Loyalty and Sacrifice in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men :: Steinbeck Of Mice and Men Essays

John Steinbeck was born in 1902, in Californias Salinas Valley, a region that would eventually serve as the setting for Of Mice and Men, as easy as many of his other works. He studied literature and opus at Stanford University. He then moved to New York City and worked as a laborer and journalist for five years, until he completed his offset printing novel in 1929, Cup of Gold. With the publication of Tortilla Flat in 1935, Steinbeck achieved fame and became a popular author.  He wrote many novels about the California laboring class.  twain of his more famous novels included Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.  Steinbeck got the title for Of Mice and Men from a line of Robert Burns, a Scottish poet, The best laid schemes of mice and men frequently go awry.  In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck includes the theme of homage and sacrifice between friends.  Steinbeck illustrates the consignment and sacrifice between friends through the friendship of Lennie and Ge orge.             The issue of loyalty is embody in the character of George.  He is an intelligent man who could make a successful living for himself on his own.  He chooses to stay beside his friend Lennie. George sess never get a steady job to fulfill his long-run goal of having his own work.  The first job that Lennie and George have together goes rise up for a while.  Eventually Lennie ruins everything that is going good for them.  Lennie sees a pretty dress out that a girl is wearing.  Without thinking about what he is doing, he goes up and grabs the dress to feel the nice fabric.  This scares the girl and she tells the boss.  Soon the whole townsfolk is after Lennie. This is the perfect time for George to start a new life, without Lennie.  However, because of his loyalty to Lennie, he chooses to help Lennie escape from the town.  Lennie needs George to survive. It is this that propels Ge orge to make the sacrifice that he does.  After Lennie kills Curleys wife, George knows that this is the end for Lennie.  No matter what, someone exit eventually kill Lennie.  And if Lennie gets away this time, there will be some other time, and eventually the inevitable will happen.  He truly loves Lennie, so he shoots Lennie painlessly in the back of the head.  Lennie dies with the happy thought of the dream of the farm they want to own some day.