When Steinbeck wrote about these two antiheroes he wrote about a pair of misfits who find work in the Great Depression, and in this theme of loyalty, he shows us that while if Lennie and George didn’t stick together in these desperate times they would never reach their dream.
Within the first chapter of the novella, George is already warning Lennie to run back to the hiding spot if he gets in trouble, to protect Lennie and prevent him from getting lynched. The first time that George shows loyalty to Lennie is in the beginning when he scolds Lennie for drinking scummy pond water. His loyalty to Lennie is shown again when Steinbeck narrates, “ If you get in trouble, like you always done, I want you to come here and hide in the brush.” This shows extreme loyalty from George towards Lennie, and the protective shadow that George has cast. Since this story takes place during the Great …show more content…
Lennie was so trusting of George,“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that 's why.” After Lennie kills Curley’s wife, Candy and George soon figure out that their dream is over, “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ 'men gang aft agley”(Robert Burns- To A Mouse), which means, the best laid laid plans of mice and men often go astray. Refer to the painting “The American Dream is Over” to get an illustration of George and Candy’s dreams. That little chunk of land that they were going to buy from the couple whose wife needed surgery that the were getting for only four hundred fifty dollars, disappeared out of their sights, far beyond their reach. At the end Slim says “...you had to George…” and then walks away with him to get him a drink because he is the only one who knew what actually happened before they got there.The theme of loyalty here clearly shows that there is not just loyalty between George and Lennie, but that there is loyalty between Slim and George, and during the Great Depression, people needed that kind of boost from other people, “A guy needs somebody―to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain 't got