Theme Of Companionship In Of Mice And Men

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In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are workers in the age of the Great Depression, with dreams of one day owning their own farm. The two learn how different companionship is viewed by others than to them, and even how companionship is detrimental in the long run. The author uses foil, characterization and motifs to show the detrimental effects of companionship. Foil is used throughout the story to contrast the characters and depict the different effects companionship has on them. For instance, George and Lennie are foils of each other. Lennie is introduced in the beginning “...but behind him walked his opposite,” Lennie (2). George is shown to be more logical than Lennie, making him seem dumber by comparison. He often does …show more content…
Lennie and George bring out all the worst features in each other. As well as George and Lennie, another example shown throughout the story would be the contrast between Slim and Carlson. Slim was well respected and “There was a gravity in his manner...” when he talked (33). Slim is the seemingly “perfect” rancher on the farm. He is very handsome, contrasting the ugliness of Carlson. Slim is very compassionate and seems to help others out of selflessness. Carlson thinks only of himself and is unable to comprehend why anybody would need a companion, as shown when he pressures Candy into letting him shoot the dog for his own pleasure. Furthermore, one last example of foil shown throughout the book would be the contrast between the characters of Candy and Crooks. The contrast in which people view the two is shown when Curley’s wife tells Crooks: “Nobody’d listen to you an’ you know it. Nobody’d listen to you” (81). Candy is well liked whereas Crooks is often overlooked and excluded because of the color of his skin. Candy has a great connection with his dog and ends up creating another connection with George and Lennie as the story progresses. He even makes plans to be included in their dream
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