Of Mice and Men: Brotherhood and the Perfect Male Alliance

           In the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, the two main characters George and Lennie are best friends.  Although much different from each other as Lennie is mentally handicapped, they share a real bond with each other.  As stated many times throughout the book their friendship is different. “If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn.  But not us.  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”.  We all have that desire for the ideal friendship; one with mutual support and encouragement and a sharing of experiences and feelings.   This is one of the reasons that the tragic end of George and Lennie’s friendship has such a profound impact on our human nature as we feel it as the loss of a dream bigger than them.  They held the hope for the reader of a perfect friendship for life.  George and Lennie shared a common dream of owning a farm on which they plan to live out their days together. It is a place and a reality that no one ever reaches and has a somewhat majestic quality.  After only hearing a few sentences of description of their dream, Candy is completely drawn in by the magic.  It’s the American dream to live and feel like brothers and despite seeing many fail around them it is still something that every man in the novel Of Mice and Men strives for.  This is why the men in the novel desire to come together in a way that would allow them to be like brothers to one another: they all want to live with one another’s best interest at heart, to protect each other and to know that someone else will be there to protect them.  Given the harsh and lonely conditions of the day in which these men live, it comes as no surprise that they would place a very high value on the ideal friendship.  However, as the story evolves we see at the conclusion that the world is too harsh and predatory to sustain these relationships.  Lennie and George who have come the closest to achieving this ideal relationship are harshly separated in a tragic ending.  With the tragedy a very rare friendship vanishes.

By Lindsay MacLean