Beyond the Line Questions

What is the main conflict of the story?

Humans, just like all creatures, have needs. We need food, shelter, water, oxygen, and these are just the basic essentials. Then it gets more complicated with carbohydrates, protein, lipids, et cetera. We have basic needs that help us survive, and live our short lives. However, in the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck identifies another human necessity: companionship. Companionship is just as important as water, food, and shelter.

In the book, Lennie and George are farm workers who travel from farm to farm, performing tasks to get a little more money. George states "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place....With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us." Lennie and George’s relationship is one of real companionship. They take care of eachother and look out for one another. Though at times it would seem that George only works in his best interest, he does care about Lennie, and tries to look after him.

George and Lennie, however, are the only characters that are real friends. Many of the characters in the book are loners. They only work to get their “stake”, or money. They’re not there to make friends, they’re there to make money, live, and be provided with the basic necessities. “’Ain’t many guys travel around together,’ he mused. ‘I don't know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.’” Although this was true in the book, a few characters actually longed for companionship.

Candy, the old swamper, has an old, practically dying dog that he’s had for a long time. He loves this dog and takes it everywhere with him. It is his one companion on the ranch. In chapter 3, all the other workers, like Carlson and Slim, tell Candy that he should kill his dog because he is so old and needs to be put out of his misery. “…you ain’t bein’ kind to him keepin’ him alive.” “Carl's right, Candy. That dog ain’t no good to himself. I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I got old an’ a cripple.” They then took Candy’s dog out, and shot him in the back of the head. This sent Candy into a depression for a small period. He then began to realize that they killed his dog because he was old and useless. Candy already has one of these qualities. “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me. But they won't do nothing like that. I won't have no place to go, an’ I can't get no more jobs.” Candy lost his only true companion, and realized that there’s hardly any reason left for him to live.

John Steinbeck also added a representation of societal isolation in his book; a black man. Crooks was the stable buck in the book as well as the only black person for miles. Crooks is hardly seen in the book because he can’t hang out with the other workers because he is black. He lives alone in a room in the stable, and doesn’t really communicate with anyone. In the chapter when Lennie talks to Crooks, Crooks explains to him that he never gets to hang out with the others, no one talks to him, and how he is very lonely. “’A guy needs somebody-to be near him.’ He whined, ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.’” Crooks admits that because he has no friends, he is miserable. All he wants is some socialization. He’s tired of being lonely.

The last character who suffers from a lack of companionship is Curley’s Wife. Curley’s Wife is an interesting character because she appears multiple times throughout the book, but you never find out her conflicts until the end. In the 5th chapter, when Curley’s Wife confronts Lennie, Lennie tries hard to avoid her, and refuses to talk to her. “Why can't I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” Though Lennie was trying to ignore, Curley’s Wife insisted on him listening by telling her life story. Curley’s Wife is very conflicted with herself because she had many good opportunities offered to her in her life that she was forced to turn down. She admits that she only married Curley out of convenience and even admits that she truly doesn’t like Curley. Being isolated from all the others by her husband, she needed some way to vent to someone about what she is feeling. Her husband keeps her cooped up in the house, and she feels completely secluded. She eventually is set free of her own life when Lennie accidentally breaks her neck, instantly killing her.

As a moral point of the book, and of this essay, the author of both would like to inform the reader that loneliness is humanities worst enemy. A life lived alone isn’t worth living. No human can live a fulfilling life without a person to share it with. The characters in this book all conflict with George and Lennie and their close companionship. Candy, Crooks, and Curley's Wife all need companions. The author doesn’t want to force the reader to find love, or even marry, or anything like that, but everyone should have a person there, just to be there. A companion, someone to find company in, and speak to, and share with, and have a common goal is more important than any other human necessity, because it makes life worth living.