One may never know who their true friends are but there are odd ways of showing or not showing it. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, shows this best. When George says,
“’One day a bunch of guys was standin’ around up on the Sacramento River. I was feelin’ pretty smart. I turns to Lennie and says ‘Jump in.’ An’ he jumps. Couldn’t swim a stroke. He damn near drowned before we could get him. An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in.’” (pg. 40) it shows that he has betrayed Lennie before so what’s saying he won’t do it again? Clearly George likes Lennie because he has decided to bring him on his trip and protect him from what happened back in Weed. The confusion between betrayal and loyalty is huge with these two characters. When George shoots Lennie in the head, is he doing him a favor or is he getting rid of his problem? George is a true friend for not wanting Lennie to suffer by getting shot in the stomach, as Curly said he would do if he got to him first, but it’s still wrong to have done that to a friend. George clearly though of Lennie as one of his problems. This is obvious because he said,
“’I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl,’” (pg. 7) to Lennie and this proves that George blames Lennie for all his complications. He may have said that because of the situation they were in but still, Lennie was a little hurt. As much of a problem Lennie seems to be to George, Lennie still looks up to George.
“They had walked in single file down the path, and even in the open one stayed behind the other. Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders.” (pg. 2)
“Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly. He pushed himself back, drew up his knees, embraced them, looked over to George to see whether he had it just right. He pulled his hat down a little more over his eyes, the way George's hat was.” (pg. 4)
“’ I was only foolin', George. I don't want no ketchup. I wouldn't eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me. If it was here, you could have some. But I wouldn't eat none, George. I'd leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn't touch none of it.’” (pg. 12)
These quotes are all examples of how Lennie strived to be like George and looked up to him. If Lennie didn’t feel that way about George, Lennie would have no one to follow and wouldn’t have a true friend. When George finds Lennie by the