Of Mice and Men
Why did George and Lennie travel together?
George and Lennie travel together for lots of reasons. One of the first reasons is their personalities. George is a stubborn father like figure and Lennie is the manipulating child. Lennie needs to be looked after because if George wasn’t there to get him out of trouble he would probably be dead by now. But then if Lennie wasn’t there for George, George would be very lonely. Lennie can get into lots of trouble, that’s the reason they left Weed. Lennie likes to touch things and felt this little girl’s dress that was in front of him to feel the material. The little girl turned around and started screaming. Lennie, being the overgrown child that he is, froze and couldn’t let go. The only way he let go was when George hit him. They had to hide for days in the irrigation systems because the town all thought Lennie had raped the little girl.
Another reason why they travel together is their lifestyle. Both of them want the same dream, a house in the middle of nowhere with a farm and animals, basically them being their own bosses and seeing the crops from beginning to end. They both like and want the same things so they might as well stick together.
George, in the first chapter treats Lennie like his son. An example of this is when Lennie asked George where they were going and George bursts out with “So you forgot already, did you? I gotta tell you again do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy b*stard.” Lennie also likes to copy George like a child does, an example of this is when George replaced his hat, pushed himself back from the river, drew up his knees and embraced them. Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly. Also when George shouts at Lennie, he feels guilty afterwards, Lennie plays on this and manipulates George by telling him that he didn’t have to stay with George and that he could go up and live in a cave on his own and fend for himself. George doesn’t want that at all and feels very guilty. The sentence after he finished shouting states this, “His anger left him suddenly. He looked across the fire at Lennie’s anguished face, and then he looked ashamedly at the flames.” Lennie uses emotional blackmail on George.
