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Of Mice and Men Character Essay

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Submitted By Guntech5
Words 1334
Pages 6
Saad Ali
Ms. Hunt
ENG3U0-B
July 20th 2015
Not All Heroes Wear Capes Superman is a well-known superhero who succeeds in protecting others. However, being a protector does not mean that one must be a superhero. George Milton, in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is not a superhero but is characterized as a protector. The novella is about two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, who travel together during the Depression in order to find work. Unfortunately, they get into all sorts of mishaps because of Lennie. The two men have a dream to one day own a farm, but Lennie’s mental disability proves to be a far greater obstacle than anticipated. George Milton is a common man but shows the qualities of a superhero through his caring, resourceful, and selfless personality. Without these traits, George would not travel with Lennie, for he would have no reason to. Perhaps then, the ending of the novella would not end as tragically as it did. Firstly, Steinbeck depicts George as a caring person through his actions and attitude towards situations. At the start of the book, Lennie is seen drinking water from a river. When George sees this he says, “Lennie, for God’ sakes don’t drink so much […] you gonna be sick like you was last night. […] You never oughta drink water when it ain’t running, Lennie” (3.) George is looking out for Lennie, and is concerned that he will get sick from drinking the water, thus showing how compassionate George is since he cares for Lennie’s wellbeing. Furthermore, after George yells at Lennie and Lennie offers to leave him, George says “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. Your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like you running off by yourself” (13.) George shows unease when Lennie talks about leaving him and living in the wilderness, which displays the affection he has for

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