We can now see who clearly has the role of the leader, or even a parent: George. Meanwhile, Lennie is the follower, always depending on George to take care of him, and it's also shown that he is also very loyal to George as well. For example, though reluctant, when George tells Lennie to, "'Give it here!' Lennie's closed hand slowly obeyed" (6). Lennie is also portrayed very much like a child; though he is a grown man, when things don't go his way, he often starts crying. "He heard Lennie's whimpering cry and wheeled
about" (9).
Being the leader of the two, George takes care of Lennie and obviously cares a lot for him. "'Aw,
Lennie!' George put his hand on Lennie's shoulder. 'I ain't takin' it away jus'
for meanness. That mouse ain't fresh, Lennie; and besides, you've broke it
pettin' it. You get another mouse that's fresh and I'll let you keep it a
little while'" (9). However, there's also a tremendous amount of pressure on his shoulders. Having to continually take care of another man, having to find shelter, food, and then a job that'd keep the two of them together is terribly hard. George obviously wishes to have some free time for himself, time that he doesn't need to spend thinking about how to break Lennie out of trouble: "'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'"(11).
This may be foreshadowing that perhaps sometime in the story, George will find a way to permanently get Lennie out of his life. After all, having to take care of another grown person without any help seems like a job no one would want forever.
~ Kate_ChromtheChrommander
You added to my thinking by saying how George feels pressure to take care of Lennie, and that deep inside he really cares about him. I knew that George felt that it was hard to keep Lennie out of trouble, but I had just thought that he was only annoyed and angered by him before. I realized that he is very stressed, which is hidden under his scolding Lennie. I think he scolds Lennie because he wants him to learn right from wrong, but this is hard when someone has a mental disability. This is most likely because people without mental disabilities have never thought like them before, so they don't really know how to get the mentally disabled person to remember or understand something in a way that makes sense to them.
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