What do we learn about George and Lennies relationship and aspirations in the novel:"Of mice and men"?

Steinbeck presents his audience with the unique friendship between two exact opposites.

Lennie is a slow-witted brute of a man who, in the words of George, “isn’t too bright but a hell of a good worker”. Lennie’s counterpart, George, is small and wiry, but with enough common sense for the both of them and is like a father, mother and teacher to Lennie.

George and Lennie seem to have a very close friendship throughout the story. This is strange because they are completely different from each other mentally, as well as physically.

 The author tells us that George is a small, quick and defined man. He is the leader of the two men and makes all the plans. Lennie respects him a great deal. Lennie is huge, and very strong, but he has the mentality of a child. He relies heavily on George, as he cannot fend for himself. He always tries his best to imitate George's actions, as "George lay back on the sand and crossed his hands under his head, and Lennie imitated him, raising his head to see if he were doing it right." This shows just how much Lennie looks up to him as role model and wants to be like him. But it is not a one-sided friendship as George must be very close to Lennie because he goes to a lot of trouble to make sure that they both stay together. When Lennie got himself into trouble in Weed George didn't abandon him; they ran away to a different ranch together. I think George relies on Lennie for companionship because of the unfriendly and lonely environment they are in. he obviously cares about Lennie because he says, "God, you're a lot of trouble. 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." If George wanted to leave Lennie and change his lifestyle completely, he easily could. But he stays with Lennie throughout the whole book so they must have a special friendship