennie. However, he always calms down and, even when he kills Lennie out of mercy, he is clear in telling him that he is not mad at him. 

2) Their friendship has withstood obstacles

George has every excuse to run away from Lennie. What can Lennie do? Chase after him? Hardly. Tell his aunt? Impossible. Therefore, what has stopped George from running away every time he and Lennie get into trouble? We know that the two men have had issues with the law before. Most of these issues are caused by Lennie, whose size and body strength are inversely proportional to his cognitive skills.

Therefore, Lennie often ends up doing things that are as inappropriate as they are downright wrong. In the town of Weed, for example, he touched a girl's dress in a way that made the girl think that he was going to rape her. Lennie has also been known by George to accidentally kill animals and other things, inadvertently. Still, fights and all, the two have remained together and did stay together until Lennie's death. 

3. They have made plans for the future

The previous two examples show evidence from the past and the present. Lennie and George have come a long way since childhood and, at the start of the novel, continue to be together against all odds. One more evidence about the true nature of their friendship is the fact that they plan together.

Their plan, which eventually is shared with Candy and Crooks, is to "live off the fat of the land", that is, to get a farm, tend to it, and reap its benefits. They do keep this dream alive throughout the novel, and right until Lennie's death. The American Dream is shared by these two men, and they do not falter; they continue to dream and, in this dream, they also remain together. 

Therefore, the true nature of the friendship of Lennie and George is based on the fact that they share a history and plan to establish a future together as well. They find strength in their unity, and they will continue to stay together until they can no longer be. 

It can seem that George and Lennie have a tense relationship. They quarrel a lot. George gets angry and impatient with Lennie and even says he sorry he has to take care of him. Lennie spends time worrying about upsetting George and is also crafty about manipulating him.

But beneath all that, these two are very close friends who care deeply about each other and value the relationship they have. They are dependent on each other and share the common dream of owning a farm.

Further, Lennie, being mentally handicapped, can't make it without George's guidance. And for all his complaints, George has a deep need to be needed. He wants to care for Lennie, even if it sometimes makes him crazy, and he likes to be the top dog. Also, he knows how lonely he would be without Lennie. As George says, he and Lennie aren't like the other migrant workers, tramping by themselves from place to place:

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.

We also learn that the relationship goes way back. The two were born in the same town, and George knew Lennie's aunt. They may be wandering rootless, but they come from the background and this helps bond them together:

"It ain't so funny, him an' 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."

Early in "Of Mice and Men" the reader perceives that the role of George is not simply friend, but of an older brother to Lennie.  George patronizes Lennie, but in a caring way.  He teaches Lennie their slogan:  "But not us! an' why?  because...I got you to look after me, and you go me to look after you, and that's why"  They are going to "live off the fatta the lan'...an' have rabbits..." and a vegetable patch.  George plans for the future  include Lennie.

If Lennie gets into trouble, George instructs him,"Get into the brush till I come for you."  When Lennie and George are hired, he cautions Lennie, "keep your big flapper shut...be careful."  He warns Lennie not to speak to Curley:  "Just don't have nothing to do with him.  Will you remember?" George fears for Lennie because before Lennie has caused them to be fired, he has engaged in fights, and broken things.  Yet, like a brother, George tells Lennie that if Curley comes at him, to "let 'im have it."

 George speaks proudly of Lennie, when he is complimented as a good worker, " Jus'tell Lennie what to do an' he'll do it if it dont' ...he sure can take orders." When Slim says that it is odd that they go around together, George demurs, "Got kinda used to each other..."

Right before the "mercy" killing of Lennie, George declares, "I ain't mad.  That's a thing I want ya to know."

George and Lennie are outsiders in that they are not part of American society; they live on the fringes, never really belonging. They have no home, hold no permanent jobs, own nothing except what they can carry with them, and have no friends or families, except for each other. Although they dream an American Dream, they own no piece of it, and despite their most sincere efforts, never will because of social and economic forces beyond their control. George and Lennie represent the migrant class for whom Steinbeck felt great sympathy.

They are outsiders even among their peers. George and Lennie's traveling together sets them apart from the other men they encounter on the road and the ranches where they work. Their friendship seems strange to most observers. However, their society of two provides them with some sense of security and belonging. Lennie lives as an outsider among those who possess normal faculties, but George's loyalty to Lennie and his strong sense of responsibility for Lennie act to give him a place in society, such as it is and for as long as George can make it last. 

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.

This information can be found in the first few pages of the book. Steinbeck takes great care to develop each of their characters so that they are strikingly different, but very able to be friends.

George is short with chiseled features whereas Lennie is tall, big and somewhat less featured. This may be on purpose to illustrate a smarter and not so smart character. Lennie has a mental disability.

Both love each other but express it differently. George can be rather harsh on Lennie in terms of tone of voice, while Lennie can pour on a guilt trip like no other. George presents himself as angry, Lennie looks for sympathy. Both are happy to work toward their goal of having a house together one day. As the book continues, readers get the idea that Lennie believes in this more than George and George may use the idea to illicit good behaviors.

I like to describe George as if he were a dad, and Lennie a kid. Steinbeck paints animal images of Lennie by having his bear paw grab water to drink, and his capacity to think and get excited compares to a dog.

Lennie has superior strength and works as if he were two men.

George and Lennie represent the fraternity of men in a time of great alienation.  Dring the 1930s, so many men traveled in the boxcars of trains to lonely places where they worked lonely jobs with no one that they knew or trusted.  But, George and Lennie are friends and together their lives are more meaningful.  While George looks out for Lennie, Lennie offers George love as well as being the keeper of the dream.  Without Lennie, George has little hope.

George and Lennie are family, even though they are not related. They only have each other. No one else in the world cares about their existence. The two of them are fortunate to have each other. Many of the ranch hands have no one who cares. George will be lost without Lennie. In fact, he tells Candy the dream is over. George no longer dreams. A dream is important if you have someone to share it. Without Lennie, George will have an empty place in his heart.

George is an honorable man who takes his responsibility to Lennie quite seriously, even if he does get frustrated with him at times. The life George and Lenny live is suited to the two of them, but it is a lonely life. Having someone to share a dream with is important when you live this kind of restless, rootless, nomadic life. Their relationship is symbiotic--each of them needs the other. 

Their relationship was in some regards a simple one, yet George found a new phase of his life open up when he found himself the caretaker of Lennie. In many ways, he only did it because he had made a promise, but, over time, he came to do it because he and Lennie needed each other and shared a silent loving respect for each other.

George is like a parent to Lennie - he looks after their work cards, organises their food and job plans. He tries to steer Lennie into behaviour that is acceptable and tries in vain to make his big childlike friend appear to be a competent adult. Lennie is a fast and efficient worker who is happy to work hard with George at his side. Together they make an adequate team.

George (one of the two protagonists in John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men) gives Slim two very specific reasons as to why he and Lennie travel together.

"Sure," said George. "We kinda look after each other." He indicated Lennie with his thumb. "He ain't bright. Hell of a good worker, though. Hell of a nice fella, but he ain't bright. I've knew him for a long time."

Slim looked through George and beyond him. "Ain't many guys travel around together," he mused. "I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other."

"It's a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know," said George.

George, therefore, offers Slim an answer very similar to the one he offers the Curley about why he and Lennie travel together. Curley is accusing George of taking advantage of Lennie. George feels the need to offer a very limited answer though.

"We travel together," said George coldly.

"Oh, so it's that way."

George was tense, and motionless. "Yeah, it's that way."

The story George tells the boss about why they travel together is given because, he (like his son), are questioning the relationship.

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

George said, "He's my... cousin. I told his old lady I'd take care of him. He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He's awright. Just ain't bright. But he can do anything you tell him."

The boss turned half away. "Well, God knows he don't need any brains to buck barley bags.

In chapter one, at Lennie's excited insistence, we learn from George what makes them different from other ranch hands when he tells him:

"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. They ain't got nothing to look ahead to."

George means that ranch hands like themselves are extremely lonely and are migratory. They do not have stability, nor an actual home or family to go to, they are without an anchor. They arrive at ranches and work to earn money and save, but then go to town and waste all their hard-earned cash and are soon  working their tails off on another ranch. They have nothing to look forward to and therefore live aimless lives.

He continues and states how he and Lennie are different:

"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."

The two of them share a companionship and care about each other, unlike the others. The have something to look forward to and do not have to sit in a saloon and waste all their money because they have nowhere else to go. If one of the other men should be arrested and spend time in prison, they might as well die there because there is no one to care about them. But with the two of them it is different, since they have each other.

It is clear from their conversation that George and Lennie have a definite plan. They are going to buy a little house and farm with a few animals and till the land they have obtained. As Lennie puts it, they are going to, 'live off the fatta the lan' .' It is this which anchors the two men and give them hope for the future, unlike all the other ranch hands, who live disparaging, frustrated and depressing lives - a continuous and mundane, almost purposeless, existence.

This is a debatable question, but in my view, George was a good friend to Lennie for two reasons. 

First, George stuck with Lennie.  This counts for something.  Lennie is mentally challenged. It is far easier to take care of yourself.  But George took the harder path by also taking care of another person.  In many ways, Lennie is like a child.  Even when they are on the ranch, George gave it his best effort to take care of Lennie. 

Second, when George found out that Lennie accidentally killed Curley's wife, he knew what he had to do.  He knew that they had to find him before the other men.  The other men would have certainly killed Lennie in a brutal way, as passions were high.  So, when George found Lennie, he gave him a quick death.   But even as he took his life, he left Lennie with their dream.  

We might not agree with what George did, but in George's eyes he did what he thought was best. He was being a good friend. 

To say that George killed Lennie out of friendship would be overly sentimental. Steinbeck was writing a realistic or naturalistic novel and trying to show how such things as George's killing Lennie can and do happen in real life. Lennie has good and bad qualities. George has good and bad qualities. None of these men are noble, and Steinbeck doesn't want to pretend they are. George kills Lennie for a whole variety of reasons, one of which is to save him from being tortured and killed by the pursuing lynch mob. But George is obviously interested in saving himself, both from the lynch mob, who might decide that he was implicated in the death of Curley's wife, as well as from the law, who might arrest him for murdering Lennie. George is also concerned about eliminating a man who is becoming a menace to society, a man who might even be described as a monster.

When the men are organizing to pursue Lennie at the ranch, Curley calls to George:

"You George! You stick with us so we don't think you had nothin' to do with this."

And after George has shot Lennie and the lynch mob has arrived at the scene, Carlson asks:

"Did he have my gun?

"Yeah. He had your gun."

"An' you got it away from him and you took it an' you killed him?"

"Yeah. Tha's how." George's voice was almost a whisper.

There should be no misunderstanding here: George took the gun from under Carlson's mattress with the intention of shooting Lennie. He reached the river ahead of the others because he knew exactly where Lennie would be hiding, having previously instructed him what to do if he got into trouble. George could easily help Lennie escape by wading the shallow river and climbing up into the Gabilan mountains, but he has decided to kill him, partly because he feels personally guilty for the death of Curley's pretty wife.

George lies to save himself from any possible trouble with the law, and he kills Lennie partly to save himself from any trouble with the lynch mob. They are all enraged and thirsting for blood; they could have turned on George just because he was Lennie's buddy. This is realism, reality, real life--and not sentimentality or romanticism. In earlier novels the hero might say something along these lines:

"Yes, I killed him because he was my friend, and I will accept the consequences."

In Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, the hero goes to the guillotine in place of another man, and he says something like:

"It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known."

That is admirable--but hard to swallow. Realism was a reaction against that sort of romanticism. George is not noble but realistic, practical, sensible. He must feel relieved to have gotten rid of a buddy who was not only a burden to him but getting him into all kinds of troubles. In Chapter One he expresses his ongoing frustrations:

"You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out." His voice rose nearly to a shout. "You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time."

Now George can find a wife and buy a little farm and have kids and lead a normal, peaceful life.

The relationship between George and Lennie is complex and due to the finality of George's actions at the end, it raises many moral questions. No-one can dispute that George loves Lennie and feels responsible for him:  

I got you to look after me, and you’ve got me to look after you,

but he is not ultimately responsible for Lennie's actions. It is difficult for modern readers to rationalize because we can only speculate on the conditions in mental institutions of the day - although there are many horrific stories - or what may have happened to Lennie had he been left to Curly's mercy.

However, George is uneducated and his decision-making ability is also questionable so his decision , at best, is misguided. It is not for an individual to judge or make life-changing or life-ending decisions like that. George does not have the foresight and he certainly lacks the confidence to feel that either of them can escape their current circumstances. Due to the harsh environment and upbringing, and the fact that, in their world, people often do not hold a position any more cherished that animals, George does the only thing he thinks possible to "save" his friend.   

George actually needs Lennie as much as Lennie is dependent upon George. In such a brutal environment, caring for Lennie gives meaning to George's life - even if he is unaware of it.

Effectively he ends Lennie's life but also his own!

In Of Mice and Men, George is Lennie's friend, his co-worker, his guardian, his conscience, and his surrogate brother/father.  More, he is his loving mercy killer.  He eases Lennie's pain and suffering after their shared dream has gone awry.  In short, George loves Lennie on more than one level.

Unlike the other migrant workers who travel alone and view the world as a "me" versus society ("Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys..."), George and Lennie travel together, and George uses "we" to describe their relationship.

The Boss and Curley are distrustful of the traveling pair.  The Boss thinks George is stealing Lennie's money, but George says:

I knowed his Aunt Clara. She took him when he was a baby and raised him up.

And George says to Curley:

[George] "We travel together."

[Curley] "Oh, so it's that way."

George was tense and motionless.  "Yeah, it's that way."

Later, when describing the American dream, George defines it as shared and collective, including such lower-classes as the mentally-challenged (Lennie) and the physically-handicapped (Candy).  In this way, George is like ideal America: inclusive, pluralistic, and affirmative.

As this question usually references the conversation between George and Lennie in chapter 1, I will answer the question accordingly. Note, however, that the observations below are true even when referencing other conversations between the two in the rest of the novel.

Below, I'll attempt to show that George and Lennie have a codependent relationship. A codependent relationship is where one person is bonded to another who takes on the role of caretaker and protector. In George and Lennie's relationship, George is the caretaker. Lennie depends on George for protection, emotional support, and direction in life. Like many codependents, Lennie has low self-esteem, and his self-image is dependent on making George happy.

Throughout the novel, Lennie never transitions into a separate, self-determining character. He always looks to George for direction and approval. In chapter 1, Lennie initially refuses to eat the beans George has prepared because there's no ketchup. However, after George voices his frustration, Lennie relents.

"I was only foolin', George. I don't want no ketchup. I wouldn't eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me."

During their conversation, George complains about being burdened by Lennie. His main complaint is that Lennie often takes inappropriate liberties with women, which leads to difficulties for both of them.

"You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time. ..."

"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. All the time somethin' like that."

Lennie, being acutely aware of his own challenges, doesn't argue with George. Despite George's brutal honesty, Lennie doesn't retaliate in words. He only manages to look anguished, which in turn makes George feel remorseful.

George looked quickly and searchingly at him. "I been mean, ain't
I?"

"If you don' want me I can go off in the hills an' find a cave. I can
go away any time."

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

It's quite clear that George feels responsible for Lennie. For his part, Lennie fears conflict with George, so he does everything he can to massage George's ego. To divert his attention from the trouble he gives George, Lennie slyly coaxes George into a retelling of their dream, where they own land and raise rabbits. Each time George protests against telling a story he's told many times before ("You ain't gonna put nothing over on me"), Lennie redirects him.

After the retelling, George gets serious. He asks Lennie how Lennie should act when they meet with the ranch boss the next day. Lennie, of course, dutifully repeats what he's promised to do: remain silent while George does the speaking for both of them. So, from this conversation (and others in the story), we see that George and Lennie have a codependent relationship, with George playing the role of caretaker and Lennie taking on the role of dependent.

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. 

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.

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.

If you use this response in your own work, it must be cited as an expert answer from eNotes. All expert answers on eNotes are indexed by Google and other search engines. Your teacher will easily be able to find this answer if you claim it as your own.

This story is set during the Great Depression (1929-39). It was difficult to find and secure work, so men had to travel or do what they could to get jobs. George and Lennie are migrant workers. This was typical of ranch workers as many of them would have to move to other areas to find jobs. More than often, such workers would usually travel alone. Going alone and having no relationship or familial restrictions and obligations made it easier to move about. There was nothing to tie a man down. It was a lonely life. 

George occasionally complains that Lennie holds him back for these reasons. Going alone, George would be lonely but he would be freer to move to different places. But the friendship they have is what sets them apart from other workers. This outweighs the freedom that George would have on his own.

Lennie delights in hearing about the dream of their own farm but also in hearing about the bond of their friendship. He repeatedly asks George to tell him about these things. Of the friendship and how this makes them different from everyone else, George says: 

Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. The don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake . . . 

George adds that such lonely men having nothing to look forward to. Lennie prods George to go on. George says that he and Lennie are different because they have each other to talk to. Therefore, they don't have to waste all of their money (stake) at a bar with no place to go. Their friendship bonds them together and they use this bond to keep dreaming about the farm. This also sets them apart from the other workers. They have (a dream of) a future. 

George looks out for Lennie, while Lennie provides companionship for George.

Although George and Lennie are not related, they each get something out of the relationship.  George looks out for Lennie, and he likes having someone there for him.  If George didn’t have Lennie, his life would be easier, but it would be lonely.

George complains about how difficult life is for him since he has to take care of Lennie all the time.

"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….” (Ch. 1)

However, despite this speech, George continues to go around with Lennie.  This is because despite the hassles Lennie causes, George would still rather have someone there than not.  George tells Slim it is “a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know.”  Slim is impressed that George and Lennie travel together.

"We kinda look after each other." He indicated Lennie with his thumb. "He ain't bright. Hell of a good worker, though. Hell of a nice fella, but he ain't bright. I've knew him for a long time." (Ch. 2)

Lennie is a hard worker, so George and Lennie can get jobs.  They can keep them too, as long as Lennie behaves himself. Sometimes Lennie gets into trouble without meaning to.  This is another reason why he needs George.  He looks to George for guidance, but when he gets in trouble George gets him out.  

George tells Slim that he used to tease Lennie out of frustration until he realized that Lennie would be loyal to him no matter what.  Lennie may be dumb, but that kind of loyalty means something to George.  He doesn't have the heart to be mean to him.  He yells at him sometimes, but he is never cruel.

Slim is impressed with Geroge and Lennie's relationship because most guys do not travel in pairs.  They look out for themselves and no one else.  They do not stay in one place very long, and it is a lonely and isolated life.  There is no consistency.  Having someone with you gives you something to count on.  Most guys have not found someone they can trust.  George and Lennie have found that.