How Does John Steinbeck Present the Relationship Between George and Lennie Throughout the Novel?

John Steinbeck portrays George and Lennie, two migrant workers as having the greatest friendship, and while George claims to not need Lennie, he knows that he needs lennie as much as Lennie needs him. The relationship between Lennie and George is very close throughout the novel, and is set in the 1930s depression years in America. This means that their relationship was under a lot of strain. It was unusual in those times to be able to sustain friendships because life was all about living for the moment after America's great loss. The mutual relationship between George and Lennie is a genuine friendship between two very different men.
          You can tell their friendship is strong even after their argument "I was only foolin’, George. I don’t want no ketchup. I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me.", (George)"If it was here, you could have some.", (Lennie) "But I wouldn’t eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it." After George’s mean outburst about how much better off he’d be without Lennie, Lennie is the one who makes the first move to apologize to George about the argument. Even after this fight, the men’s friendship still remains, showing the strength of both characters.

          Another way the relationship between George and Lennie is by showing the difficulties they have within their friendship. In the story 'of mice and men ' Lennie is seen as a ' horse’, a ' bear ' and 'bull' meaning he’s quite animal -like, Lennie is also seen as childlike and this can be a problem for George as he misses adult company , he also feels that he ' could live so easy ' at times as Lennie doesn't always follow and remember what he says . Other characters such as Slim notice this as when George and Slim have a conversation about George and Lennie's friendship Slim mentions that Lennie's ' Jes like a kid'. The language technique used to describe Lennie is a simile by making other...