What is George caring for Lennie in Chapter 1?

Chapter One Summary

In chapter one, we meet the main characters. Lennie and George get described a little and we find out that Lennie has a mental disorder and George is his care taker. George prepares supper for the two of them and Lennie asks George for ketchup and that upsets him. George begins to get upset and talks about how much better off he would be if he didn’t have to take care of Lennie. Lennie offers to go but George refuses. George tells Lennie that if he gets into any trouble then he is supposed to come out to where they are camping and hide in the brush until he comes to get him. 

 
1)  Look at the way both Lennie and George are first described.  How is this initial description fitting when we find out more about each man?2)  Is the relationship between George and Lennie one of friendship , or does George only feel obligated to take care of Lennie?  What evidence can you find to support either conclusion?3) Why does Lenrie have the dead mouse?  Why did George take it away?  Was this the right thing to do?4) What happened at the last place where Lennie and George worked?

How does Steinbeck present the relationship between George and Lennie in this chapter? The author John Steinbeck presents the relationship between the two characters, George and Lennie in different ways as they are both different characters and have different personalities. He presents it like a parent and child relationship, with George being the parent and Lennie the child. As soon as the reader is introduced to George and Lennie Steinbeck tells us that, “They had walked in single file down the path”. This immediately notifies the reader of the kind of relationship between George and Lennie, it does this by stating “single file”. This reminds us of a game called follow the leader. It also tells us that the person at the…show more content…
I could also notice when I was reading through the first chapter that George has a sense of authority over Lennie, “you gonna get that wood”. This is like a parent telling a child to do his chores. On some occasions though George shows a bit of hatred towards Lennie, he thinks of what he could have if Lennie wasn’t around and contrasts that with George. There is also a sense of lack of trust in the relationship between the two men. We see this through the predicament with the work cards. It tells us that George again has to take care of Lennie, and that Lennie isn’t trusted by George. Again this idea is portrayed to the reader on page seventeen, we notice that George knows that he needs a plan b as Lennie cannot be trusted so his plan b is to tell Lennie to “hide in the brush until I come for you”. This helps us to understand the relationship even further. George also treats Lennie like a dog in one occasion in the chapter, “good boy”. This is something a master would say to a dog to encourage them, it also tells us the sort of role in the relationship George has again.
In conclusion, we see that Steinbeck uses various techniques to portray the relationship between George and Lennie. But the main method is the idea of George being like a parent to

     The story begins with George Milton and Lennie Small traveling together along the Salinas River in California to find work. They have work cards indicating that there are jobs available at a nearby ranch, but they decide to stop and sleep in the woods for the evening. As they walk and talk, it becomes clear that George is in charge because something is wrong with Lennie. He doesn't behave the way most grown men behave. First, he imitates George quite often. Later, George finds him petting a dead mouse in his pocket, and when George throws it into the bushes, Lennie cries. Lennie likes to pet soft things. George has to explain that it's not sanitary to carry dead animals around. Lennie surreptiously retrieves the dead mouse when George sends him to find fire wood, but George knows he grabbed it and disposes of it again.      George and Lennie are opposites in many ways. Not only is George the brains and Lennie the braun, but their looks are dissimilar since George is small and thin while Lennie is tall and heavy. George plans ahead and makes good choices, but Lennie can't remember anything and always makes mistakes. They are, however, dressed the same in jeans and jean jackets, carrying small bindles to sleep on which hold their possessions inside.      Clearly, George and Lennie have known each other for a long time. George mentions Lennie's Aunt Clara, who it seems used to take care of Lennie before she died. George also comments on the fact that Lennie is always getting him in trouble. Since Lennie doesn't have common sense, he does "bad things" that get them fired from their jobs. For example, George references the last town they worked in, Weed, where Lennie tried to touch a woman's dress because it was soft. The woman became upset, which caused Lennie to grab the dress in a panic, which forced George and Lennie to run and hide in an irrigation ditch the rest of the day because the men in that town assumed Lennie was trying to hurt or take advantage of the woman.      Through their travels, they have discussed a plan for the future. This plan, which Lennie loves to hear George describe, involves purchasing a farm of their own that they can take care of and live on self-sufficiently. George tells Lennie how he would let him take care of the rabbits that they kept on the farm, which excites Lennie to no end since rabbits are incredibly soft.      George has a feeling that Lennie might get them in trouble again, so he tells Lennie that if anything happens, Lennie should return to the spot where they are sleeping. He wants Lennie to hide in the brush until George comes to get him. He makes Lennie repeat it over to remember the instructions then they go to sleep.      As the book begins, it is apparent that Lennie and George are basically homeless since they travel from ranch to ranch, living wherever they work. This situation makes it clear that this book takes place during the Great Depression. Lennie and George seem to be chasing their small version of the American Dream, wanting to own their own land and not have to rely on finding work all the time. Even though George is often burdened with taking care of Lennie, they appreciate the companionship that the other offers. Lennie points out that it's nice to have someone who will look out for them if necessary. The need for friendship is an important theme in the novel.

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From the opening of the novella to George instructing Lennie in preparation for their arrival at the ranch (nightfall).

Summary

The story opens with the description of a riverbed in rural California, a beautiful, wooded area at the base of “golden foothill slopes.” A path runs to the river, used by boys going swimming and riffraff coming down from the highway. Two men walk along the path. The first, George, is small, wiry, and sharp-featured, while his companion, Lennie, is large and awkward. They are both dressed in denim, farmhand attire.

As they reach a clearing, Lennie stops to drink from the river, and George warns him not to drink too much or he will get sick, as he did the night before. As their conversation continues, it becomes clear that the larger man has an intellectual disability, and that his companion looks out for his safety. George begins to complain about the bus driver who dropped them off a long way from their intended destination—a ranch on which they are due to begin work. Lennie interrupts him to ask where they are going. His companion impatiently reminds him of their movements over the past few days, and then notices that Lennie is holding a dead mouse. George takes it away from him. Lennie insists that he is not responsible for killing the mouse, that he just wanted to pet it, but George loses his temper and throws it across the stream. George warns Lennie that they are going to work on a ranch, and that he must behave himself when they meet the boss. George does not want any trouble of the kind they encountered in Weed, the last place they worked.

George decides that they will stay in the clearing for the night, and as they prepare their bean supper, Lennie crosses the stream and recovers the mouse, only to have George find him out immediately and take the mouse away again. Apparently, Lennie’s Aunt Clara used to give him mice to pet, but he tends to “break” small creatures unintentionally when he shows his affection for them, killing them because he doesn’t know his own strength. As the two men sit down to eat, Lennie asks for ketchup. This request launches George into a long speech about Lennie’s ungratefulness. George complains that he could get along much better if he didn’t have to care for Lennie. He uses the incident that got them chased out of Weed as a case in point. Lennie, a lover of soft things, stroked the fabric of a girl’s dress, and would not let go. The locals assumed he assaulted her, and ran them out of town.

With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.

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After this tirade, George feels sorry for losing his temper and apologizes by telling Lennie’s favorite story, the plan for their future happiness. The life of a ranch-hand, according to George, is one of the loneliest in the world, and most men working on ranches have no one to look out for them. But he and Lennie have each other, and someday, as soon as they manage to save enough money, they will buy a farm together and, as Lennie puts it, “live off the fatta the lan’.” They will grow their own food, raise livestock, and keep rabbits, which Lennie will tend. This familiar story cheers both of them up. As night falls, George tells Lennie that if he encounters any trouble while working at the ranch, he is to return to this clearing, hide in the bushes, and wait for George to come.

Analysis

The clearing into which Lennie and George wander evokes Eden in its serenity and beauty. Steinbeck wisely opens the novella with this idyllic scene, for it creates a background for the idealized friendship between the men and introduces the romanticized dream of farm life that they share. The opening pages establish a sense of purity and perfection that the world, which will prove to be cruel and predatory, cannot sustain. Steinbeck also solidly establishes the relationship between George and Lennie within the first few pages of dialogue. Their speech is that of uneducated laborers, but is emotionally rich and often lyrical.

Read more about why George and Lennie travel together.

Because George and Lennie are not particularly dynamic characters (neither of them changes significantly during the course of the narrative), the impression the reader gets from these early pages persists throughout the novella. Lennie’s and George’s behavior is relatively static. Lennie’s sweet innocence, the undying devotion he shows George, and his habit of petting soft things are his major defining traits from the opening pages to the final scene. Just as constant are George’s blustery rants about how much easier life would be without the burden of caring for Lennie, and unconvincing speeches that always end by revealing his love for and desire to protect his friend.

Read more about George and Lennie as the protagonists of the story.

Some critics of the work consider George, and especially Lennie, somewhat flat representations of purity, goodness, and fraternal devotion, rather than convincing portraits of complex, conflicted human beings. They charge Steinbeck with being excessively sentimental in his portrayal of his protagonists, his romanticization of male friendship, and in the deterministic plot that seems designed to destroy this friendship. Others, however, contend that any exaggeration in Of Mice and Men, like in so many of Steinbeck’s other works, is meant to comment on the plight of the downtrodden, to make the reader sympathize with people who society and storytellers often deem unworthy because of their class, physical or mental capabilities, or the color of their skin.

Read more about why Steinbeck chose the title of his novella.

Whether or not these issues constitute a flaw in the novella, it is true that Steinbeck places George, Lennie, and their relationship on a rather high pedestal. Nowhere is this more clear than in the story George constantly tells about the farm they one day plan to own. This piece of land represents a world in which the two men can live together just as they are, without dangers and without apologies. No longer will they be run out of towns like Weed or be subject to the demeaning and backbreaking will of others. As the novella progresses and their situation worsens, George and Lennie’s desire to attain the farm they dream about grows more desperate. Their vision becomes so powerful that it will eventually attract other men, who will beg to be a part of it. George’s story of the farm, as well as George and Lennie’s mutual devotion, lays the groundwork for one of the book’s dominant themes: the idealized sense of friendship among men.

Read more about George and Lennie’s farm as a symbol.

True to the nature of tragedy, Steinbeck makes the vision of the farm so beautiful and the fraternal bond between George and Lennie so strong in order to place his protagonists at a considerable height from which to fall. From the very beginning, Steinbeck heavily foreshadows the doom that awaits the men. The clearing into which the two travelers stumble may resemble Eden, but it is, in fact, a world with dangers lurking at every turn. The rabbits that sit like “gray, sculptured stones” hurry for cover at the sound of footsteps, hinting at the predatory world that will finally destroy Lennie and George’s dream. The dead mouse in Lennie’s pocket serves as a potent symbol of the end that awaits weak, unsuspecting creatures. After all, despite Lennie’s great physical size and strength, his childlikeness renders him as helpless as a mouse.

Read more about the tragic and heavy tone of the story.

Steinbeck’s repeated comparisons between Lennie and animals (bears, horses, terriers) reinforce the impending sense of doom. Animals in the story, from field mice to Candy’s dog to Lennie’s puppy, all die untimely deaths. The book’s tragic course of action seems even more inevitable when one considers Lennie’s troublesome behavior that got George and Lennie chased out of Weed, and George’s anticipatory insistence that they designate a meeting place should any problems arise.

Read more about animal metaphors and similes describing Lennie.