John Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men - 1360 Words

Human nature suggests a way of feeling, thinking and acting in everyday life. In the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, a duo of farmers, George and Lennie, search for work wherever they can. Their dream of having a farm of their own is coming into reach, while George has to wield Lennie away from the temptation of Curley’s wife and the reality of what Lennie can do. John Steinbeck uses characterization to illustrate the nature of human existence. Steinbeck portrays George as a man who tries to help, and helps others so that the wrenching reality of human existence will not tear his life away in a dark path of loneliness. George and Lennie go talk to the boss to get jobs, and the boss asks, â€Å"‘What’s your name?’† (Steinbeck 21) and†¦show more content†¦Many people believe that George represents man fallen from Eden, and a man who does not want to follow in a life of loneliness, so he seeks companionship in Lennie and acts as a fath er figure to him to keep both of their lives save from the wretched horrors of living life alone. In the beginning of the book Lennie finds a mouse and George hounds Lennie about it until finally â€Å"Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again. George snapped his fingers sharply, at the sound Lennie laid row mouse in his hand† (Steinbeck 9). Lennie finds himself with a mouse and George knowing Lennie made him give it up. George being a parent figure in Lennie’s life leads Lennie doing whatever George tells him to do even if he does not like it. Sometimes George may yell at Lennie and scare him, but he is acting as a parent would to protect him from the harsh world. It was already dead when George grabbed it. George is a parent figure, and a friend in this story, he helps others to escape the dreaded life of loneliness and sadness. Lennie is characterized in Of Mice and Men as a child fi gure, a man who has been doomed by human nature to live a life with the help of others, a life that if he was to be alone, he would not survive. Lennie looks up to George because he does not know how to behave, he is like a child. Lennie tries to live life like George and this passage that