If Lennie were a child George could look forward to having him grow up and take care of himself. But Lennie is an adult with a child's mind. He seems destined to become a permanent responsibility and burden. As illustrated in the Weed incident, Lennie is creating more problems for George than had been the case before. It is evident in Chapter One that George is becoming wearied and bewildered by his burden. In an...
If Lennie were a child George could look forward to having him grow up and take care of himself. But Lennie is an adult with a child's mind. He seems destined to become a permanent responsibility and burden. As illustrated in the Weed incident, Lennie is creating more problems for George than had been the case before. It is evident in Chapter One that George is becoming wearied and bewildered by his burden. In an angry outburst at the campsite he tells Lennie:
God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want. Why, I could stay in a cat house all night. I could eat any place I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. An' I could do all that every damn month. Get a gallon of whisky, or set in a poolroom and play cards or shoot pool....An' whatta I got,...I got you! You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out."
On the other hand, George is used to having Lennie with him. George may realize that he wouldn't really like being alone. He sees that most itinerant agricultural workers are loners and that they are not to be envied. The sort of life he describes in his angry tirade is a dead-end life. He would be working hard all month and then blowing all his money on cheap whiskey and other specious pleasures. Furthermore, he realizes that Lennie is good-hearted and loyal. When Lennie offers to go away and live in a cave, George regrets his outburst. Obviously he has a severe internal conflict regarding Lennie. He would like to be free, but he doesn't want to be alone. Besides, the two men share a dream of attaining freedom and independence by owning a little subsistence farm. He never resolves that conflict by himself, but he is forced to resolve it when Lennie kills Curley's wife in the barn and then flees the scene.
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